Alnus Incana

Alnus incana, the Grey alder, takes its name from its grey bark and the silvery-grey tint to its young leaves. In early spring, before the leaves appear, Grey alder produces yellow catkins with a pretty pink-red tinge and plump little green cones, which will mature and release seeds in autumn. Grey Alders is a relatively short-lived tree, usually dying after about 100 years. Its seedlings are extremely vigorous and can grow by up to a metre per year. Mature trees are fairly narrow and upright and are great for really wet soil and freezing cold sites. They need plenty of sun and will not grow on chalk or very acidic peat. Grey alder is a very vigorous tree that tends to grow lots of suckering shoots from its base, which provides cover for small animals. Like all the Alder family, this tree improves the soil around it by releasing soluble Nitrogen. Alnus incana can reach a height of about 30 metres, but 20 metres is more usual. Standard trees are the largest size that we deliver; you can also buy younger Grey Alder saplings here.
Grey Alder standards are also available as the ornamental cultivar Alnus incana 'Aurea'.

Browse our variety of alder trees or see our full range of garden trees for sale.

How Standard Trees are Measured:
All our standards, are graded by their girth in centimetres 1 metre above ground level (basically, their trunk's waist measurement). They aren't measured by their height, which will vary. So, a 6/8 standard has a trunk with a circumference of 6-8 centimetres and an 8/10 standard has a trunk 8-10 centimetres around. This measurement makes no difference to the tree's final height. Standard trees are 2.5 - 4.5 metres tall (on average) when they arrive; they are the most mature trees that you can buy from us.

History & uses of Alnus incana: This tree is native to Europe and Russia. Its most common natural habitat is along the banks of rivers. Alder trees are often planted on reclaimed sites where the soil is very poor or at risk of erosion. They improve the soil for other plants and their matted roots are good at holding loose soil together.

Grey alder wood isn't commercially useful, but it is very easy to carve. It is sometime called Speckled Alder.

Notes on planting Grey Alder trees:
Grey Alder will grow well in most soils, as long as they are not very alkaline (like chalk) or very acidic (like peat). It needs plenty of sun. It prefers wet sites and will happily grow in boggy terrain or on a river bank. It can grow quite near the sea. Italian Alder is a better choice for dry soil.
It will not grow well if the site is too acidic or alkaline and they will not grow in the shade. Young plants will tolerate partial shade, as long as they can grow up into better sunlight.

Prepare your site before planting:
It is good to dig over the site where you plant a tree several months in advance. Kill the weeds first: for tough weeds like nettles, brambles and ground elder, you will usually need a glyphosate based weed-killer to get rid of them. When you dig the soil over, remove stones and other rubbish and mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades.

Watch our video on how to plant a tree for full instructions.
Remember to water establishing trees during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Tree Planting accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass with Roundup weed killer.
You can buy a tree planting pack with a wooden stake & rubber tie to support the tree and a mulch mat with pegs to protect the soil around the base of your tree from weeds and drying out. We suggest that you use mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of all newly planted large trees: if your soil quality is poor, we strongly recommend it.

Read our full terms and conditions here.

Delivery: The basic delivery charge for orders of bareroot plants is £6.50 + vat, which increases to £12.55 + vat if you add any pot-grown plants, standard trees or fruit trees to the order.
Because couriers sometimes experience delays, we schedule delivery by week, not by day. Therefore, please plan your planting day for the weekend at the end of the delivery week or for the week following delivery, at the earliest.
We will email you the day before your plants are due to arrive.

*Surcharges to the Highlands and Islands still apply.

Payment: We do not charge your card until we begin to prepare your order for packing.

Guarantee: If any plants die within a year, we will replace them. We only ask that you follow our planting & growing instructions and sent us clear photographs of the dead plants in situ, so we can help to make sure that the replacement plants succeed. You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.

Please note that our guarantee is void if there is a hosepipe ban in your area: your newly planted hedging must be watered in dry weather while it is establishing. The best way to water is very thoroughly every few days: at least once a week if there is no heavy rain.

Our nursery has been supplying container grown and bareroot hedging plants to gardeners, farmers and town planners since 1949. Our website started in 2003, so we do understand the concerns that you may have about buying hedging plants online. If any of your plants are damaged when they arrive or if you are otherwise not satisfied with your order after you inspect it, please repackage it and contact us. We will give you a refund or send replacements and send a courier to come and collect the unwanted plants.

Area	Exposed Windy Areas
Soil	Acidic, Wet
Type	Screening

	NUMBER OF PLANTS
SIZES	1-2	3-9	10+
6/8 std Bareroot	Plenty of Stock£25.95	Plenty of Stock£21.95	Plenty of Stock£19.95
8/10 std Bareroot	Plenty of Stock£41.95	Plenty of Stock£35.95	Plenty of Stock£30.95

Grey Alder Trees

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Alnus Incana