USDA Organic Heritage® River Birch

Birch trees are renowned for their beautiful bark, and Heritage® River Birch is no exception. All year long, its shaggy, peaches-and-cream-colored bark will be a standout in your landscape. Planting this fast-growing tree at one or more corners of your home is a classic way to frame your house and soften its edges. Landscape lighting adds extra drama at night. Have a low spot in your yard that stays soggy? Don’t go through all the effort of digging a French drain—plant a River Birch tree instead! This adaptable tree will happily soak up the extra moisture, though it doesn’t require wet soil to thrive.

Earl Cully, a nurseryman from Jacksonville, Illinois noticed an unusual cultivar of birch growing at a residence in St. Louis, Missouri. He made two more trips to St. Louis before he asked the homeowner if he could take some cuttings of the tree. Because of the lovely white peeling bark, he thought it was a hybrid of Paper bark Birch and River Birch. After years of study they concluded that the tree he discovered was an unknown cultivar of the native river birch and he was awarded the patent in 1979.

You'll be crying a river when you see this beautiful Birch! The creamy white bark starts to peel at a young age, exposing shades of salmon and brown, which darken as the tree matures. This fast-growing selection of the native River Birch displays glossy green leaves throughout summer that turn to golden yellow in fall. They are best grown as multi-stemmed trees and are suitable for areas prone to being wet a good part of the year. Winner of the Gold Medal Plant Award from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, chosen for its outstanding performance, hardiness and eye-appeal.

Tread lightly, shrink your footprint, and let yourself grow with USDA Certified Organic Trees. Organic farming has sprung up drastically in importance and influence, spreading worldwide the philosophy of deeply rooting nature in harmony and enriching the soil we stand upon. Benefitting the gardener, enhancing biodiversity, preserving nature's wildlife, and a true direction to protecting our environment. Choosing organic trees on your property, whether they are fruit, nut, ornamental, or shade trees, begins with their soil and cultivates change taking root in your backyard. Take one BIG TREE step for your garden, and one giant leap towards a greener world.

What does it mean to be USDA Organically grown?

• USDA Organic crops are grown exclusively on land that has gone without having non-USDA Organic approved substances applied for three years.
• No pesticides for us, please! Organically grown crops are highly regulated on what can and cannot be used for pest control—worried about harsh chemicals that have been sprayed on your plant? There is only a small number of approved synthetic chemicals that are allowed to be used. Otherwise, farmers use strict biological, mechanical, and physical management practices.
• Not just any type of seeds are used to grow and harvest organic plants: farmers can only use organic seeds or organically raised seedlings in their organic fields.
• Only the best handling is allowed! Organic and non-organic crops are not allowed to be commingled or near each other. Cross-contamination can occur, botching the organic plant's purity due to non-organic substances that could have been sprayed on non-organic harvests; this would cause the organic plant to be considered compromised.
• Fields are carefully cultivated through crop rotation and proper tillage practices to ensure that the soil and the soil's nutrients are kept at a happy balance. Animal manure, not sludge, is allowed to help infuse the soil with nitrogen to support the growth of the organic crops.