Planting, growing and caring for hazelnuts in open ground, choosing a variety and propagation

Nut lovers can be offered the cultivation of hazelnuts, which are easy to care for in a garden. You can immediately get an ornamental hazel tree and harvest fruits that are good for human health. The nut kernels contain a lot of fat and enough protein to quickly fill you up. Hazelnuts are used in the form of leaf infusions and bark decoctions, which help with many diseases.

Popular hazelnut varieties

There is no need to be afraid of growing hazel in your dacha. In addition to the fact that the plant is unpretentious and frost-resistant, it bears fruit regularly in the 3-5th year after planting. You can choose those types of walnut trees that will take root in a particular region.

Common hazel

In the common type of hazel, the height of the bush reaches 4-5 meters. At the hazel:

• large jagged green leaves, turning red in autumn;
• brown bark of stems with transverse stripes;
• flowering occurs before the leaves bloom in catkins;
• The nuts ripen at the end of summer.

You have to wait a long time for the tree to bear fruit, sometimes up to 6 years, but then it will produce nuts for a long time. Many of them reach the age of 50 years or more.

Tree or bear nut

The plant is called bear nut because it is distinguished by its strong immunity to drought and frost. The culture grows in the Far East, as well as in the western regions of Russia.

The tree has a thick, powerful trunk with light brown bark; young shoots are covered with gray bark, slightly pubescent.

Hazel has round leaves of bright green color, but in the fall the entire tree is covered in yellow, red, and orange foliage. The earrings of the hazelnut variety are bisexual, so there are no problems with pollination.A special feature of tree hazel is its pea-like nuts.

Manchurian

The highly branched walnut shrub reaches a height of 3-4 meters. Hazel is famous for its leaves 7-10 centimeters long and up to 12 centimeters wide. They are dark green, smooth above, and softly pubescent below.

Hazel wood is reddish-white, elastic, and is used for making bent furniture, canes, and fishing rods. The plant has oblong-shaped nuts as fruits.

Variegated

This type of hazel is suitable for the regions of Siberia and the Urals. The shrub is very decorative due to the constant change in color of the leaves. They are green only in summer, red in spring, and yellow in autumn. This is one of those hazelnut varieties that begins to bear fruit earlier and is not afraid of winter cold.

Red-leaved

A shrub with red round leaves on spreading branches will decorate the site. Walnut is good for creating a hedge. In early spring, female and male earrings appear. Hazelnuts ripen at the end of summer. Its ripeness is determined by the dark brown color of the shell.

Large or Lombard nut

The more delicate type of hazel does not tolerate cold well, which is why large varieties of hazel are found in the southern regions. The bush itself reaches a height of 8 meters, and its fruits are large and tasty. The variety needs pollinators to set nuts.

Other varieties

There are other popular varieties of hazel:

1. The almond nut is valued for the unusual taste of its seeds. Medium-sized nuts, up to 1.6 grams each, are collected from bushes with moderate growth vigor. The oily kernels are used in confectionery production and consumed dry and fresh.
2. Cosford fruits early. Vigorous bushes with dark green leaves in summer and red leaves in autumn.The nuts are collected in clusters of 2-3 pieces; they are bronze in color with large kernels inside. The tree has average frost resistance and grows best in warm climates.
3. Ivanteevsky red hazelnuts can be grown in Siberia. A very productive nut variety with oblong fruits. The taste of the nut is rated 4 points.

Breeders have created a large number of cultivated hazelnut species.

How does a tree reproduce?

There are several ways to propagate hazelnuts. This is done both by seeds and by vegetative means. But the first one is the most difficult and does not always lead to a positive result. After all, it is difficult to select high-quality seed material. It is easier and more reliable to plant shrubs using layering or suckers.

By layering

Select a healthy side shoot of hazelnut, place it in a groove, and cover it with soil. You can pin the branch with special devices, for example, wooden hooks, to the soil surface. The remaining upper part of the hazelnut layer is lifted vertically and tied to a peg. It should be 10-15 centimeters long. The upper part of the hazel layer must be cut off at the height of the 5-6th bud.

When the hazel buds begin to sprout, forming young branches, spud the shoot. After rooting, you need to wait another year for the young branch to get stronger. They take care of it, water it, and cover it for the winter. Then it is separated from the mother hazel bush. The disadvantage of this method is that it is very difficult to germinate a hazelnut shoot.

