Growing Hazelnut/Cobnut tree in the garden?

malamala

We saw a small plant of Hazelnut (corylus avellana) for sale in Asda last night, and the thought of picking fresh hazelnuts in the garden was appealing. The instructions on the box was very simple and gave the impression that it is very easy to grow, so we bought it!

HOWEVER, I did a research on the net today and some said you need at least two different species for pollination (but some said they are self-fertile).

AND, some said it will grow into quite a big plant of 3 - 6 metres in height and have to plant 3 metres apart.

Our garden is longish so I am not sure if this is suitable for our garden and I am worried it will block sunlight as I am growing vegetables and fruits in our garden.

Anyone has experience on hazelnut tree? Thanks!

Plum_Pie

There are 2 in my parents garden about 30m apart. They both started off small, 1 is now huge (10m?). The other is smaller but is planted in a rockery.

AFAIK they don't block the light too much as they leaves are not that densley growing. This may vary between species.

I've never seen my parents pruning them, which is not to say they never do! They get thousands of nuts though. They have to give them away!

malamala

30 metres apart! I am afraid we don't have such a big garden.

The instructions said 'Height: 120cm' so we thought it won't get too big and they never said you need more than one plant to get hazelnuts.

We have changed our plan and perhaps plant it in the front garden as hedgerow instead.

Hope it works!

angie_loves_veg

Our hazelnut tree is part of our hedge, and with no maintainance it gives us a fair crop each year.

Whilst we have no other hazel tree, we are in a rural area where there are many around, probably 50m - 100m+ away. Do any of your neighbours have one that could be a pollinator to yours? The insects that pollinate do not care who owns them!

Some trees have cultivars that are self pollinating - it could be worth asking the boffins down at Ken Muir for advice - they always come up trumps when I pose tricky fruit/nut questions.

malamala

Thanks Angie! That's promising.

I am not sure if there is any hazelnut tree around because I have no idea how they look like until today

Am I correct to think that if we plant it next to the fence, it will grow along it into hedgerow? Thanks in advance!

angie_loves_veg

hmmm.... not in the way that a climber would cover a fence, no. Hedging plants are often spaced about a foot apart, and allowed to grow together, the cutting and pruning gving the 'hedge' shape.

If planted alone, next to a fence, you would end up with a tree next to a fence, although, that in itself could be quite attractive!

malamala

Thanks Angie! You can tell I am really very 'green' in gardening, LOL.

I am soaking the poor plant in the bucket and am now worried by tomorrow I would have drowned it. (Don't know why I got this idea of soaking the root for 24 hours before planting.)

Perhaps I will remove it from the water and wrap in plastic for now.

tomterm8

If you hazelnut tree instructions say 120cm, it must be a dwarf rootstock. In any case, hazel trees take pollarding very well indeed; we regularly cut 5-10 foot off our hedge with no problem.

Hazels can be self pollinating, too. What rootstock does your label say?

p.s. you can keep the roots in water 24 hours, no problem.

malamala

Thanks thanks thanks!

If it is only 1.20 metre tall than we can choose whether to plant it in the front or back garden.

The label only said, 'Hazelnuts (Corylus Avellana)'.