Do you have another place that it can be planted? It will eventually be very crowded in that corner anyway. Birch gets rather large and needs room to spread it's "arms." I found this for your reading @ http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extnews/hortiscope/tree/birch.htm A: Like so many people who write to me for advice, you gave me no clue as to what part of the country you live in. In most instances in a decent landscape setting, these trees will top out at 35 to 40 feet. Keep in mind how the tree spreads as it matures. The tree will do best if you can "bed" it, which means building a large mulched area around the base of the tree to keep the roots cool. You might want to consider planting some herbaceous ground cover under the canopy of the tree. Plants, such as hosta, sedum and creeping phlox, will help keep the roots cool when combined with organic mulch. Soil compaction and heat stress on the roots predispose this beautiful tree to being attacked by the bronze birch borer. I have had one growing in my front yard for the past 20 years and absolutely love it!

My reply:
First off, replant your tree... wouldn't hurt to add some horse manure, and mulch the roots but don't mulch all the way to the trunk...
As far as staking, you need to be able to spread your stakes (3 of them in a triangle around the tree). Each stake needs to be at least 4 foot from the tree. 1 1/2" to 2" Galvanized fence pipe or pvc cut at a 45 degree angle at the bottom. These will need to be drove into the ground with a sledge at least 2' deep. You will also need to leave enough sticking out of the ground so that the top of the "stakes" are even with where the tree branches. Get 3 long lengths of strong rope, each long enough to go around the tree and then loop around the stake to be tied off. It would also be helpful to have 3 shorter lengths of old water hose, to string the rope through. The hose is to protect the tree from chaffing. So you run each length of your rope through each of the hose pieces (it helps to have an extra set of hands for this) until the hose is halfway down the rope. Place the hose firmly against the thickest part of the tree and have someone hold it there will you wrap and cinch the rope around one of the stakes. Repeat this for each length of rope and hose for each of the other stakes. Be careful to not cinch the rope down in any one direction, you don't want the tree to lean at all, but you do want it to be secure enough that the tree does not move much when the wind blows. Water in your tree on a warmer day (hopefully you will be doing all of this on a warmer day) and then hope for the best!

If you have any questions or in need of anymore help, feel free to E-mail me through GardenWeb. Will be happy to help! Hopefully the above post helped, but I may have not been clear enough on something. Happy Gardening! -- Amanda Watkins

AJWatkins-

Thanks for the encouraging replies! I also posted this on the tree forum and everyone is telling me that it's too big for the spot, the roots didn't take, all gloom and doom. I find it interesting about the cut and paste you added- I emailed that arborist, a Ph.D., and sent him the same photos and he said the tree can definitely be saved and is NOT too big for the spot!

Now my problem- your advice says to stake 4 ft. from the tree, which makes sense. BUT, the tree is closer than that to the house. Do you think I can do eyebolts to a house stud instead?