Silver birch advice

Hi, everyone, I have seen a silver birch on Facebook - bonsai group. Someone asked help related to his silver birch, and I found it hard to give him any advice. Then I thought that experienced bonsai artists like you could help.

Thank you,
Shohin

No. I think they may have been right.

Maybe something could work if it were tilted more to the left, or maybe if a taller-than-the-tree rock were put on the limbless side, or the trunk had a bend or two, or . . .

I've been getting rid of the ones i have been collecting. Branches just seem to die for no reason which is frustrating . I would rather give the space to something more reliable.
That one is going to be tough to do something with.

What advice did they want.

Silver Birch are a relatively short lived pioneer tree. We've discussed their annoying habit of shedding branches unpredictably before. I lost several important branches on one that I'd worked on for many years, from seed, just as it was getting near to the image I wanted.

I have still got another one, a large yamadori that has very unusual deep corky black bark between the silvery white plates. It may make something in a few years, If I can ever disguise the chop, until it starts shedding branches!

My advice for this one, get easier, better starting material.

I tried to find the birch in question, but I am not a FaceBook member, so I couldn't. I agree it looks a bit hopeless. I have a 'Trost's Dwarf,' which also lost a couple of branches. However, first point is to find out where that "silver birch" came from. This is where the botanical name is so important. If it is an American tree, either Betula papyrifera or B. populifolia, it is probably not worth bothering with. Some other American birches, like river birch, reportedly make fairly decent bonsai. If it is the European weeping birch, B. pendula, it might be worth practicing on. Walter Pall said there are B. pendula bonsai 30 years old.
My advice, fwiw, if the owner doesn't want to ditch it, come spring, cut the branches back some & plant it in the ground. It doesn't look very convincing as a wind-swept, so you want to try to get it to sprout branches on the other sides. Only if you plant it in the ground will you get white bark.
Iris

First, I want to thank all of you for your well documented answers. I know that birches are stubborn and hard to work with.
Jim, your idea of placing a nice rock to hide the branch-less part of the trunk is appealing, and, probably, feasible. Splitting the trunk is also a nice idea, although it is not for the faint hearted
Kev, I agree with you. Iwould have let it grow in the nature. But some people like to be challenged...
Bonsaisr, I took for granted that it was a Betula pendula.
But what do you think about this suggestion? I'll quote it, because I cannot assume it's paternity:
"What I would really love to see you do is turn this into a raft style bonsai. Turn the tree on its side with the three branches acting like a small forest."

Thanx again,
Shohin

3 branches certainly make a "small forest" -- emphasis on the small.

You'd need a big pot. The roots are way down on one end.

Shohin wrote:
"What I would really love to see you do is turn this into a raft style bonsai. Turn the tree on its side with the three branches acting like a small forest."
Shohin

I agree that would be an excellent suggestion. Try to bend the trunk (you will have to crack it anyway to stimulate rooting) so the three trees are not in a straight line. Once the raft is on its way, perhaps a year from now, I still think it would benefit from being in the ground a couple years.