Offspring

Already in the 3rd year after planting hazel, healthy shoots can be separated from the root. Using a hatchet or shovel, carefully disconnect the shoots from the rhizome so that they have roots. You can plant several holes with hazelnut cuttings, distributing 3 shoots into each hole.Not all of them can germinate, so such planting will allow some of the root shoots to take root. When they begin to produce green branches, the propagation of the nut has been successful.

Vaccination

With this method of hazelnut propagation, both cuttings and buds with a strip of bark are used. The nut is grafted into the butt, split and into the bark. Cuttings from the upper part of hazel shoots, which have well-developed eyes, take root better. The cuttings are taken in November, when the hazel is going to be grafted in the spring. Organize proper storage of the material under the snow or in the cellar in a plastic bag. The best survival rate will be for that part of the material that is grafted onto the bark in the spring.

When budding hazel trees in summer, you can prepare cuttings the day before the grafting procedure. The eyes are taken from the woody part of the bush. The rootstock can be common hazel or variegated hazel, Manchurian.

Dividing the bush

This method of propagating hazelnuts will help thin out a thickened nut plantation. After digging up the hazel bush, carefully divide the roots into several parts. Each should have a stump with roots up to 15-20 centimeters long.

Seeds

The material is selected independently from the best hazel bushes. The seeds are buried 4 centimeters in October in the selected area. The soil is prepared loose, nutritious, by mixing humus or compost. Spring planting of hazelnuts requires seed stratification. The nuts placed in peat with sawdust are covered with moistened soil, covered with a polyethylene film and placed in a warm place with an air temperature above 22 degrees. After 2 weeks, containers with nut seeds are placed in a room with low air temperatures, up to 1-3 degrees above zero. Hazelnut seedlings are planted in open ground in May.

Planting hazelnuts at home

When growing any garden hazelnut tree or shrub, they try to plant it correctly. The further growth and development of culture depends on this procedure. You need to know in what places to plant the hazel tree and what kind of soil it likes.

Selection of seedlings

Purchase hazelnut seedlings from specialized stores. 2-year-old seedlings are best suited. You can prepare planting material yourself from root suckers or cuttings. Some people dig up a hazel tree in the forest. Before planting, young hazel shoots are inspected for damage and rot. When examining the roots, pay attention to their condition. They should be moist without breaking the outer shell.

It is important that there are no dry areas in the hazelnut root system. If it dries out, immediately place the seedling in water. You can do some minor pruning of the roots. They need to have enough strength to continue growing, so you can’t prune them too much.

Optimal timing

It is believed that it is better to plant hazel in mid-autumn, October-November, depending on the climate. It is necessary for the plant to have enough time before winter to adapt to new conditions. If they do not have time to plant on time, then the seedling is stored in a cool place until spring. It is only necessary to control the preservation of moisture in the hazel roots. Therefore, you can place the seedlings in the ground or in a plastic bag with mandatory ventilation. It is also planned to plant hazelnuts in the spring, from April to May. But preference for planting hazel is given to the autumn procedure.

Choosing a landing site

The peculiarity of hazel is that it loves places in the open ground:

• sunlit;
• protected from cold winds;
• with soil of neutral acidity;
• where the soil is fertile.

Hazelnuts grow best in the garden on northwestern and northeastern slopes. It needs space, so there is no need to plant it where trees with spreading, lush crowns grow on the site. In the shade, the nut will bear fruit worse.

You can plant hazel trees in your dacha where you need to strengthen the slope. But this should not be a swampy place.

Hazelnuts need soil with neutral acidity, so on acidic soils, slaked lime or fluff is added after digging.

Landing technology

Planting pits begin to be prepared a month before planting. When planting hazelnuts in the spring, holes are dug in the fall. The width and depth of the hole should be 50-80 centimeters. When digging, the fertile layer removed from above is placed nearby, and the layer depleted of useful substances is scattered around the site. The distance between plants is up to 4 meters.

