We pruned a silver birch tree heavily in February. Will it survive?

Question

Hello

Having read your advice, we now realise that the tree was pruned at the wrong time. It had been getting very big and the foliage was too dense in the summer. Our idea was to make the tree smaller and less dense. The tree is still alive but with very little foliage.We are wondering is it likely that

(1) the tree will survive and

(2 will it develop healthy levels of foliage again, perhaps during next and subsequent years?

Answer 1

Yes, it will likely recover, but it may take quite awhile. The growth may be set back two years or so. Unfortunately, this is the importance of pruning at the correct time depending on the species.