Pesky Alders

[keegs]

There's an area of pasture not too far from that house that's not being cut, where alders have begun to propagate. I've done some checking online to identify the species and while I don't know for sure what variety of alder this, is I'm pretty sure it's alder.

It's propagated to a radius of about 100 - 150 feet. In spring, shoots come out of the ground (looking like asparagus) and by August they're about 3 - 4 feet tall. They're invading the pasture (grass) and if I had to guess what's there will continue to expand.

Alder (their seeds and leaves) provides food for wildlife, birds, deer, moose...etc. and apparently the roots are capable of nitrogen fixation.

I mowed them this spring but I don't think that will get rid of them. Anyone have experience with alder and how to control them?

 

[studor]

I have a lot of tag or speckled alder on my property -- it is a PITA -- it attracts beaver which then go on to mow down other trees. It grows like a weed and spreads easily. I cut it, mow it, pull it and in a year it is back to where it was. In spring when the river overflows it's banks it seems that more of the stuff pops up as soon as it dries a little. If you cut it a couple of times in the summer and let the grass get over the top of it it seems to slow it down -- but it will be back -- I have resigned myself to that fact that it will always be work that I have to do

 

[keegs]

Thanks Studor...you think in my case plowing it up would do it?

 

[studor]

If you can take out the roots with a plow , I definitely would do that-- In my case many of the places it grows would be tough to get a plow through. I think that the ones that I have pulled out have been the easiest to control after but once they get to a certain size you would need a backhoe to get them out

 

[Lloyd_E]

Mow, mow and mow some more. Also, depending on the time of the year... if you cut them they will die. Up here, it is a full moon in August!

I cleared 2-3 sections(about 1/2 acre each) and I continue to mow even after 3 years. I think I was successful after year 5. I do mow(bush hog) the pastures once a year.

I have another 3-4 acres to clear... will be a real challenge since it is in the wettest part of my land.

Lloyd

 

[keegs]

... if you cut them ....in a full moon in August!
Lloyd

.....in your birthday suit... while humming the Rigvedas :laughing:

 

[slowzuki]

Just keep mowing them 2-3 times a year. Late aug is good before they send all the energy reserves back underground.

 

[Pilot]

What part of the world are you in?

Alder is one of the best nitrogen fixers in the Pacific northwest. The market for alder logs is good and prices have sometimes been almost as high as for Douglas-fir.

It's easily killed with 2,4-D.

 

[Pete Judd]

Alder saw logs are going around 1000-1200 bucks per thousand BF right now, doug fir at around 500 or less. Western red alder is used for all kind of things. But on the other hand around here It can grow to a 12 inch stump in a few years. I mow, and mow, And when I cut them down, I drill a few holes with the cordless drill to make the stumps rot faster. Alder will rot out in just a year or 2 if left in contact with the soil.

 

[Redgoatea]

I'm in the PNW and about half my property (45 acres) is covered in alder. When the price gets a little better I'm planning on logging and replanting with fir. I actually have to keep the cows and goats away from the alder or they eat them.

That said, nobody is allowed to walk through the alder trees in the winter. There's a reason they're nicknamed widowmaker trees around here. The branches snap off 6-8' long and spear straight down into whatever's unlucky enough to be below them. Good luck getting rid of them at least be thankful they have a weak root system. 7

 

[keegs]

I'm not sure what variety these are but I don't think there's much wood value there. I've seen some varieties online that grow to fifty and sixty feet but these are more like weed trees (if I can use that term). There's another area at the edge of one of the pastures where they've been established much longer (and left uncut) and have grown in a thick cluster to about 20'. It's at the edge of my property ajacent to a wooded area that buffers a stream. I just let them grow.

This newer growth that I referred to in the opening of the thread is out in front of the house and I'm not sure I'm liking how fast they're spreading. They even seem to be changing the nature of the soil where they grow...kind of like walking on a peat bog ...I'll keep mowing them....not sure I'll be around for the August full moon though...:laughing::laughing:

Got this from wikipedia:

Alder is particularly noted for its important symbiotic relationship with Frankia alni, actinomycete filamentous nitrogen-fixing bacterium. This bacterium is found in root nodules which may be as large as a human fist, with many small lobes and light brown in appearance. The bacterium absorbs nitrogen from the air and makes it available to the tree. Alder, in turn, provides the bacterium with carbon, which it produces through photosynthesis. As a result of this mutually-beneficial relationship, alder improves the fertility of the soils where it grows, and as a pioneer species, it helps provide additional nitrogen for the successional species which follow.

