How to grow alder from seed. A fast growing cutting hedge. How to choose a seedling

Almost all plants have common feature- their cuttings (shoot or part of it) are able to take root!

Both lignified and green (young) cuttings take root. It is possible to root even conifers, but their rooting is associated with some difficulties and troubles.

There are plants about which you can say: "I stuck it in the ground - it turned green in a week." These lucky ones include: birch, willow, hazel (hazel), poplar, alder.

For cuttings, it is better to use strong ripened annual shoots (willow and poplar can be propagated by biennial cuttings and older).

Shoots for these purposes can be taken after autumn leaf fall, in winter (but with this option they will need to be stored until spring) or in early spring.

During spring breeding cuttings of the plants listed above can grow one or more meters per season (especially willow).

During autumn breeding plants will begin to grow in the first spring, provided that they give roots before the onset of cold weather. It is convenient for propagation to cut cuttings after spring or autumn pruning.

It is also good to use young shoots after pruning trees "on the stump". Cuttings taken from shoots located in the lower part of the trunk of the mother plant take root better.

A lignified shoot (it is better to take its lower and middle parts) is cut into cuttings immediately before planting. The length of the cuttings can reach up to 30 cm, with a shortage of planting material, smaller cuttings can be cut, but it is desirable if there are at least five buds on it.

The upper cut of the cutting is made straight and slightly above the kidney (0.5 cm), the lower cut is made oblique directly under the kidney.

It is advisable to keep the cuttings in a root-stimulating preparation (Epin, Zircon, Kornevin, Heteroauxin) according to the instructions. Then plant the cuttings in the prepared soil (you can immediately plant directly on permanent place, and not in a hotbed), deepening into the ground by three buds (we are considering a stalk with five buds).

After planting, the cuttings must be watered (you can additionally water with a root formation stimulator).

Ideally, until the moment of rooting (the cuttings will show signs of life, starting to grow), the soil should not dry out. If you are leaving the dacha and there is no way to water daily - do not worry - there is enough in a lignified cutting nutrients for development.

If it is not possible to cut spring or autumn cuttings for autumn rooting, then shoots for cuttings can be harvested in winter or late autumn and stored until spring.

To do this, they are tied into bundles and stored in a cool place (basement), buried in wet sand, in a refrigerator or in snow.

In the spring, the shoots are cut into cuttings, kept in any root formation stimulator and planted in prepared soil, the soil around the cuttings is pressed tightly, and the cuttings are watered.

The main secret when growing a sheared hedge is that it must be cut immediately after the cuttings are rooted!

And immediately cut by one third, no matter how sorry it was. The secret is that the more you cut, the more actively the plant grows, while pinching one to three to five buds slows down growth (this technique is used when it is necessary to stop growth and stimulate woody shoots).

Alder black, or sticky(Alnus glutinosa) is a frost-resistant and fast-growing deciduous tree that, in favorable conditions, lives up to 300 years and grows up to 35 meters. Black alder begins to bloom at the age of 10.

Black alder does not tolerate calcareous soils, loves wet fertile soil and grows well in full sun or light shade. Alder feels especially good near water bodies, in wet areas. Alder belongs to plants that improve the soil: nodules are formed on its roots with microorganisms that absorb nitrogen from the air.

Black alder is used for medicinal purposes (decoctions of cones and bark, infusion of fresh leaves have bactericidal, astringent and hemostatic properties, help with gastrointestinal diseases); its beautiful pink wood is easy to work with. Alder is also good for decorating the garden - its foliage remains green until late autumn. Varieties of alder with decorative pale yellow leaves have been bred. Alder is also used to protect the garden from cold winds (as a backstage or hedge).

Alder is propagated by cuttings (in autumn in open ground), as well as sowing seeds.
Alder blooms in March-April (even before the leaves appear), throwing out catkins; pollinated by the wind. female flowers combined into dark red spikelets, and then cone-shaped seedlings are formed from them. At first, alder cones are green, then they turn brown and ripen in autumn, but do not open until the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Therefore, ripe alder cones can be harvested for a very long period of time: from the moment of ripening until the moment the seeds fall out of the cones. Black alder seeds are small, flattened black nuts, equipped with two "antennae". To find out if the seeds are ripe, you need to rub the bump in your hand: ripe seeds will easily fall out of it.

