THESE 8 SHRUBS Fertilize Your Soil (Part 2) Nitrogen Fixing Shrubs

Shrubs that improve your soil. Nitrogen fixing shrubs to use in your yard that help fertilize the plants around them as you prune them. These are the ones we use in the Permaculture Orchard to improve the soil for our fruit trees.
Or maybe I should call this video 'The hunt for the Goumi'
Timecodes:
00:19 Shepherdia argentea (Buffalo berry)
01:52 Eleagnus umbellata (Autumn olive)
03:18 Hippophae rhamnoides (Seaberry or Sea buckthorn) choose thornless cultivars
05:27 Caragana arborescens (Caragana or Siberian pea shrub)
06:53 Ceanothus americanus (New Jersey tea)
08:24 Amorpha canescens (Leadplant)
08:57 Eleagnus multiflora (Goumi)
10:13 Characteristics of nitrogen fixing plants
_______________________________________
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[@lagoya]

My grandma made buffalo berry jelly every year. You wouldn't think so, but those berries make a jelly that is divine. Everyone in the family fought over it 😁

[@lorrainegatanianhits8331]

I just made a pyracantha coccinea (firethorn) jelly and wow, it's the best one I've ever had. Yes, quite a lot of work, but so worth it.

[@chessman483]

Here in sub tropical Qld Australia, the best I find is QLD arrowroot and the other is Pigeon peas. Both grow super fast in almost any soils. Great for fertiliser, great for mulch, both have food aspects for animals and humans, great bee attraction. Grow incredibly fast, long term, easy to subdivide ( Qld Arrowroot) or re-grow from seed ( pigeon peas) . Can’t recommend highly enough in our climate.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

That’s the goal, to find the ones that THRIVE in your climate. Well done on the discovery.

[@JDBrown4peace]

Caragana an edible Wow for me . Not the pod, but the peas in the pod when they are ripe. A super food! 35% protein and delicious cooked like a lentil. This year is a bumper crop and I am in the midst of harvest so I was fascinated to see this presentation. We have 35 mature bushes where I live and I am 3 years into determining the best harvest methods. Collect the pods as they are turning red and before they "pop" the seed and scatter to the wind. Off to the harvest!

[@Metaphysics-for-life]

I've noticed that by allowing "weeds" to grow in my permaculture garden, many tree seedling are starting to show up as well. They NEVER came up in the crab grass that used to be there. Thanks for the tips!!

[@d.w.stratton4078]

Amazingly, nature has adapted for ecological succession. What I mean is, when you let the plants that want to grow develop, the animals they attract, often birds that are there to eat the insects, will carry in seeds for the next round of succession, in your case tree seeds. This also happens with aquatic life where water fowl will sometimes have fish, frog, and salamander eggs stuck to their feet and will seed a pond with life. Really a fascinating phenomenon.

[@Dravlae]

I have so many tree seedlings coming up now. It's so amazing.

[@benzell4]

Nature by nature! I am constantly trying to ‘teach people’ this aspect; often, as an adversary to popular opinion, wherein; we must have human intervention, or all is lost! Sadly, with human destruction practices over centuries, yea, millennia, we are nearly at the point of ‘all is lost,’ but due to such intervention.

[@brandonwilson5816]

The Siberian pea shrubs are tasty when you eat the flowers. Our kids go to town on them.

[@heterodox3487]

You bring a smile and useful info with your videos. Thanks again 🍀

[@RustyBobbins]

I FINALLY learned what Goumi is 😂 I thought it was the name of a pet!

[@DE2borknot2b]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us viewers. Very appreciative.

[@saraho8540]

I've been on the hunt to buy goumi plants ever since watching this video! 😂

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Goumi where are you?

[@stiletto696]

Sarah O, I’ve been on the hunt, too! I even paused and zoomed in on his tag to see the farm name-found it, but they, too are sold out 😅 Gonna try for the Fall 🤞🏻 I’m in Arkansas, US. Another YT I follow orders from one green world and burnt ridge nursery (she’s in WA). Good luck!

