Life’s too short to wash a birch tree

It’s been said that life is too short to wake up with regrets or famously, too short to stuff a mushroom.  We’ve also heard it said that life is too short to wash your birch tree.  We have to disagree. When a stunning tree such as Betula utilis ssp. Jacquemontii, ‘Grayswood Ghost’ or  ‘Snow Queen’ has been purchased specifically for the beauty of the bark, it seems wrong to not get the best from their prime feature.  With a brush and some soapy water it takes only a matter of a few seconds to remove any green algae from the papery bark and make the stems shine out just as they should.

A few years ago I carried out this operation on a glade of these trees that stood in a shaded location adjacent to a swimming pool.  The transformation was remarkable and the pure white upright stems, enhanced at their base by a large rash of tall, scented snowdrop, S.Arnott, was always commented upon by visitors. 

We recommend it.  Find some time this weekend to get out and put your trees in the spotlight.  You won’t regret it.