Primary Uses:
-
Ornamental tree or large shrub
-
Nitrogen Fixer – puts nitrogen back into the soil which may be used as a fertilizer to other plants (actinorhizal)
-
Windbreak or hedge (some species are great in maritime climates: Black, Italian, Gray, Seaside Alders)
-
Wood – Firewood, Timber, Furniture, Paper, Mushroom Production
Secondary Uses:
-
General insect (especially bees) nectar and pollen plant
-
Coppice plant (harvest every 12-25 yrs for kindling, firewood, tool handles, crafts, poles, fence posts, charcoal, and in any situation where the wood needs to be repeatedly exposed to water)
-
Plants with a shrub form can provide shelter for wildlife
-
Living Trellis – the lower branches can be pruned to allow fruiting vine species a place to grow. The fruiting plant typically then gets a natural boost of nitrogen from the Alder trellis.
-
Erosion Control – can be used to protect soil from erosion on steep banks
-
Fantastic pioneer species – a plant used to re-establish woodlands on former farmlands or eroded/difficult sites (fixes nitrogen, grows fast, produces lots of leaf litter for soil building, and dies back as other trees shade it out)
-
Biomass Production – since Alnus grows so fast
-
Dye from bark, shoots, catkins (mainly from Black Alder)
-
Tanning – leaves contain high amounts of tannin
-
Edible Catkins – raw or cooked, used as an emergency food source (Red Alder)
-
Edible Sap – can be used straight or concentrated to a syrup (Red Alder)
-
Traditional medicinal uses (primarily bark)
When young most Alders have horizontal patterns to the bark.
But as it ages, it gets more thick and fissured.
