For the last 19 years, I have been enjoying the lovely Dakota Pinnacle Birch I planted out on the edge of a meadow at our Northfield area home.  Our Dakota Pinnacle Birch is a real show piece in all four seasons of the year.

Each spring, it is one of the first trees to leaf out, with the delicate green of new foliage showing off the lovely upright and compact form of this extremely tough hybrid.  As suggested by its name, Dakota Pinnacle Birch is the product of a breeding program out in the Dakota prairies, a place where winters don’t get much tougher.

While most shade trees develop a spread of 40′-60′ wide,  Dakota Pinnacle Birch matures to a width of only 15′-20′,  making it visually striking, and a good fit for the modest sized spaces available on most urban house lots.

The spring green of Dakota Pinnacle Birch soon matures to a rich deep green leaf color, with good canopy density and excellent growth rates.  Plant the Dakota Pinnacle Birch in properly drained soils, avoid chronically wet spots and it will reward you with great

vigor and beauty.

The foliage of Dakota Pinnnacle Birch trees usually stays very clean and healthy looking all the way to the very end of the growing season, and is one of the last trees to turn to its fall color of a rich and vibrant yellow/gold.

To keep my Dakota Pinnacle Birch safe from birch borer insects, I give it a one minute, once a year treatment with a systemic insecticide.  No injections and no spraying needed.  I simply put a few ounces of Optrol in a pail with 1-1 1/2 gallons of water and pour the solution on the soil all the way around, and immediately next to the trunk of the tree.  This has kept my Dakota Pinnacle Birch happy and healthy for 19 years.

Once the gorgeous yellow leaves of the Dakota Pinnacle Birch flutters to the ground in late October, the beautiful white bark of the trunk becomes more visible providing a very nice look all winter long.

If you want to enjoy a tree for all seasons, give the tough and lovely Dakota Pinnacle Birch a try!