[@saraho8540]

@@stiletto696 Alert: I just found some at RAINTREE nursery!!! Yay!!! Their Titan Seaberry also just got back in stock. So, it might be a little late, but I have 1 of each coming my way.

[@tryitbuyitmakeitsellit]

These videos are so much to watch and learn.

[@eembryy]

Great information in this video... amazing work, Stefan. I am a big fan. :)

[@simombreeds9501]

Thankyou for the best plant Info Show ITS allways fun to watch 👍😁😁🍻🍻🙏🙏🇬🇧🇩🇪

[@petepenn1]

Keep Cool today! Going to work in the shade,15 minutes max, then back in to the water or AC. We Love to see you in your orchard garden. Thanks for the Tips!

[@renthousegarden1884]

Amazing information delivered in an energetic way. You got another student, sir.

[@AtlasReburdened]

Great info added to my notes. Thanks Stefan.

[@kolapyellow7631]

I woke to watch lots of your Clips. I learn alot. thank you. Will use your Ideas this summer.

[@butchmetzger7023]

Autumn olives definitely invasive where I'm at but when you mention early in the video about how fragrant many nitrogen fixers are it reminds me that I do love the fragrance when they're in bloom!

[@drewblack749]

I find my self trying to identify every speck of green on my property. The videos answer some of my queries...yet I still want to “beam you up” to my place for a look see. Thanks, again. Your videos are always entertaining and encouraging!! (Cool fact about the gray leaves-I always wondered!!)

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Try the app PlantSnap. You can walk around and just take a good pic of leaf and it will identify it. Even better than me beamed up.

[@Here_Today_]

@@StefanSobkowiak I love that app

[@jamesalanstephensmith7930]

A few new ones! Thanks

[@petespuppy2491]

You’re the BEST!!😊

[@loneforest6541]

Great tips

[@falcolf]

I only just learned this year that lighter coloured (and often fuzzy!) leaves = more drought tolerant. (Examples: mullien, batchelor buttons, California poppy, lamb's ears - this latter is a surprisingly impressive plant when it blooms because it has bright PINK flowers!) Darker coloured leaves: more shade/low light tolerant/deep forest! Examples: monstera, raven ZZ plant.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Good observation and correct.

[@whitneyconnolly3927]

Thank you

[@darongw]

I really like to use lupines for nitrogen fixing. There is one type here that grows as a woody shrub. Works great!

[@Skashoon]

So where is ‘here’ and specifically what is it called, which one of the lupines?

[@lorrainegatanianhits8331]

oh yeah this one is amazing. Potential as a biomass crop. Lupinus arboreus. Along with not being demanding whatsover, evergreen and drought-resistant, has it made a must grow for me.

[@franzwaltenspuhl8892]

Finally, Goumi!

[@SnakeAndTurtleQigong]

🙏👍🏻 Sending gratitude from a Daoist monastery near Seattle (USA)!

[@lorrainegatanianhits8331]

Sea buckthorn is the absolute best plant there is for the problems of our world.

[@lorrainegatanianhits8331]

wow, a very sick intro!

[@erikjohnson9223]

Goumi tastes somewhat between sour cherry and rhubarb. The seed is also edible, but spit out its husk. Like many olaeasters, the flowers smell wonderful, like gardenia, but the season isn't particularly long.

[@scottfraser706]

If you have a scientific question ask the guy from Canadian permaculture legacy. Hes Canadian and on our side of Toronto. I belive he lives outside of Toronto. Hes a engineer and is really into the scientific aspects of plants

[@edmourgagnon1504]

Bonne journée Stéfan. On m'a volé mon cellulaire au Guatémala alors je vous avais presque oublié... Content de vous voir en santé!

[@nealhanlen1362]

We don't have sea berry plants in Australia.