First, fill the hole with a mixture of humus, mineral fertilizers and fertile garden soil. It is useful to add a handful of mycorrhiza. Then a peg is driven into the center of the hole 2 quarters full, and a nut seedling is placed next to it. When planting, the root collar is buried 4 centimeters, but not covered with soil. The soil around the hazelnut bush is compacted and then moistened. When planting nuts in the fall, apply a layer of mulch, which will help retain moisture in the ground.

Further care and cultivation

The survival rate of hazel will increase if planting is done correctly. The chosen location must suit the growth requirements of the hazelnuts. If a tree or shrub self-pollinates, then it will be comfortable alone. Some hazel varieties require pollinators that need to be planted nearby.

In the future, you need to care for the nut seedling according to the rules of agricultural technology. Then the work will not be in vain.After a few years, fruits will begin to form on the plant, the quality of which depends on the type of hazelnut. It is better to plant cultivated hazel varieties that bear large nuts.

Irrigation and fertilizing

Hazel is classified as a moisture-loving plant. It needs to be watered often depending on the weather. Usually 2 to 3 times a month is enough. The soil around the bush must not be allowed to dry out, otherwise it will die. In the summer, check the soil near the hazel tree several times for dryness. When the soil at a depth of 20-30 centimeters is dry, it is dangerous for the roots of the plant.

One mature hazel tree requires up to 30-50 liters of water. For irrigation, furrows are dug into which fertilizers are added.

They can be humus used as mulch. In the spring, the root circle is dug up, embedding nutritious mulch into the soil. Hazel is fed with both organic and mineral fertilizers.

It is better to determine what to fertilize the plant in advance. In spring, hazel trees require nitrogen to grow green mass. The bush receives it from a solution of mullein in a ratio of 1:5 or bird droppings - 1:12. During the fruiting period, hazelnuts need potassium and phosphorus. Feed with superphosphate and potassium salt. After harvesting the nuts, a solution of wood ash is suitable for feeding the tree.

Weeding and mulching

The soil around the walnut bush should not be ignored. It is necessary to ensure that the area is not overgrown with weeds, as they will not allow the crop to develop properly. It is necessary to regularly clear the place where hazelnuts grow of weeds and loosen the soil. At the same time, make sure that the loosening depth does not exceed 5-7 centimeters. The procedure is performed up to 4-5 times per season, excluding the fruiting period.

Mulch for hazel is prepared from peat or humus, or dry straw or sawdust. The layer is 7-8 centimeters thick. They try to ensure that the mulch does not lie close to the tree trunk. Every year the old layer is removed and replaced with a new one. In wet summers, you don’t need to mulch hazelnuts.

Trimming

The growth of shrubs leads to thickening of the hazel crown, and, as a result, the occurrence of diseases. And the nut harvest is getting worse. Therefore, the bush is formed annually with the destruction of old shoots. The fruits are usually set on annual branches. In the fall, hazel is pruned to remove both weak and thin branches. In spring, sanitary pruning of frost-damaged, dry, and diseased shoots is needed. For abundant fruiting, you need to leave up to 8 strong shoots on the bush.

The hazel tree pruning scheme is as follows: the tree or shrub is rejuvenated in the spring, and thinned out in the fall.

Sheltering young hazelnuts for the winter

Many varieties of hazel are frost-resistant, so adult specimens do not need to be covered for the winter. But young bushes need protection from the cold. In the first 3 years of life, while the root system of the hazel tree is strengthening, in the fall the bushes are covered with spunbond.

First, the branches are bent to the ground, then spruce branches or branches are placed on top. Then in 2 layers of non-woven material. Sheltering for the winter should be done at a time when the daytime air temperature drops to minus 1-2 degrees.

Tree transplant

A hazel tree is transplanted to a new location only if:

• he is ill;
• the soil is contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms;
• The area needs to be redeveloped.

Hazel lives a long time and grows well in one area, so there is no need to replant it. But if the procedure is necessary, then it is better to propagate by cuttings, layering or offspring. It will not be possible to transplant an entire adult bush.And it will be difficult for even a 3-4 year old tree to take root after transplantation.

It is better to prepare cuttings in advance, place them in water or soil for rooting, and then after 2-3 years, transplant the nut into open ground.

