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Project Noah Nature School
Betula platyphylla 'Jefpark'
30 cm up tree splits into two leaders. It is 17 cm circumference here and there is stress damage to the crotch of the tree. It becomes narrower, 5 cm at the 1.5 metre mark on both branches. Height is 2.57 metres. New growth 6 cm. One leaf showed deterioration and missing parts.
Planted in an open space in a bark mulch bed. It is irrigated on the east side of the wetlands.
The strange shape maybe caused by poor pruning early in the plants life. The strain of the plant growing in such a way is causing the split in the trunk. Staking the tree may help it grow upright again and reduce the strain to the trunk so it does not break off a branch in strong winds. It may need to be pruned to grow one strong leader branch which will still need to be staked at the crotch and higher up until it becomes stronger.
Spotted on Oct 14, 2016
Submitted on Oct 11, 2016