[@benzell4]

Again, on the subject of invasives; Autumn olive here in North America, has become a scourge in many places, as it is SO invasive, and nearly impossible to eradicate, once it has displaced so much native growth. Be Aware! Apparently, this plant was promulgated in North America as a landscaping shrub; now, we find it consuming the hillsides of our rural areas, choking out native vegetation and threatening our watersheds as well. Be, very, aware! As in some other North American locales, Kudzo has done, as well.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Interesting how the worst invasives are nitrogen fixing soil improving plants. Maybe they’re trying to tell us something.

[@fezwhy]

This is exactly what I needed today. I had never heard of New Jersey tea or Leadplant. The fun part is trying new plants and seeing how they do in your location.

[@HomesteadingWestVirginia]

The irony of him searching for the Goumi while I'm sitting here watching this because I can't find any Goumi for sale, anywhere and need another idea. 😅😅

[@saraho8540]

Omg right? Same! 😂

[@stiletto696]

Haha same! 😅

[@saraho8540]

They just got back in at Raintree nursery.

[@chessman483]

Seriously the best if you are sub tropical is pigeon peas or QLD arrowroot. Unreal and soooo easy to grow and so fast.

[@brianmozer3112]

Thank you Stefan for another informative video. I was wondering if there are east coast usa native nitrogen fixing bushes you might suggest. It seemed like many of these described here are from the central plains or other countries. ALso wondering where you can purchase these plants especially intrigued by the seaberry!

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Seaberry is not native. For east coast find bayberry, alder, sweet fern.

[@rospickle]

10:04 you said this in your why I don't use comfrey video

[@LittleRapGuy]

cOOL VIDEO

[@MsCaterific]

💛

[@DavidB521]

Hi, Stefan. I've enjoyed watching your videos for a couple years. The videos about adding nitrogen-fixing plants to a garden are particularly informative. I am now considering planting some Autumn Olive and Goumi trees. But first, a few questions. Since making those videos, has your opinion about them changed? (Do you still recommend planting a few Autumn Olive and Goumi trees throughout a garden or orchard?) If so, can you recommend a couple of the most cold-hardy varieties of both these plants? I.e., what are the most cold-hardy strains of Autumn Olive and the most cold-hardy strains of Goumi?

[@StefanSobkowiak]

I do still recommend them for an orchard. For a garden on the periphery but it depends on the size. I'm still testing many so don't yet have conclusions on cold hardiness.

[@peterellis4262]

One thing to consider with Autumn Olive is that it may be considered "invasive" in your area and technically illegal to plant. Up to your judgment whether or not to be concerned with that.

[@bernadettemcmanus7975]

I got an infection warning on one of the above links which was thwarted. the one with Want FOOD see the Farm.

[@h3v3nlei]

Omg, I didn't know there are thornless Seabury. Now I really need to add it into my garden.

[@Skashoon]

All I can find are Sea Buckthorns. Where can Seaberry sold? Russian Seaberry. And I need to know make from female, great! Siberian Pea shrub, same question, where can they be purchased. Would be quite helpful to cite plants and shrubs that are available. Would be even better if you would give a link where to buy them. Lead plant?

[@redvamp28]

@@Skashoon I would like to know has well.

[@blommfleuriste]

Hi Stefan, I am starting my mini food forest at home in Granby Quebec. In the video you did with Curtis Stone for FromTheField, you said you didn't have many plum cultivars in your orchard because the ones you had were the absolute best. Could you share which plum cultivar it is? Many thanks, love your content, you are such an inspiration!

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Fantastic that you just started. The cultivar is 'Mount Royal' Plum. Best on taste. Somewhat susceptible to black knot however. Check out the book 'Our Plums' to see the potential: www.cyberfruit.info/book-poster/plum-book/index.asp

[@blommfleuriste]

@@StefanSobkowiak Thank you!