Forest tree productivity

Before purchasing a seedling, you need to find out what year the selected hazel variety bears fruit. There are types of hazel that will produce their first harvest after 4 years. And some can bear fruit after 8 years. Therefore, there is no need to worry that there are no nuts on hazelnut branches for a long time. When the bush begins to bear fruit, the nuts are first green, and then their shell begins to strengthen.

Their ripeness can be determined by the color of the nut. It should be dark brown and crumble when the tree branches are shaken.

You cannot eat the harvested crops right away. The nuts should dry out. They are placed in a dry and well-ventilated area. You need to constantly stir the fruits so that they dry on all sides. How long after you can enjoy delicious kernels is determined by the condition of the hazelnut shell. It should be firm and dark in color. Hazelnuts and their oily pulp are used to make confectionery products. Walnut oil is used in cosmetology.

How to protect hazelnuts from diseases and pests

Although the hazel tree rarely gets sick and is attacked by parasites, you must try to protect it from negative influences. Typically, pathologies arise due to the fact that the soil is contaminated with fungi and bacteria, or the hazel seedling was purchased as sick. It is better to carry out all preventive measures as early as possible. Therefore, whether it is possible to prevent problems in the development of hazel, they think about this in advance.

Hazel diseases

Of the pathologies, hazelnuts suffer most often from fungal infections. These diseases are associated with wet and cool weather.It is at this time that pathogenic microorganisms are especially active. It provokes the development of hazel diseases and improper care of the plant.

Powdery mildew

The disease can be identified by the white coating on hazel leaves. It looks like flour was spilled on them. Over time, the leaf blade begins to blacken. Fungal spores spread along the stems of the bush.

To cope with the parasite, you need to tear off damaged leaves and trim diseased branches. And the plant is sprayed with a solution of Bordeaux mixture or copper sulfate.

Rust

Orange and yellowish spots on hazelnut leaves are a sign of rust disease. At first the spots are small with a dark border, but then they grow and lead to drying of the foliage. The danger of the fungus is that it does not allow the crop to develop normally, and the nut harvest will be small. Treating hazel with fungicides will help.

White rot

This disease spreads from leaves to stems and nuts. Hazelnut tissues become necrotic over time, and dried foliage falls off. It is necessary to take measures in time so as not to lose the hazelnut harvest. To save the tree, the affected leaves, stems, and fruits are disposed of. Spray the hazel crown with Bordeaux mixture in advance.

Bacterial burn

The disease often affects hazel and is expressed by small yellow-green spots on the leaves. Over time, the affected areas darken, but a light spot remains in the middle. When shoots are damaged, red-brown areas are visible on them that dry out. This leads to breaking of the stems. Due to bacterial damage, the nuts will not form pulp.

You can combat hazelnut burns by treating them with a solution of Bordeaux mixture.The first time is sprayed with the drug when the buds open, and then during the formation of the ovaries.

Hazel pests

Most often, the parasites that damage hazel are those that are sucking insects or leaf-gnawing insects. Some feed on the inside of the nut, making passages inside the shell.

Kidney mite

This miniature insect is difficult to see, but it causes significant damage to hazelnuts. The mite damages the nut buds, which leads to a lack of flowering and ovaries on the hazel. The pest can be noticed in early spring, when it emerges from its wintering grounds and settles on a tree.

Aphid

The main carrier of diseases, aphids, also affects walnut trees. Colonies of sucking parasites are easy to spot on the underside of leaves. You can see the results of the parasite's activity by the deformation and curling of hazel leaves. To combat aphids, insecticides and tobacco infusions are used.

Nut weevil

The beetle, which has a brown body and is 1 centimeter long, can be seen by the way holes appear on the fruit. The weevil larvae need to get to the tasty sweet pulp, so they make holes in the nut shell and destroy the crop. To prevent the spread of the weevil, fallen rotten fruits are collected and disposed of. And insecticides will help in the fight against insects.

Walnut longhorned beetle

If a black bug with yellow legs and long mustaches appears on the leaves of a hazelnut, then soon all the foliage will be full of holes. These insects feed on the green mass and stems, leaving the bushes bare during a massive invasion of the hazel tree.

Walnut leaf beetle

This leaf-eating insect is dangerous for hazel plantations. Adults, together with green larvae, cause damage to the tree. When a parasite attacks a bush, it soon remains naked.The loss of hazelnut yield from insects is up to 50%.