White birch trees leaning over / almost fallen

[Scaramanga]

Hi there,
We’re in upstate NY.
We have a pond surrounded by white birches. This summer, more than half are now either leaning into the water, and some have completely uprooted. I’ve attached two photos. They all used to stand tall and straight, and looked lovely. The leaves are looking a bit off color too, even on the trees still standing straight.
We’ve had some storms but the weather hasn’t been extreme.
Any ideas what this could be? We’re seeing some white birches lean on other parts of our property too.
Best,
Adrian

https://share.icloud.com/photos/076hIsRjxWMQgEe766xUGrR8g
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0bbL4QAWOb8AJX5Y6wVfhO-Eg

 

[Section VIII]

Hi there,
We’re in upstate NY.
We have a pond surrounded by white birches. This summer, more than half are now either leaning into the water, and some have completely uprooted. I’ve attached two photos. They all used to stand tall and straight, and looked lovely. The leaves are looking a bit off color too, even on the trees still standing straight.
We’ve had some storms but the weather hasn’t been extreme.
Any ideas what this could be? We’re seeing some white birches lean on other parts of our property too.
Best,
Adrian

https://share.icloud.com/photos/076hIsRjxWMQgEe766xUGrR8g
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0bbL4QAWOb8AJX5Y6wVfhO-Eg

I can't view the photos. I think it's because it's on your icloud account and I use android.

Anyway, my guess is that the ground is soft/wet around your pond.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Did you have an early or late snow when they were leafed out?

 

[Scaramanga]

I can't view the photos. I think it's because it's on your icloud account and I use android.

Anyway, my guess is that the ground is soft/wet around your pond.

Hi Section 8,

The pond and trees have been there for many years, so if that hasn’t changed would ground conditions have changed sufficiently to cause this?

Here is an instagram link to the photos plus a video, hope it works:



Best,
Adrian

 

[Scaramanga]

Did you have an early or late snow when they were leafed out?

It was a pretty light snow winter. The trees were fine more or less across the season.

 

[ab22]

There are hundreds leant over at the roadside here in southern NH. Some smaller look just as if they were pulled & staked with the top touching the ground. It happened after heavy wet snow following a warmer spell. Lots of examples on the web : https://www.google.com/search?&q=silver+birch+bent

 

[Raintree]

We'll need better pictures of the leaves to try and understand the discoloration.
As for the bending and uprooting, birches are pioneer species. They grow fast and are short lived. When you have a densely populated grove the competition encourages skinny trunks with top heavy crowns. Add in high water table and fertile soil and it's only a matter of time.

 

[Scaramanga]

We'll need better pictures of the leaves to try and understand the discoloration.
As for the bending and uprooting, birches are pioneer species. They grow fast and are short lived. When you have a densely populated grove the competition encourages skinny trunks with top heavy crowns. Add in high water table and fertile soil and it's only a matter of time.

Thanks for the insights.
The timing seems odd, as the pond and trees have all been there for many years.
There are also a few cases of white birch bending (not uprooted) on other parts of the property, not adjacent to the pond. Those others groves have fared better overall though, with maybe 10-20% bending rather than more than half pond-side.

 

[promechanic]

Have you seen any muskrat? They will dig burrows under the banks of the pond, and make a big mess of things.