[@gcxred4kat9]

I'm American, my wife is Canadian, we're dual citizens and live half the year in Florida and the other half in New Brunswick. In Florida we're both in The Florida Native Plant Society and do a lot of restoration work here. No such society in NB, I don't know about Quebec. Autumn Olive is very invasive and I just started seeing it pop up in NB. The trouble wth invasives is no insect generally eats them to keep them under control and they end up out competing the natives that the native wildlife depend on. Might want to think about your invasive plant strategy, they cause a lot of trouble.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

I understand how some plants become problematic, they always seem harmless until they’re not. After watching autumn olive for a few years I’ve yet to see a seedling emerge and the rabbits seem to really enjoy them when young. Absolutely if they’re a problem in your area you can omit them.

[@dennispovloski8102]

Another great video! First, thank you for taking the time to respond to so many of my questions. As you can tell, I'm a new viewer devouring your entire channel! 😅 Second, if I'm starting with a blank slate, do you think it's a good strategy to start my trios with nitrogen fixing shrubs to help start the fruit trees, the idea being that eventually the trees will shade them out and I can replace with "productive" shrubs (like berries, etc.). I think I heard you say a lot of the nitrogen fixing shrubs are prairie plants.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Depends on your soil. Sandy soil better to keep N fixers. Clay loam may not. It’s not just fertility issue also insect suppression. I would use N in all cases. Keep devouring, a lot there.

[@CairnOfDunnCroftPermaculture]

Have you tried using the pea tree seed as a dry bean? I'm growing them out in a food forest as a cold climate alternative to lentils, but they're too young to be producing yet.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

No

[@erikjohnson9223]

I have heard chickens like them, though I can't see how to let birds free range without losing them all to hawks and other predators, and I don't know how easy it would be to harvest the Caragana to bring the seeds to the birds.

[@CairnOfDunnCroftPermaculture]

@@erikjohnson9223 here in Scotland we're installing a food forest for poultry to self harvest as they drop, and in our context we've never lost a chicken to any bird of prey, though that sounds like it's a bigger issue in your area.

[@marymcandrew7667]

Hi Stefan, I love your videos! My dream is coming true, we've ordered 11 apple trees, 4 plums, 2 pears and a cherry tree! We live in the Scottish Borders and a shrub called Broom grows, beautiful yellow flowers and it gets seed pods just like Lupine. Do you know if this is a nitrogen fixer? Thanks!

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Yes it is. Ideal as it grows naturally on your property.

[@goolash1000]

I've come full circle around to considering American silverberry (zone 2) in my backyard orchard. These are stated as growing 10 ft x 10 ft, so I thought I would use them in a full tree location rather than a shrub. Does this sound like a good idea? Most other nitrogen fixing berry shrubs don't seem like a good match for our area. Any other thoughts on nitrogen fixing in zone 4 high desert, full sun, full wind exposure (sustained 30mph frequently at any time of year), alkaline, high calcium clay soil? (Ie, eastern Idaho)

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Yes it is a western species that does well in dryer sites. Also Russian olive but it becomes a tree unless pruned hard.

[@simplement8639]

Bonjour, Merci pour toutes ces belles informations, j’ai peut-être raté une information je me suis aidé de la traduction youtube pour comprendre mais le caragana de Sibérie j’aimerais savoir si il est éventuellement plus wouaou 😊 sous forme de graine à la manière d’un plat de haricot et si les poules peuvent en consommer mélanger aux grains comme des pois sec. Je souhaiterais en acheter pour la consommation humaine principalement, mais en Français difficile de savoir si ca vaut le coup bon apparement pas sous forme de gousse 😜.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Je crois que caragana préfère un sol plus lourd que le nôtre. Les graines c’est une option intéressante. Je ne sais pas pour les poules mais d’autres ont trouvé que les poules aiment les graines. Essayer.

[@lynnerichards808]

What about carmine jewel or hansen cherry bushes- or Blueberry- do the fix nitrogen as well?

[@StefanSobkowiak]

They are not known for being N fixers but they can be good pioneer plants and by spreading improve the soil with organic matter over time.

[@RamHomier]

Does someone have an idea how to get seeds or grown plants of the thornless seaberry? I found a few places selling them in canada but they don't specify anything about thorns.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

The thornless ones are cultivars which need to be reproduced by cuttings to keep this fantastic trait.