A part of an alder branch with ripe cones is cut off and hung in a dry and warm place over a cloth. Warmth and dryness encourage buds to open and seeds to scatter. Then the alder branches with cones are additionally shaken over the cloth in order to remove the stuck seeds that did not fall out on their own. Dried and cleaned of debris alder seeds are recommended to be stored in a closed glass bottle for no more than 2 years.

Full-fledged alder seeds have good germination without any stratification. Black alder seeds are recommended to be sown less frequently (no closer than 5 mm apart) to provide seedlings with good conditions on initial stage growth. Alder plantings should be regularly and well moistened, but water should not be allowed to stagnate in them.

Ziborova E.Yu.

All about trees on site site

Weekly Free Website Digest website

Every week, for 15 years, for our 100,000 subscribers, a wonderful selection of relevant materials about flowers and the garden, as well as other useful information.

Subscribe and receive!

Widely distributed in deciduous forests is a nondescript-looking tree - alder. It likes to grow in damp places, so it can often be found near ponds and rivers. Large clusters of trees form dense impenetrable thickets, popularly referred to as alder forests. Although Alder cannot be called a particularly attractive plant, it still has value for people. IN traditional medicine its cones are constantly used, and firewood from it practically does not leave soot and waste behind.

Kinds.

The Alder genus includes approximately 30 species, 12 of which grow in the expanses of the former Soviet republics.

Black alder.

The most common and valuable in Russia is black alder, which inhabited the entire European part of the country and covers with its range a part of the territory beyond the Urals to the Yenisei River. Its pink wood with a silky sheen is highly aesthetic and is often used for household items and musical instruments. Coal from it is used for anti-chemical protection of equipment.

The leaves of the black alder have an obovate shape, in some places with notches. The bark of the tree is dark, fissured. The second name is sticky alder, the plant received thanks to sticky young shoots and buds. A tree grows up to 35 m, while it loves moisture and requires a saturated substrate for growth. It does not use root offspring for reproduction, and will not grow in a swamp, as it requires running water.

Alder gray.

Right from the name it is clear how gray alder differs from its black “relative”, namely in gray its bark. The trunk of this species usually does not grow straight, but slightly curving. The plant blooms with brownish earrings. The leaves are grayish to match the color of the bark, and with reverse side white-pubescent. They also sharpen upwards, like a birch, and the crown is ovoid and looks very attractive. The plant is unpretentious and can grow on poor soils and marshy places, but it also requires good sunlight.

The tree can grow up to 20 m in height and is able to propagate by root offspring, as well as cuttings and seeds. Alder gray actively grows in young age and well resists winds and frosts. Often it is used for forest reclamation purposes, to strengthen the banks and slopes of ravines. This variety can stand up to 60 years.

Green alder.

Green alder is one of the alpine species that grows on the slopes of the mountains. The plant is a low shrub creeping along the ground. Its leaves are oval in shape, and the bark is gray. It can be found in the Carpathians, but because of its inconspicuousness, the plant is usually invisible against the general background. At the same time, green alder has a lot of advantages, one of which is the ability to grow in the shade. Also, the plant is frost-resistant, not whimsical to the quality of the substrate and grows quite quickly. Often, with the help of this type, slopes are strengthened.

In addition to the common types of alder on the far eastern borders of Russia, you can meet such plant varieties as Siberian alder, Alder fluffy, Alder shrub. In addition, Alder is able to create interspecific hybrids. A negative property of a tree is the ability to shed green, not yet yellowed leaves. But this feature is compensated by the rapid decomposition of foliage in the soil.

Siberian alder.

Siberian alder usually grows along river banks along with coniferous trees. Refers to light-loving mesophytes. It is a non-flowering shrub or small tree. It has high frost resistance.

Alder shrub.

The distribution area of Alder shrub includes the northeastern region of European Russia, the northwestern territory of Western Siberia, the Eastern region of Siberia and the Far East. It usually grows as a shrub or small tree up to six meters. It has a gray bark and brownish shoots. The foliage is ovate, shiny up to 10 cm in length. IN early stage the leaves are endowed with stickiness and fragrant. It differs from other varieties in that flowering occurs in parallel with the formation of foliage.

Shrub Alder is a rather unpretentious plant. It can grow in the shade and resists frost well, but at the same time it requires sufficient moisture for itself. The shrub is often used for hedges and landscape design.

Alder Kamchatskaya.

