Birches can be very picky about where they grow, I've tried three in a row and they all died because the soil got too waterlogged in autumn. Radiata pine OTOH w

Birches can be very picky about where they grow, I've tried three in a row and they all died because the soil got too waterlogged in autumn. Radiata pine OTOH will grow in anything, grows almost as you watch it, and the acidic needles kill off anything around it. You just have to be careful with time because once they're 30+ years old they can drop large branches.