Our range of Alder (Alnus glutinosa) bare root trees

Alder grows well from seed into a bare root tree in just one growing season.   The seedlings we offer (sometimes called whips) are grown from seed sown in open fields in spring and become a viable tree sapling by the following November and we sell them from November through until April. We have bare root Alder whips in several heights.

The seed from which our Alnus glutinosa tree saplings are grown is usually UK provenance but we sometimes also have some of the highest quality imported seed so if it is particularly important to you to have UK seed provenance, please give us a call.

Alder (Alnus glutinosa) Summary

Often chosen because it is so well suited to wetter soils and riverbanks Common Alder also does well on normal soils. There are many other attributes to this lovely tree/hedging plant.  It has a tidy conical habit, is very fast growing initially, is native, has female catkins in March, comes into leaf early and then holds its leaves well into winter, and in autumn has attractive little cones.

It is a favoured species of tree for windbreaks around orchards, second only to Alnus cordata – please see our blog on orchard windbreaks.

Please be aware that Alder varieties are deep rooted so don’t plant near a building, road or paved area which could suffer damage from the roots.  

Soil and Situation

An ideal tree or hedging plant for boggy ground and will even tolerate its roots being underwater for weeks on end so very much the tree to choose for flood risk areas where it helps to prevent soil erosion.  It doesn’t rot in standing water but actually the wood just gets stronger. As well as it’s suitability to wet soils, it is highly tolerant of air pollution so is ideal for roadsides and urban planting schemes and it does not require a wet soil to thrive – it will be absolutely fine on normal soil.  It has nitrogen fixing capability so it will not only thrive on poor soils but will enhance the soil and is an ideal tree for ground reclamation.  Common alder is good in full sun or partial shade.

Whilst there are many varieties of Alder, Alnus glutinosa is the only variety native to the UK.

Leaves, flowers and fruit

One particularly good attribute of Common Alder is that it comes into leaf early and it holds onto its leaves late so although it is deciduous, it is without its leaves for a relatively short time.

It has early male catkins (a good source of early nectar and pollen for bees and a wide range of insects) and small female cones in autumn (strobiles) which hang on the tree like Christmas baubles, opening to disperse seed on wind and water. The seeds are eaten by birds.

The leaves are quite large, dark green, shiny, shaped like a tennis racquet and indented at the end (so there is no pointed tip).  They emerge from greyish/purplish buds.

Alder produces tough and durable light wood which is rot resistant and was frequently used for boat building.

Eventual height and growth rate

Alders can be trimmed as a hedge, allowed to grow as a tall windbreak, or as a tree it will grow to about 20m with a conical shape.  It is fast growing when young (up to 2m pa) in the right situation.  Alder trees live for about 60 years, longer if coppiced.

Also known as Black Alder or European Alder.  Betulaceae family.