The catkins of some alder species, have a degree of edibility[2] and may be rich in protein. Although they are reported to have a bitter and unpleasant taste, they are more useful for survival purposes. The wood of certain alder species is often used to smoke various food items.

Alder bark contains the anti-inflammatory salicin which is metabolized into salicylic acid in the body.[3] Native Americans used Red Alder bark (Alnus rubra) to treat poison oak, insect bites, and skin irritations. Blackfeet Indians used an infusion made from the bark of Red Alder to treat lymphatic disorders and tuberculosis. Recent clinical studies have verified that red alder contains betulin and lupeol, compounds shown to be effective against a variety of tumors.[4]

The inner bark of the alder, as well as red osier dogwood, or chokecherry, was also used by Native Americans in their smoking mixtures, known as kinnikinnick, to improve the taste of the bearberry leaf.[5]

Alder is illustrated in the coat of arms for the Austrian town of Grossarl.

Electric guitars, most notably the Fender Stratocaster and Fender Telecaster have been built with alder bodies since the 1950s. Alder is appreciated for its bright tone, and has been adopted by many electric guitar manufacturers.

 

[Pilot]

I could take you to a place on the Gifford Pinchot NF that shows how effective alder is at fixing nitrogen.

The site burned around 1900, then again 20+ years later. It burned hot and the nitrogen was largely vaporized, leaving little N in the soil.

Forest Service planted the area in 1929 to an 8 ft. spacing. But someone suggested planting alder also, as they thought alder areas hadn't burned as hot.

So they planted alder among the DF in a strip about a mile long and 200 ft. wide in 1932. They still had the DF at a spacing of 8 ft. and added alder at a 6 ft. spacing, so the site was way overstocked.

The alder took off. Some researcher came across the site in the 60's or so, was aware of alder fixing N and put in some fertilizer plots outside the alder strip, fertilizing at 200, 400 and 800 lbs per acre (I think I have those number right).

In the alder strip, the alders had way overtopped the DF, but the DF was starting to catch up. You could easily see the alder strip on aerial photos. When I found the spot around 1990, the DF dominated the site and the alders were on their way out.

In unfertilized areas outside the alder strip, the DF was about 8" DBH, crowns were yellowish and small, ground cover was about 90% and was mostly salal with a little vine maple.

In the alder strip, DF was about 24"+ DBH, ground cover was almost non existent because of the dense DF crowns. In spite of the initial overstocked spacing, competition had eliminated the slow growing trees and the site was appropriately stocked--no thinning had been done.

In the fertilized plots, the trees there were still way short of N, if the alder strip is used for comparison. Even the most heavily fertilized plot didn't look as healthy as in the alder strip.

Another interesting observation, bear damage. In the Bull Run Watershed where I regularly worked, there were a lot of bears and whenever we thinned the trees we would see bear damage the next year as the bears found something delicious about sap or bark in fast growing trees. In the alder strip, every DF had bear damage; outside the alder strip I didn't see any.

Red alder used to be considered a weed by foresters; now they have a greater appreciation for it. The high price for alder logs is deceptive, because it takes a lot of alders to make 1,000 BF; alder may have it's greatest value as a site enhancer.

OP: We still don't know what part of the country you are in. Knowing where you are we might be more helpful.

 

[keegs]

That was a really interesting post Pilot. From the wiki I learned that as a pilot species, alder's nitrogen fixing attribute would benefit subsequent (resident) species. Your observation certain brought that to light. Thanks...

I'm in Northern Maine.

 

[Jewelofnile69]

We own some land in Northern MI (Neebish Island along the St. Mary's River...up by Sault Ste. Marie). We were up there all Labor Day weekend on our 5 acres chain sawing down 15-20 ft Tag Alders (about 1 acre is covered with them) and using the tractor and brush hog to clean up the rest of the land that isn't covered with maples. My question is how the heck do we tackle this many tag alders from coming back (we still have about .25 acres left of them to clear)?! I've heard a capful of bleach on the roots or brushing the roots with Round-up works. There is NO WAY we could do that to all of these roots. We've stacked the cut down alders and are planning to burn them this winter. Is it worth doing a controlled burn of the area and then spraying something less toxic than Round-up after we burn? I understand Alders love the Nitrogen in the soil so not sure if it's worth trying that. We probably wouldn't mind them so much but they cover our entire marshy area that leads up to our water front.