High desert chop-and-drop species

For those in the high desert, what do you grow for chop-and-drop and/or mulch? I'm in Zone 6/7 New Mexico, so a lot of the super fast-growing legume pioneer species like Leaucena are not hardy in my area. We have a ton of Tree of Heaven around which grow super fast, but those will root from even little fragments of the bark so that's not a great option for producing biomass. I've thought about cottonwoods, which seem like a great option (6 ft growth in a year!) but don't have the benefit of fixing nitrogen, and they take a ton of water. Mesquite might be an option, but spiky and doesn't grow all that fast (also I want it to keep it growing for the crop!).  The one other thing I've tried is Siberian peashrub, but despite the praise  around it I've found it it's actually surprisingly finicky and doesn't grow that fast for me (goji, blackberries, currants are all more vigorous growers for me).

Some other things I'm considering:
Locusts (fairly fast, probably nitrogen fixing, love the flowers)
Chinaberry (I had one I cut to the ground and planted an apricot next to, it still sends up shoots that I use to chop-and-drop. I don't love the smell though and any hardwood growth has the same problem as Tree of Heaven).
Siberian elm (They are super opportunistic and require no water. I have elms sprouting everywhere, as long as I chopped before it went to seed I could see using it for biomass. Not as leafy as some of the other plants though).

Anyone had success with anything?
Seems like some of the requirements are:
-Fast-growing
-Cold-hardy
-Ideally, nitrogen-fixing
-Won't root if hardwood is touching soil.
-Don't require a ton of extra water
-Easy to source
-Responds well to pollarding
-Maybe has other functions stacked on top.

At my place in northeast Nevada, the thickest compost is found under sagebrush, pinion pine, and juniper. Their leaves fall where they grew, and the thick branches provide a windbreak that prevents them from blowing away. If I trim the tree branches about 6 feet from the ground, herds of free range cattle leave a thick layer of manure under. (I'm also pruning for fire management.)

The richest soil is found in maple thickets. Maples require more moisture.

Many consider Spanish broom to be invasive and, if the conditions are ideal, supposedly the cuttings can sprout https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/spajun/all.html. But my conditions out here in the New Mexico desert are not ideal and sprouting requires human intervention. Once established, the brooms are drought tolerant, produce lots of biomass for chop and drop, fix nitrogen, catch windblown organic debris (providing more mulch), and provide amazingly strong wood for bending and building. I enjoy clipping green broom twigs, then bundling, wrapping, and inserting new twigs to make coiled baskets in the manner of pine needle basketry. Broom plants have beautiful yellow flowers and can really brighten up an otherwise brown landscape. Cutting back the plant to the ground revives and stimulates the plant to grow again. In a harsh sunny climate, I highly recommend the Spanish broom for chop and drop and more.

Mulberry, Siberian Elm, saltbush all do well. Mulberry takes water to establish for a year or two, but is supposed to be hardy once established and fast growing, good for coppicing. Saltbush doesn’t produce actual wood per se, but grows like crazy here and drops leaves, catches everything that flies through, great habitat.

These are great suggestions! I hadn’t realized Broom is nitrogen fixing- I have a neighbor growing it so I could easily get cuttings. Thanks for the suggestions!

I actually also have a mulberry- I love the fruit too much to coppice it but maybe if I propogate it I won’t feel the loss as acutely

Hello,

You desire from chopping and dropping to achieve bio mass, and organic matter in the soil!

Please think outside of chopping and dropping to achieve organic matter in the soil!

Just tucking in that lacebark elm has been working for me in the desert alpine area I'm in, zone 7a.

For mulch I can get unlimited and free wood chips from the nearby landfill.

Alex, what do you mean by that? Cover cropping? It’s hard in our area to do that without extensive irrigation, as the soil starts as basically just sand. I’ve found that after a couple of seasons of mulching it starts to get good enough to grow ground covers, but I haven’t been able to jump right to that. Open to suggestions if you have them.

Alder Proust wrote:Alex, what do you mean by that? Cover cropping? It’s hard in our area to do that without extensive irrigation, as the soil starts as basically just sand. I’ve found that after a couple of seasons of mulching it starts to get good enough to grow ground covers, but I haven’t been able to jump right to that. Open to suggestions if you have them.

Hydroponics, aquaponics, wiki pots, rain activated seeds see ted talk on growing plants without water!

The list goes on,

animals, flies, bees, birds,

Combinations of micro greens and hydroponic fodder and animals!

growing trees in pots!

I was just posting to encourage thinking outside the box! because I figured it may help!

I am in Southern Colorado along the NM border. I would recommend Russian Olives as they are fast growers, nitrogen fixing, and have soft wood easy to cut or break. The small deciduous leaves break down quickly. I would recommend against the tree of heaven. It is a known alleopath and has toxicity in its tissue https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=AIAL.

What grows well around here is honey locust. I have also seen a few black locust, but only around water. Some, other options are false indigo, New Mexico locust, silverberry, buffaloberry, and rabbitbrush.