Dwarf birch

There are several types of birches, but not all of them are suitable for use in landscape design. Recently, more and more often dwarf birch is used in planting gardens and country plots. In the wild this plant is found in Yakutia, Western Siberia, in the north of Russia and in Kamchatka. Abroad, dwarf birch grows in North America and in the north of Europe. Sometimes this shrub can be found in the mountains, more than 300 m above sea level, and in the Alps it grows at an altitude of more than 2000 m. In the tundra, moss bogs, forest, alpine zone and tundra, this birch species forms continuous thickets called in People "ernikami." In the north, this plant is used as fuel and feed for reindeer. In the reserves it is protected by the state.

This deciduous plant is a strongly branched, low shrub up to 1.2 m in height, with half-ascending and ascending almost bare shoots with a brown bark. Its leaves are rounded, located alternately. They have a length of two and a half centimeters, and width - one centimeter. The leaflets have a rounded apex and a wide-wedged base. The edges of the leaf plate are blunt-toothed. The color of the leaves is dark green, they are glossy above, and a little gluey and lighter from below. Petioles small - up to 6 mm in length.

Since it grows on stony, bog and tundra soils, it is distinguished by a superficial root system. The dwarf birch has small, unimaginative, unisex flowers, which are collected in inflorescences-earrings to 1.5 cm in length and about 0.5 cm in width. These light brown inflorescences are located at the ends of the lateral branches. Bloom dwarf birch even before the appearance of leaflets. The fruits of this plant are very small, they are an elliptical nutlet, covered with narrow webbed wings on the sides. They ripen in June.

This species of birch is subdivided into two subspecies:

- exilis (has undissolved, sticky young shoots and round leaves up to 1.5 cm long), grows in the northeast of Asia and in northern Canada and Alaska;

- nana (it has slightly pubescent, non-adherent young shoots, leaves exceed 2.5 cm in length), is widespread in the northwest of Asia, and the Alps, Greenland, and Canada (Buffanow Land Island).

The birch, described above, has long been used in landscape design. Cultural specimens purchased in specialized stores, unlike those growing in nature, feel good in virtually all climatic zones of Russia and successfully reproduce by cuttings. This elegant birch has a special charm. Most often it forms rounded bushes up to 1 m in height, which practically do not require regular pruning. It looks beautiful in group plantings, on alpine hills and in rockeries. Particularly effective is the dwarf birch in autumn, when its leaves are painted in bright yellow or crimson. The tree is well tolerated by the strongest frosts. This plant looks very well with groups of evergreen stunted coniferous plants.

Grow dwarf birch is better on acidic and slightly acidic garden soils and peat bogs. This plant is not very demanding, but it is better to grow it in well-lit places. In older specimens, the cortex acquires a gray-black color. It is very easy to remove, so cut this shrub (if necessary) should only be a sharp pruner.

This plant can be planted with closely related species of birch:

- glandular (American type, similar to dwarf, but with larger leaves and higher);

- Finnish (a hybrid of warty and dwarf birch with small leaves);

- Middendorff (has large rounded leaves).