Mulch your tree with wood chips, shredded bark or leaf compost. Mulch will help keep soil moist and cool, as well as adding organic matter to the soil, which reduces soil compaction.

The last cinnamon bark tree that must be mentioned is big berry manzanita (Arctostphylos glauca). It grows slowly to a height of 20 feet with an equal spread.

The tree becomes more spreading with age. Deeply furrowed rusty red bark covers the trunk. Slender, 6-inch-long, curved, gray-green leaves on the pendant branches turn bronze in winter.

The bark of the river birch is very distinctive, thus making it a favored ornamental tree for landscape uses. Its bark is usually dark gray-brown to pinkish-brown and scaly.

The queen of perfection washes the bark of her birch trees. Seriously. Or rather, she has someone do it for her. I'll admit the result is beautiful -- maybe almost worth it.

Editor's Note: This column first appeared in the York Weekly in 2013. Paper birch (also called white birch) is an iconic tree of the north and probably our most easily recognized tree because of it… ...

A fairly fast-growing tree, river birch can reach a height of 70 feet or more. Native throughout the eastern U.S., it is typically found on the banks of rivers and streams as well as in floodplains.

Characteristics of North American Birch Trees Birch species are generally small- or medium-sized trees or large shrubs, mostly found in northern temperate climates in Asia, Europe, and North ...

Two years ago we planted two types of red maple, and they had done well. Now, on one tree, the bark is falling off the trunk but the other tree doesn't have this irregularity.