One of the Far Eastern species of alder is the Kamchatka alder, which grows on mountain slopes in the altitude range up to 1.3 km above sea level. The plant forms dense thickets often with elfin cedar. Up to three years, it grows slowly, and begins to bloom and bear fruit only from the age of seven. The usual plant height is about 3 m. Flowering occurs in the second half of May, and the fruits ripen in October. Due to its high winter hardiness, it can survive in the most severe seasons. It is a photophilous mesophyte.

Olkha Maksimovich.

Alder Maksimovich is another Far Eastern representative of light-loving mesophytes. It forms thickets on the middle part of the mountain slopes. In youth, it grows rather slowly and grows up to 10 m. The vegetative period is in April and lasts until October. Flowering occurs in May, and fruits appear after 7-10 years of life. It has a high resistance to cold, in winter it can sometimes partially freeze.

Alder semi-heart-shaped.

The tree recorded in the Red Book of the Soviet Union is the semi-heartwood alder. It can only grow on saturated alluvial soil. The growing season starts in April and ends in October. The tree does not bloom and grows at a rather slow rate in the first few years of life. It has good aesthetic performance and frost resistance.

Alder is fluffy.

Alder fluffy has a fairly wide range. It grows in the Siberian regions, in the Far Eastern territories, the Eastern region of Asia and North American latitudes. Often you can find a plant in floodplain forests on abundantly moistened sand and pebble soils. Refers to photophilous hygrophytic plants. It grows up to twenty meters in height, and the growing season lasts up to 168 days. The growth rate is very fast up to three years, then slows down. Fruiting begins at the age of nine. Seeds germinate within a week after planting.

Alder Japanese.

Japanese alder is a light-loving mesohygrophyte and is found in the expanses of East Asia. You can find a plant in Primorye on the coast of the sea. It grows in monodominant small groups on river and sea terraces. Also sometimes combined with multi-species deciduous forests. Grows up to 20 m in height. The growing season lasts up to 169 days a year. Flowers and fruits begin to appear from the age of six. Up to three years it grows slowly. Seeds germinate in a few months.

Landing.

Due to its unpretentiousness, Alder can be planted almost anywhere, even on sandstones. Moreover, she herself can enrich the soil with valuable environmentally friendly nitrogen. This is due to the formation of tubers in the roots of the plant with bacteria capable of assimilating nitrogen from environment and saturate the soil with them.

The process of planting a tree is standard and is carried out during the vegetative period. Different kinds alders have their own characteristics of growth, but they all have similar properties: frost resistance, light-loving, need for a humid environment and drought intolerance. To avoid diseases of the plant, it is necessary to observe correct mode pet care and needs.

Plant cones are harvested in autumn and dried on fresh air until they open up. After the seeds are separated by sieving on a sieve. The sieve openings should be 4-5 mm. Seeds can be planted immediately or postponed for stratification. They should be stored at a temperature of 1-5 degrees for 4 months. If it happens spring sowing, then shoots will be only in a year.

For storage of seeds it is necessary to use densely closed glass or plastic vessels. Humidity in the storage should be no more than 10-12%. The ability to sprout lasts about two years. Laboratory seed germination depends on the species and is 34-61%.

When planting gray alder, sand, peat and soddy soil are mixed in a special proportion. Add about 0.2 kg of lime and 0.15 kg of universal Kemira. For black alder, sand, two units of peat and three humus are kneaded, and 0.15 kg of kemira is also added. When planting, slaked lime is added, and after one year it is better to feed with mineral-based fertilizers.

Plant care.

Usually the plant does not require watering, it should be done only during dry periods. Thanks to proper moisture, Alder grows quickly and has an attractive appearance. It is also completely optional to feed the trees, as they themselves enrich the soil. The soil under the tree should be loosened during weeding and after watering, to avoid excessive compaction of the earth.

The plant needs to be mulched. It is better to do this with peat or wood chips in an even layer of 5 cm. You need to carefully cut the root offspring, as well as broken and dried branches.

Alder can be infected with harmful fungi of the genus Tafrina. Female earrings are affected, in which leaf-like growth of scales occurs. There are also fungi that grow on the leaves of trees, causing them to become stained and wrinkled. Another dangerous pest is the corrosive woodworm, the larvae of which eat the bark and young shoots. Harmful organisms are fought with the help of poisons and pruning of the affected branches.

Reproduction.

