Molie

Since noone had given any repies, I'll offer a bit of info.

First, you can prune off dead branches anytime. The reason you state is valid, though a bit confused. You either meant bronze birch borer, or birchleaf miner. But river birch, at least where I live, is less affected by these insects than some other birch species.

There is no magic formula as to how much pruning can be done to a tree in a given season. But, there is a general guideline stating that no more than a third of the crown, meaning live branches, should be removed in any one pruning event. Your tree is newish though, and I'd let it have as much live foliage as possible for a few years to help it get going.

Also, birch trees really dont typically need any work done to the interior of the crown. You can pretty much just leave them be. If you want to see more of the attractive trunk, you can gradually "raise them up" by removing a few lower branches. Just take your time. It doesn't have to happen all at once. and again, I'd not initiate this practice until the tree has established itself well. Perhaps three or so years down the road, you could begin this raising up process.

Hope this helps.........+oM

I have two of these trees and the trees bow down when wet but stay there with removal of the water. Can I prune the crow to minimise the bowing.