Love for alders

Pfaf says that alder trees are amazing. They’re nitrogen fixers, they coppice/pollard well, they attract wildlife, their wood is valuable and very resistant to water damage, there are at least five different dyes you can extract from them, they are medicinal in several different ways, they are dead easy to start from seed, they’re great firewood and charcoal, they can grow four meters in the first five years, and the list goes on. Please share your experiences with alder here.

I love Alnus glutinosa (common alder). I am growing it for shelter and to coppice for fire wood and it loves my damp acid soil. Last year I did my first serious cut (see my blog). It is growing back well now and I hope to harvest every 7 years or so eventually. The wood is not dense but dries quickly and burns well in my conventional wood fired Esse cooker.  I also get a lot of kindling from the branches.  The smaller branches are quite brittle, and birds or wind often break some of the twiggy bits, or split the branches at a node.
I didn't find it to grow from seed for me, however it has self seeded in my drive! In the ground the bright orange root nodules, which I assume house the nitrogen fixing bacteria are often very close to the surface. The wood is also bright orange when first cut, fading to brown.
I quite fancy trying to make some clog soles from a larger branch this year. It was used for that purpose in Lancashire into the 1950s. These were the original protective soles in foundries.
There are several sawflies and moth caterpillar larvae which seem to prefer the alder, although don't seem to harm the trees overall.

Alder sawfly larvae.
I hope to plant some Italian alder (Alnus cordata) soon, in an area which is well drained so some other trees are struggling (I have had to remove my ash due to chalera which leaves a gap).  Hopefully they will not mind the cooler summers here.  These are the variety that Martin Crawford has in his Dartington Forest garden.

I'm afraid I do not like them, they shed sticks and branches all over, the wood is brittle and rots easily, it burns very fast which for us was not a good thing,  they sucker all over the place and in my experience retard the growth of anything under them. About the only good thing I can say is they grow fast and like wet feet.

Not a lot of experience living with them but have observed how prolific they are, make fine firewood if the need is there (definitely better than nothing), are loved by an array of fungus, make wonderful sounds when the wind blows and are a beautiful way to watch the seasons pass. Makes a good smoke as well. They build a forest quickly on water edges around here.

I'm sure there are a million scientific benefits that I'm ignorant of. Definitely would never plant them unless I had plenty of extra space, they do grow fast!

i binge watched the whole southwest mushrooms youtube channel recently and red alder is used in one of his recipes

Skandi says

the only good thing I can say is they grow fast and like wet feet.

That suits me fine!

I haven't noticed my alder suckering at all.  They do sprout from the bottom of the trunk like small leaved lime, but not from a distance like cherry or sloe.

While helping gather nuts a few years ago at Badgersett Research; Phillip Rutter's farm, he relayed how he had been given several select alder clones; hybrids selected for rapid growth rate in research before hybrid poplar research shaded out the research funding for hybrid alder. They were growing there in Canton MN. I didn't look at them closely.

Brian-

Alder holds a very special place in my heart.

And on my shoulder...

Burra Maluca wrote:Alder holds a very special place in my heart.

And on my shoulder...

Burra, How did such a tree find it's way to your heart?

Brian
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Alder is a key tree species in a realistic plan to combat climate change and boost tree numbers.

There isn't a farmer on the planet who hasn't got a bit of wet 'shitty' land. Even the best dairy farm will have a few corners that you will never drive machinery on and you would rather your animals kept out off. And on the bad ground alder will grow.

Excellent way to encourage land owners.

I have been planting oak trees on the better bits of land, and last year I bought 60 Alders to plant in the wet boggy parts, but I will be getting another 150 this year. I live on west coast of ireland so plenty of boggy land