Representatives of the species multiply rapidly. Shoots from stumps grow at a staggering rate, already in the first year rising by 1.5–2 meters. You can usually see new sprouts appear on the stumps, which later form lush shrubs. Gradually growing, they turn into impenetrable thickets. But still, Alder is dominated by the seed method of reproduction.

Pollination occurs in early spring when the catkins of the plant swell and elongate, releasing huge amounts of yellowish pollen. Her goal is to achieve red female inflorescences on nearby trees. Pollination also occurs with the help of bees flying from flower to flower. Alder shoots contain male and female flowers at the same time. Earrings are male inflorescences, and spikelets located in the upper region of the crown are female. The fruits of the plant look like single-seeded, flattened, small nuts surrounded by a narrow wing. They are located in cones, which were formed from the female reproductive organs.

From fertilized flowers, small cones are formed, which in a year crumble into hundreds of thousands of two-millimeter seeds. This event coincides with the spring flood, due to which the current carries the seeds for many kilometers. They are able to float well and swim until they arrive on some shore, where they successfully take root.

Gray alder is unfairly considered by many foresters to be a weedy tree, a waste tree, a tree that needs to be tormented rather than planted. This opinion is connected with the low commercial value of alder wood: it is too small, crooked and of little use. But gray alder, due to its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen (with the help of bacteria living in nodules on its roots), is able to grow on the most depleted and degraded soils, gradually restoring the fertility of these soils. Alder is a very fast growing and hardy tree, so it is quite suitable for the cultivation of new forests (especially for use as an admixture with plantings of other trees).

Growing gray alder is practically no different from growing birch. Alder seeds do not need cold treatment: they sprout well without it. Another difference is due to the fact that alder cones do not crumble when collecting seeds, like birch catkins, and therefore the seeds are clean, without impurities. Sowing alder seeds in rows should be carried out in such a way that there are 200–500 seeds per 1 m of the bed length (i.e., seeds are located on average every 2–5 mm).

It should be noted that black alder, also widespread in the European part of Russia, differs significantly from gray alder in terms of growing conditions. This is a tree that is much more demanding on the richness and moisture of the soil, which requires very frequent watering and less frequent sowing when grown in nurseries. According to the requirements for permanent planting sites, black alder also differs significantly - it does not grow well on poor and depleted soils with poor moisture and is suitable for planting mainly on rich and wet soils along river banks. Black alder is more capricious and can hardly be recommended for cultivation in amateur forest nurseries.

Black alder does not tolerate calcareous soils, likes moist fertile soil and grows well in a sunny or slightly shaded place. Alder feels especially good near water bodies, in wet areas. Alder belongs to plants that improve the soil: nodules are formed on its roots with microorganisms that absorb nitrogen from the air.

Alder is propagated by cuttings (in autumn in open ground), as well as by sowing seeds.
Alder blooms in March-April (even before the leaves appear), throwing out catkins; pollinated by the wind. Female flowers are combined into dark red spikelets, and then cone-shaped seedlings are formed from them. At first, alder cones are green, then they turn brown and ripen in autumn, but do not open until the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Therefore, ripe alder cones can be harvested for a very long period of time: from the moment of ripening until the moment the seeds fall out of the cones. Black alder seeds are small, flattened black nuts, equipped with two "antennae". To find out if the seeds are ripe, you need to rub the bump in your hand: ripe seeds will easily fall out of it.

Full-fledged alder seeds have good germination without any stratification. Black alder seeds are recommended to be sown less frequently (no closer than 5 mm apart) in order to provide seedlings with good conditions at the initial stage of growth. Alder plantings should be regularly and well moistened, but water should not be allowed to stagnate in them.

A deciduous tree or shrub belonging to the birch family, with entire leaves of a rounded, serrated or serrated-lobed shape. Both genders of flowers develop on the same shoot: male - earrings, female - spikelets located in the upper part of the crown. The fruits of the tree are small nuts, slightly flattened, bordered by narrow wings.

A rather moisture-loving plant, which often grows along the banks of rivers. Alder belongs to the species that improves the composition of the soil, grows rapidly, and in the fall retains green foliage for a long time. In places where wild alder grows, there are underground waters. And, besides that, they scare away the bear with it, sticking branches into the ground, in those places where the pest is seen. The bark is an unusual gray-green color.

Alder is planted with seeds, cuttings and shoots.