[@RamHomier]

@@StefanSobkowiak i just don kno where to get the first one to take cuttings from

[@StefanSobkowiak]

I got them from whiffletree nursery in Ontario.

[@RamHomier]

@@StefanSobkowiak Thanks so much. I will bookmark this nursery. For other viewers I found 2 in their catalog that are described in having less thorns or few thorns: Chuskaya and Sunny cultivars.

[@Wisald]

Have you heard about "Friesdorfer Orange" Sea Buckthorn? Apparently it's self-fertile and should fruit even if only one is planted. I bought one and I'm curious what will happen.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

No, thanks for mentioning it.

[@chaparra71]

Stefan, when you were singing the “goumi” song, that wasn’t a play on Don Francisco’s “Adam, where are you?”, was it?

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Yes it was, good ear for a great song.

[@sebastianstewart6894]

The silver Shepard.

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

with edible vs. wonderful, you're getting at a distinction of levels of palatability. there's edible, under which there's a few grades. you could, if you want, split them up the way cow meat is graded in the USA, canner, select, choice or prime, but it may be more useful to go with tolerable, select, or choice as you can't really make as many distinctions as with meat.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

I agree, there’s also taste preferences of different palates. One person’s delicious is another’s yuck.

[@thyme4coffee203]

Goumi tastes a ton like a regular autumn olive.

[@googooforyou]

Would a mountain ash be one too?

[@StefanSobkowiak]

No

[@MissMolly3377]

Where do you live? You have. Alittle accent. I live in NW PA, a couple of hours from Lake Erie. I would be interested to learn what would grow in my area.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Near Montreal, in Quebec.

[@boreanwisdom946]

Vous pourriez essayer la Comptonie voyageuse (Comptonia peregrina), qui serait très bien dans votre sol sablonneux! Ici en Haute-Mauricie, tous les gaz-o-ducs en sont remplis! Très aromatique comme plante!

[@StefanSobkowiak]

C’est vrai une excellente plante pour les sols acides. Notre sol est plus près de 7, même si c’est du sable. Un autre arbuste que j’ai pas mentionné c’est myrique baumier.

[@erikjohnson9223]

For English speakers (& I don't speak/read French, so this is Cliff's Notes, not translation), this discussion seems to recommend sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina) as an aromatic (foliage) nitrogen fixer for acid soils. Bayberries (Myrica pennsylvanica) and evergreen wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera) are larger growing alternatives for further south. These are used for candle production, but it really isn't cost effective. Myrica rubra actually has edible fruit, but doesn't seem available outside of its native China. Alders (cold-ish climate) use the same actinomycetes as bayberries, and may be what you want if your priority is coppiced firewood or charcoal production.

[@boreanwisdom946]

@@erikjohnson9223 This sums it all really! I would add Myrica gale is also really good in water logged areas and would be a good nitrogen fixer in that context with grafted fruits onto water tolerant graftstock like Mountain ash. (I've transplanted Myrica gale directly on the edges of my small pond and it worked wonderfully)

[@honeybadger8942]

@ Borean Wisdom Haute Mauricie,c'est où ? Jamais entendu parler de ce lieu.

[@boreanwisdom946]

@@honeybadger8942 Au Québec, région La Tuque, La Croche, La Bostonnais, Parent, Wemotaci, Opitciwan etc.

[@redvamp28]

I can only find Sea Buckthorn so they do have thorns would that still be good.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

There are cultivars that are thornless, well worth the effort to find them.

[@redvamp28]

@@StefanSobkowiak Where can I buy online cultivars that are thornless I usally buy from Whiffletree farm but they only have Sea Buckthorn.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

If I remember they have named Russian ones, that are thornless.

[@VanillaAttila]

Are there any potassium, phosphorus fixing plants too?

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Must be just as there are heavy metal accumulating plants. Look it up.

