[medieval knievel]

my friend has a couple of birch i bought her during spring of last year, when the trees were about seven foot tall. they've been doing well - probably ten or twelve foot tall now, but one is bending noticeably; it seems otherwise perfectly healthy, and i've assumed it's the weight of the new foliage which has been bending it (in the direction of the prevailing wind, unsurprisingly).

is this common? we'd prefer it grow straight (it's about twenty degrees off the vertical at the top), and i was thinking it might start to straighten in the autumn when the leaves start to fall.

[Dr. Sunny Thomson]

It may start to straighten in the autumn, but then again this is when the prevailing winds start to pick up possibly affirming its bent status. I have seen a lot of birch like this usually where the lower stem is sheltered by a wall or fence, once it peeks over the wall it get the full force of the wind. Possibly consider running a cushioned guy wire from up high on it, pulling it straight again.

[BlackBird]

medieval knievel, tell your friend to remove some of the wind catching branches high up on the tree. This will go a long way to straightening it in the soft stem faze. It could possibly be leaning towards sunlight too. Is the direction it is leaning towards full of sunlight?
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[medieval knievel]

[Tom]

If you see birch growing in the wild they usually stand straight as they grow in large clusters. One or two birch will have no strength in numbers so will tend to bend if the wind is strong enough. I second the idea about removing some of the wind catching branches which often act like a sail.