Different types of alder treat soils differently. For example, black alder prefers wet soils with stagnant water, and it also grows well in fresh, moist soils. It does not tolerate dry soils well: it grows slowly and dries quickly. Alder can grow well in humid climates and dry soils, as well as sandy ones.

A light-loving plant, moreover, black alder is more demanding of light.

Materials on Alder

In this section you will find posts on the care, cultivation, watering, reproduction Alder. Community users share tips and secrets among themselves. A huge number of photos.

The purpose of our project is the exchange of experience so that each project participant can learn how to care for a plant at home. .

Alder is quite difficult to breed. Its seeds do not require stratification, but they must be fresh, as they quickly lose their germination capacity or go dormant. If the seeds are too dry, stratification is required, variable temperatures work well. Before sowing, fresh alder seeds must be soaked for 2-3 days, washing and changing the water. Soaking must be combined with disinfecting treatments with potassium permanganate, hydrogen peroxide, zircon, etc. After that, the seeds are dried for twenty minutes until crumbly and sown superficially, on a breathing fertile substrate, and covered with a film. Spraying maintains moisture.

When shoots appear, you must either remove the film, or immediately dive the shoots into a separate container or in cups, since the high humidity required by the seeds will destroy the shoots. If the film is removed, the seeds will dry out and will not sprout. It is possible to sow several seeds at once in separate cups, but seed germination is low and this may be too labor-intensive. The most difficult thing is to save seedlings. Excess moisture with insufficiently loose soil leads to root rot, a little more dryness - and seedlings die too. The composition of the soil - breathable, light, moderately moisture-intensive and fertile - is the main thing to take care of when growing alder from seeds. If it is possible to disinfect the soil, this should not be neglected either.

Alder hairy

Alnus hirsuta (Spach) Turcz. ex Rupr.

Stable in the Altai Territory view, beautiful and frost-resistant. Sowing is standard according to the scheme described above.

PK384 Hairy alder - sprouting.
PK384 The first true leaf of the fluffy alder.

In the second summer, hairy alder seedlings differed in size, but in general it can be considered that it grows quite quickly. In some specimens, shoots of two orders appeared during one summer:

PK384 Hairy alder for the second year

Alder gray wrinkled

Alnus incana ssp. rugosa

According to Z. I. Archer, it is winter-hardy, but requires a snowy place of growth and is afraid of winter desiccation. Suitable for planting in wet areas.

The seeds of wrinkled alder, sown according to the above scheme, sprouted only in the second year, the whole year from sowing to germination, the box with crops was moistened, in winter it was in the cold. Germination was low.

The appearance of the first shoots:

PK244 Alder wrinkled - the first shoots hatch

In order not to remove the film and give other seeds a chance to sprout, I plant seedlings in separate cups:

PK244 The wrinkled alder is picked into a separate cup.

First true leaves:

PK244 Seedlings of wrinkled alder

Alder black

Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.

Z. I. Luchnik describes the behavior of black alder in the conditions of the Altai Territory as follows: "The winter hardiness of black alder is lower than that of many other species of this genus. In years with sharp fluctuations in temperature at the beginning of winter, its wood froze and burns appeared on some trunks, especially the most illuminated. ...... On rich and moist soils of low mountains, alder black alder developed very well, only slightly inferior in growth rate to gray alder and some fast-growing birches (Manchurian and paper).Lush crowns of its trees with large dark green leaves, always free from pests, have a very decorative appearance. .... As decorative tree black alder can be used in favorable places in the low-mountain zone of Altai for park groups, under the protection of local species.

Seedlings were obtained according to the basic scheme, picked out in cups:

PK13 Black alder in a separate bag

On the second summer it looked like this:

PK13 Black alder for the second summer

Alder can often be found in deciduous forests, near small ponds, lakes and rivers. This tree does not differ in visible decorative features, loves wet areas, can form dense, impenetrable alder groves. Even though the plant is rather plain in appearance, it is popularly valued for medicinal properties of its cones and is often used as fuel for stoves and bonfires, because alder wood does not create waste and does not leave soot. Let us consider in more detail how and why alder is grown, methods of its reproduction, planting features and requirements for caring for the plant.

Description

The name of the plant was due to its love for coastal areas, it was characterized by the Celtic words ‘al’ - at, ‘Ian’ - coast. Up to three dozen species of alder live in the Northern Hemisphere, including deciduous trees and shrubs.