[@VanillaAttila]

@@StefanSobkowiak if there are , then wouldn't you want them in your orchard? Why are you only using nitrogen fixing ones in your trios? Makes me wonder if nitrogen fixers are needed at all if we cover the ground with wood chips/ leaves, the microbes can create the nutrients.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Wood chips works very well you just need to renew them every year or two.

[@benzell4]

At the end, here; it seems the elusive, ‘Goumi, RED GEM, is extremely similar to the ‘Autumn olive’... ouch! Be, very, Aware!

[@benzell4]

This, ‘New Jersey Tea’ looks very much like a ‘weed’ in our yard, which I have been concerned with for years! As a nature by nature person, I have been dealing with it by cut control, as opposed to chemical applications. Very interested to know if this is the same plant? What would be the scientific name of plant, for that, which you describe as, ‘New Jersey Tea?’ BTW, do you get many Ticks there? If I am to lie in the ‘weeds,’ here in the Midwest of U.S., in spring and, basically, all warm months, we have Ticks, galore! Including, the especially insidious, deer tick; which are those, tiny, practically microscopic, sometimes less than 1/64th inch, or less, wide; which can then, burrow quickly, into a much, smaller locale, on one’s body. The extraction of which, is invariably, problematic; never minding the discomfort, or technical aspects of same.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

We are just starting to have a tick in our region. New Jersey Tea is Ceanothus americanus

[@Brahmdagh]

Do geese/sheep etc enough of a job at providing nitrogen to an orchard?

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Enough? Depends on when you determine it’s enough. If I saw full of aphids in the trees I would know it’s a little too much. Until then just keep adding animals and soil improving plants. A lot depends on what you are starting with as far as soil.

[@Brahmdagh]

@@StefanSobkowiak I see. Thanks.

[@aliaksandrradziuk5438]

hi, it is good. But plastic does not let leaves and another organic to mix with soil!

[@StefanSobkowiak]

If you see the virtual tour I explain how organic matter is recycled under plastic.

[@nealhanlen1362]

I grow weeds on my property, some are edible.

[@ashleysovilla2037]

edible and palatable are definitely not the same! lol

[@adamriekert1984]

Russian pea shrub peas are edible but not palatable. Maybe for livestock?

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Yup

[@PartTimePermies]

We have tons of autumn olive (40 years ago, our land was a farm, now most is new growth forest/open grassland). I love their fruit in the fall, but its illegal to plant them here since they are considered "invasive" in Michigan. I dont believe in the terms "invasive vs "native" as if nature is static or we are not a part of it or that we are the only species that introduces new species to different areas. If we look at all the plants and animals that have been introduced since the last ice age EVERYTHING we have today would be considered invasive. What time frame is the cut-off? I'm glad I have autumn olive naturally and don't have to break the law to get it.

[@klincecum]

I count 7..

[@thejewmaicans743]

😂😂

[@r.f.ravari374]

Someone lost his marbles all right

[@chickadeeacres3864]

I learned that nitrogen fixing plants are fixing it for themselves. There is none to spare and since the plant is alive, it’s not going anywhere in the soil yet. The only benefit is that it doesn't need a nitrogen rich soil to grow. check gardenmyths.com

[@edgeofentropy3492]

2:04. Why, oh why, are you recommending a highly invasive species? It is nearly impossible to get rid of Autumn olive once it is established. It has a germination rate of 90% with a chilling period, and 70% without chilling period. Not a good choice.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

It’s all a question of context. It freezes back to snow level here.

[@moljinar]

Russian olive very invasive

[@amyjones2490]

I hope the goumi dont taste as bad as the goji. Yucky!

[@johnlord8337]

Just please do not plant (tiny) yellow clover which is in reality the sand burr clover of pets, shoes, boots, pants. If you see tiny yellow flower clover - grab and twist the deep root out - and stop the burrs from spreading by birds, animals, and people !

[@GenderIsBinary80]

2:53. Then pick native plants that serve this function. The good it does will be negated by the bad.