| In Britain it has
been used mostly as a nurse-crop to put the land in better hearth
for more demanding trees and to bind and improve old mining slag
heaps and similar land in need of improvement, such as motor way
verges. It has also been planted as an ornamental tree. Grey Alder
is locally naturalised in a few areas in these isles, notably
Scotland. In its native habitat Grey Alder binds gravel beds along
streams, which are then less likely to wash away by flood water.  Characteristics:
Grey Alder is a smaller tree than the Common Alder and
will reach heights from 10 - 24 metres, depending on conditions.
As a young tree it is rather cone-shaped, but it will broaden with
age. It has smooth grey shiny bark with very distinct pores. In
older trees this may become duller and grow some fissures. The
dull green leaves have sharp double teeth and are greyish
underneath. They are ovate-elliptical in shape and end in a point,
unlike the Common Alder. Male and female catkins grow on the same
tree and stay on tree throughout winter. The male catkins ripen in
February. The female catkins look like small green cones at
first, which then become woody with one-seed in each of its
scales. The small empty cones are, as with other Alder species,
very distinctive on the winter silhouette of the tree.
Cultivation:
Usually by sowing seed in spring or by propagating the
suckers. Taking cuttings works, but can be more difficult than
working with seed or suckers.
This is a very frost-resistant tree, which can cope fine with wet
conditions, providing the water is not stagnant.
Grey Alder is one of the very few trees which will do well on
infertile and disturbed land. Its suckering habits will soon make
a colony and bind the soil together. The nitrogen fixing bacteria
in its roots will increase fertility.
Some varieties:
A. incana 'Aurea' - A small tree that has also smaller
leaves, which stay golden all summer and turn orange late in the
season. The shoots are also yellow. Rare.
A. incana 'Lacinata' - Deeply cut small leaves with 6-8
pairs of slender, toothed lobes. Rare.
A. incana 'Pendula' - Has long hanging branches and it up
to 6 metres high. Rare.
A. incana 'Ramulis coccineis' - Has orange-red shoots. In
winter the leaf buds and catkins scales are red. Uncommon.
Uses:
The wood of the Grey Alder is of a relatively poor
quality and is not valued commercially. The tree is mostly
used to increase fertility of poor land and stabilise
loose earth in reclamation schemes.
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