What does it look like.

Outwardly, the tree is often unremarkable, the trunk is thin, twisted. The leaves can be either alternate, serrated-lobed, serrated, entire, simple or rounded-oblong.

Male and female inflorescences develop on the same shoot. They are located at the top of the crown, differ in shape and appearance, male - earrings, female - spikelets. The fruits usually contain one seed each. The shape of the fruit is oblate, nut-shaped, small in size, bordered by a narrow wing. They are located in small cones formed by female inflorescences.

The plant is not durable, loves moisture very much and is a soil-improving breed. Has several features. For example, alder bark is always smooth, regardless of the age of the plant. And the leaves do not tend to change their color even with the change of seasons. Fallen leaves are filled with nitrogen and, due to the fact that they quickly rot, are very useful for soils.

Is it a coniferous or deciduous tree?

Mostly deciduous trees and shrubs, but in the northern regions they organically feel among coniferous plantations.

Diseases.

White mixed rot. Radiation tinder fungus is dangerous for weakened and drying trees. The fungus can form during spore germination, penetrate into the sapwood and heartwood parts of the trunk and cause its decomposition. These diseases can be identified at the initial stage by the white color of the wood with a yellowish tint. The final stage of the development of the disease is characterized by easily separating fibers and the accumulation of light brown mycelium between them.
White fibrous rot. Only infects dead branches. But subsequently it spreads to healthy areas, affecting them. The disease can lead to the complete death of the entire tree.
Light yellow rot. The false tinder fungus reaches the core of the trunk, and it can only be identified by the fruiting bodies. The fungus is formed during spore germination, penetrates into the central part of the trunk through dead branches, infects it and leads to decomposition. In the early stages, the fungus can be identified by white stripes on the wood. This is evidence that it begins to loosen, after which light yellow rot appears with dark lines, a hollow may form.
Leaf deformation. The surface of the leaf changes, swelling, wrinkles and folds appear on it, often leaf curl is characteristic of the disease.
Deformation of women's earrings. The penetration of the fungus during the flowering period into women's earrings is fraught with growth and elongation of the scales. It can also affect the decrease in seed germination.

Varieties.

There are about 30 varieties of alder in total, but 12 varieties are known in our latitudes, the most common of them are:

Gray or white alder (Laciniata). Representatives of this species are characterized by gray bark and a slightly curved trunk. Flowering occurs through brown earrings. The leaves have a grayish tint, on the reverse side - white-pubescent, pointed upwards. The crown of the tree is ovoid. The alder of this variety is a rather unpretentious plant, it can grow on poor and sometimes even marshy soils, prefers sunny areas. It can reach a height of about 20 meters. Propagated by root offspring, seeds or cuttings. Frost-resistant and fast-growing plant. It is not afraid of the wind and is most often used for forest reclamation purposes. Suitable for strengthening banks and slopes. The average life expectancy is up to 50 - 60 years.

Black alder (sticky) Imperialis. The most common and recognized variety in Russia. It grows throughout the European part of the country and captures areas beyond the Urals to the Yenisei River. The most used is the pink wood of the plant, which has a silky sheen. They make household items out of it. musical instruments and coal for anti-chemical protection of equipment. The variety is characterized by obovate leaves, sometimes with notches, dark fissured bark and stickiness of young shoots and buds. It can reach up to 35m in height. It likes moist soils and requires a rich substrate for good growth. It cannot reproduce by root shoots and grow in swamps, it needs running water.

Other varieties.

Red alder. This is a small tree that grows in Canada and the USA. The height can reach up to 15m. The color of the wood is reddish brown. The red kidneys are located on the legs. The leaves are oblong-ovate, with sharp ends with a broadly wedge-shaped base, with small denticles and veins. The trunk is most often straight, the crown is dense. The wood is used in the manufacture of turnery, furniture, utensils and other household items.
Shrub alder. Distributed in the northeastern part of European Russia and on Far East. There are shrub forms or trees up to 6 meters tall. The color of the bark is gray, the shoots are brownish. The leaves are ovoid, the surface is shiny. The main difference of the variety is that shrub alder blooms simultaneously with the formation of leaves. An unpretentious plant, tolerates shaded areas well, is able to withstand frost, but needs moisture. Often used in landscape design to form hedges.

Alder planting.

Landing place.

