Hedge Rose vs Red Alder

Hedge Rose is a long-lived, fast-growing shrub. It bears similar flowers to the Alberta Wild Rose. Birds will love its deep red rose hips. Hedge Rose will thrive in a wide variety of soils and is a tall rose forming a useful hedge.

Excellent for shelterbelts, ecobuffers, and wildlife habitat plantings. Continuous flowering makes it attractive to pollinators. Many song and game birds utilize this tree for food and habitat.

In use since the early 1900s, this hybrid was originally developed at the PFRA's Indian Head Agroforestry Center.

Red Alder is a fast-growing deciduous tree native to western North America. Through its nitrogen-fixing roots and nitrogen-rich leaf litter, Red Alder improves soil fertility and supports the growth of surrounding plants. This makes it especially valuable on disturbed sites following logging, construction, or fire. A classic pioneer species, it often colonizes bare ground and enhances conditions for longer-lived conifers to follow.

Red Alder stabilizes soils on streambanks and disturbed slopes, reducing erosion and aiding restoration. It also supports wildlife: birds and small mammals eat the seeds and buds, deer and elk browse the foliage, and bees are drawn to the pollen-rich catkins in spring.

Red Alder also has commercial importance, with its strong yet workable wood widely used for furniture, cabinetry, veneer, and pulp. The tree takes its name from the rusty-red color the bark turns when cut or bruised.

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