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Trees that feed the soil

Nitrogen fixers and pioneers that build fertility on ground where nothing else will start.

Restoration·Trees·Wildlife
  1. 01
    Root nodules on a nitrogen-fixing tree showing pink interior
    Restoration3144 min

    Nitrogen-Fixing Trees: Free Fertility Forever

    Trees partnered with soil bacteria pull nitrogen from the air, feeding degraded soils and whole guilds without a bag of fertiliser.

  2. 02
    Alder trees growing along a stream bank with catkins hanging from bare branches
    Trees0074 min

    Alder: The Nitrogen-Fixing Wet-Site Pioneer

    How alder partners with Frankia bacteria to fix nitrogen, hold stream banks, and turn waterlogged ground into fertile soil for the trees that come next.

  3. 03
    Dense orange sea buckthorn berries clustered along thorny silver-leaved stems
    Trees4155 min

    Sea Buckthorn: Nitrogen, Salt, and Sand

    A nitrogen-fixing pioneer that stabilises dunes, tolerates salt spray, and carries one of the highest vitamin C loads of any temperate fruit.

  4. 04
    Black locust in flower with hanging white racemes and deeply furrowed bark
    Trees0475 min

    Black Locust: Rot-Proof Timber, Nitrogen, and a Bad Reputation

    A nitrogen-fixing tree with fence posts that outlast concrete — and one of the most aggressively invasive trees in Europe.

  5. 05
    A flat-topped acacia standing alone on dry savanna grassland at low sun
    Trees0016 min

    Acacia: The Thorn Trees That Hold the Drylands

    Nitrogen-fixing dryland keystones, the ant partnerships and chemical defences, and the reverse-phenology tree that fertilises crops beneath it.

  6. 06
    Bright orange sea buckthorn berries clustered on silver-leaved branches against an autumn sky
    Trees3175 min

    Nitrogen-Fixing Shrubs: The Frankia Partnership

    Sea buckthorn, goumi, Siberian pea, and their kin. Shrubs that host Frankia bacteria and pull 70 to 180 kg of nitrogen per hectare out of thin air.

  7. 07
    Root nodules on a legume root system showing pink nitrogen-fixing tissue
    Wildlife3154 min

    Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria: Free Fertiliser in Every Root

    How Rhizobium, Frankia, and free-living bacteria pull atmospheric nitrogen into the living world and feed every productive ecosystem.

  8. 08
    Young pioneer trees establishing on bare, degraded hillside
    Restoration3573 min

    Pioneer Species: Nature's First Responders

    How pioneer trees colonise bare ground, stabilise soil, and create conditions for full ecosystem recovery in restoration work.