judyg My river birch (looking just like picture number three), never disappoints. It is always gorgeous, even in the dead of winter.

akadams Yes, they are beautiful but, they very messy. Do not plant them close to your home; you will be plagued with sticks, branches, seed pods, pollen, and twigs on a deck and in your gutters.

debbiehite The River Birch is a very fast growing tree! And yes.... it does require a "branch clean up" every so often on the ground. However, it is beautiful to view in all four seasons!

sclawson River Birch is a great choice for heavy clay soils with poor drainage (like mine), where top soils have been stripped off and sold before homes are built. A great screening tree too. I grew up partly in the northeast and miss the white birch trees there, which are disease-prone where I live in the midwest. The river birch, with its lovely peeling bark, makes me feel a little closer to home.

c2blum River birch is only desirable naturalized as a screening, in ravines, in bunches. As a standalone/specimen, the structure is mangled and scrappy at ground level. Village allowed my naive neighbor to replace a lustrous 2" diam white oak parkway tree with one of these (so it matched their other birch dotting their mcmansion's front yard. Fast growing, bleh, like a weed in my opinion. Great landscaping takes time...

Deborah Butler, Brickwood Builders They are beautiful so we planted two. While I might have them again, never close to the house or patio. It is a daily event to pick up limbs and the seed pods and pollen make a mess on the patio and in the koi pond.

bewyse River birch do get quite large, and quickly. As they mature the papery trunk becomes just a gray tree trunk like any other. They are soft, so if you get wind or ice storms, you might want to think twice. 9 See the grouping of three trees in the center of the photo.) Also, they constantly shed small branches that need to be picked up. Their roots are quite thick, making planting under them a task requiring pruning or lopping shears, and/or an ax. They will require pruning at least annually to reduce the drooping branches to allow walking or mowing beneath them. Seeds readily sprout in flower beds or mulch.

That said, the trunks are quite attractive for a few years. And trees decimated by ice or wind will regrow from their main trunk in several years. They are good waterside trees,

caseyem If you plants this tree, plan on spending hours removing seedlings.

Dar Eckert I love the bark and how fast they grow but the one thing that I don't like about them is the branches droop to the ground. I keep cutting off branches or the end of branches but by summers end they are almost to the ground again.

Rhonda Peters No problems with seedlings or seed pods. Many, many branches and twigs to pick up every week before mowing the yard. My husband wants to take them down, but I still think they are beautiful, despite the twigs.

bjosey3211 I like the River Birch, but the roots run close to the top of the ground. Over time, the roots caused my concrete sidewalk and drive way to shift and buckle. I will have to repair these as a result. It is something to consider when deciding the placement of the trees. Also, when they do not get enough water in the summer, the leaves turn yellow and drop. This tree needs to be planted in a moist area.

Paintbox Garden I recommend B. 'Heritage' which has superior coloration into maturity. I recently planted two 'Heritage' multi-stemmed trees and haven't seen any twig or branch litter. I would recommend them for edge plantings where clean-up isn't such an issue. One of our trees is a memorial for a dog who died and it makes a magnificent specimen.

ksbaum Great tree until it gets old, and then it becomes quite messy...finally had it removed as we were contstanty sweeping up the debris from the driveway. KSB

whitehousewoman Love these trees, but have never had one. Article is perfect timing, as we are about to attempt a backyard landscape plan and design!

Ginkgo Leaf Studio We love to use River Birch, especially for its winter interest here in Wisconsin. We prefer to plant it in "groves" like it grows in the wild as opposed to the design cliche of placing one on the corner of a house. Worse yet is placing them on top of a berm when in their natural habitat they grow along the banks of waterways and in low lying areas. A great tree!

gschneider @ c2blum: there's something special about them in groupings. However, we have several of these planted as stand alone specimens in front yard & are not scrappy, but maturing beautifully as long as adequately watered. We've kept lower bushy branches pruned, though, & generally only allowed 3 main trunks to grow for each tree. We love them & get compliments on them.

lthomas1215 Does the river birch do well in the Seattle, WA area?

ZH Design Since this tree loves wet feet and does quite nicely in heavy clay and compacted soils, I find it extremely useful for naturalization and the suburban landscape alike in the Delaware Valley region of PA. As many have mentioned, I tend to keep the trees away from the foundation and outdoor seating areas with their tendency to drop litter, though I don't find them as dirty as many have said. A newer cultivar of the river birch has entered on to the scene and if you're not aware of it, I highly recommend checking it out. It is Betula nigra 'Little King' or commonly referred to as the Fox Valley River Birch. It keeps a much stouter shape if height is an issue but still want the winter appeal. I have used them for hedging, much like the English do with beech and they have proven quite exceptional, especially in the winter as shown here. Could be very intriguing in a conifer/winter garden amongst other specimens.