Alder is a very unpretentious plant, so almost any area can be chosen as a landing site, including wetlands or sandstones. You can plant it to improve the soil and enrich the land with nitrogen. Tubers with bacteria form on the roots of the plant, which absorb nitrogen from the air and redirect it to the soil. They grow well on the coastal lines of large and small water bodies, some varieties need clean flowing groundwater, some in sunshine. However, these requirements are only features of a particular species.

How to choose a seedling.

Sticking to a few simple rules you can grow a healthy and strong alder in your area, but the most important thing is to initially choose the right seedling for planting:

In order to planting material established well and capable of rapid and normal development, it should be young with a well-developed root system.
It is advisable to pay attention to the root neck, it should have a small bend with a trace of a cut stock. If the cut does not overgrow, then the plant may be infected with a tinder fungus.
The stem must be in good condition, even, sufficiently formed, without mechanical diseases and manifestations of fungal infections.
Small root processes should be distinguished by density and splendor.

How to plant an alder.

Planting is done during the growing season. It is necessary to dig a hole with a diameter that allows you to place a seedling along with an earthen clod. Pour drainage to the bottom, lower the planting material and cover with soil. The soil in the near-stem circle should be loose so that moisture and air can freely enter the roots.

In order for the plant to grow organically, develop, and be resistant to diseases and pests, it is necessary to provide it with proper care.

How to care.

Watering.

If the alder does not grow in dry places, then it does not need frequent watering, but it is still necessary to ensure that the soil does not dry out. With proper regular hydration, alders grow quickly and have a healthy appearance. To avoid compaction of the soil, after weeding and watering, it is necessary to loosen the earth.

What should be fertilized.

It is not necessary to feed alder trees, they themselves are able to enrich the land on which they grow, but it is recommended to mulch the plant with peat, wood or gravel. It is advisable to apply the mulch in an even layer up to 5 cm thick.

To avoid harmful fungal infections and pest threats, it is necessary to regularly perform health pruning, removing all dried, damaged branches and processes, it is in them that harmful fungi are based.

The winter hardiness of alder trees is high, they are able to withstand very harsh winters, but some varieties experience partial freezing, this should be taken into account when choosing a variety for your own site based on the climatic nature of the area. To avoid freezing, young shoots are best covered for the winter.

reproduction features.

Well and quickly multiplies.

How to grow alder from:

Shoots. This is the easiest way to propagate the plant and results can be seen in the first year because the growth rate is incredibly fast. Literally immediately, sprouts begin to appear on the stumps of the shoots, which later form a lush shrub.
seed. Alder propagation by seed is most often used in our latitudes. To do this, the cones are collected in the autumn, dried in the fresh air until they open. After it is necessary to separate the seeds by sieving. They can be planted immediately or pre-stratified for best results. When stratified, the seeds must be stored for four months at a temperature not exceeding 5 degrees. If sowing is planned to be done in the spring, you need to be prepared for the fact that seedlings will appear a year later.

Where it grows

Growth area different varieties alder is quite extensive. This is almost the entire European territory, with the exception of some northern, southern regions, Asia Minor and North Africa. In the north, alder reached Norway, Sweden, the coastline of the Gulf of Finland; in the south, dense alder forests can be found from the Caspian Gulf to North Caucasus, Iran, Greece, Spain. The plant also covers all of Western Europe and the UK.

Medicinal properties.

Use useful qualities alders became a very long time ago, references to the plant are found in reference books dating back to the 12th century. To date, the use of alder in medicine is a fairly common practice. For treatment, seedlings, that is, alder cones, are used. Decoctions, infusions are prepared from them for the treatment of acute and chronic enteritis, colitis, polyarthritis, colds, dysentery. Means from alder seedlings are considered excellent hemostatic drugs for pulmonary, uterine, gastric and intestinal bleeding.

A decoction of cones.

Pour 15 g of cones into 250 ml of boiling water, boil for a quarter of an hour, strain, leave to cool. Take 1 tbsp. l. twice a day.

Leaf decoction.

It is taken for colds. 20g of raw materials need to pour 250ml of boiling water. Infuse for about a quarter of an hour in a warm place. Take after straining 100 ml twice a day. It also helps with malaria and arthritis.

Contraindications

It does not contain toxic toxins, so it is practically harmless if not abused. But for women during pregnancy and lactation, it is better to refrain from using drugs based on alder. Also, do not use alder for people with individual intolerance to the elements that it contains.