How to Grow a Himalayan Birch

Select the Himalayan birch for your landscape if you live in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 7. The tree grows best in USDA zones 5 and 6. Zones warmer than zone 7 are not appropriate for this type of birch.

Choose a site that receives full sun in the cooler zones in which Himalayan birch grows. The tree performs well in such conditions. In USDA zones 6 and 7, place a Himalayan birch where it gets some degree of shade during the potentially hot afternoons.

Plant a Himalayan birch in wet to medium damp soil. The species grows as much as 18 inches per year when situated on well-draining soils, according to the Washington State University Clark County Extension. However, you can use this tree on much damper portions of your landscape. A Himalayan birch's roots must remain damp and cool for optimum growth. It handles rocky loam and sandy loam.

Put down a dense layer of mulch around the base of your Himalayan birch to protect its roots. Those growing in colder zones usually gain the added protection of a layer of snow covering the root system in the winter months. To provide shade for the roots, consider planting evergreen ground cover around the base of the tree.

Prune your Himalayan birch in winter, when the tree is dormant, if you need to remove branches. Refrain from doing so in the spring months, when the sap actively runs within the tree.