Cuttings of semi-hardwood in summer, under mist and softwood of certain Betula with fairly strong IBA may give a chance at success, take many cuttings and expect 1-2 to make it. You can try air layering, I'd start in spring and expect some success, many failures. Certainly you can graft.

California is problematic for high-water trees unless you have water running thru your property or standing water. That is: expect less water usage in the future as water becomes properly priced in that state. High-water plants will struggle as folk cut back on the landscape water (usu 1/2 of all HH water usage).

Dan

Dan,

Do you know if they NEED to be grafted or will they grow just as well without grafting? I dont want to waste my time if they are not going to grow strong. Not sure exactly what it is but its some kind of white birch.

Far as I know no-one grafts White Birch with the exception
of weeping or dwarf/fastigiate cultivars.

Halibut, the germplasm is all the same and how the parent grows the propagule will grow. AFAIK, commercially its sometimes done but depends where you are (where the rootstock strongly determines how the targeted graft will grow). Any time you layer you have to start more than what you want, unless you are layering some easily-grafted plant.

Personally I'd air layer as it is hard to find a birch in the residential landscape that has a limb allowing you to ground layer (which is what they do in the wild as natives - non-garden cultivars).

Dan

That's what I wanted to hear.
Thanks guys!