Why did the catkins shrivel and leaves drop off silver birch?

ANN MAYNE, BANBURY, OXON

AI’m sure the reason your tree is looking so poorly is because of the extreme heat and drought this summer. Even though your tree is 10 years old, birches are rather shallow-rooting and will drop foliage in order to reduce water loss. When the rains come in spring it should revive good as new.