I’m already netting cherries, nectarines, figs, and blueberries. I suppose I may as well plan on netting a couple more trees. This spring I drastically thinned my hazelnut bushes down to one trunk, changing them to a tree form. The only downside is that they are suckering like mad now, although if you pull out some roots with the sucker they are fairly easy to propagate.
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Here is a picture of my stand. The one on the far right (Theta) is about 20’ tall, the one on the far left (Yamhill) is maybe 15’. Jefferson and Santiam in the middle.
These trees are eight years old, a bit more than my guess of five above…
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Nice
Healthy looking trees @scottfsmith.
Page 5 on that OSU link recorded:
"Cumulative yield 2004–2008 (kg/tree)Field-run (nut) 18.9 "
Does this mean one should reasonably expect 42 lbs/5 years = 8 lbs per year per tree under the growing conditions at OSU?
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Is this anything …a catkin? I don’t know anything about hazels- got three tiny hybrids from the arbor day program. This is their second year. Do they flower?
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Those don’t look like catkins. They can be seen from the lower part of the stem leaf area.
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Check the first picture I posted and you can see the catkins hanging down. Your hazel might have some under the leaf.
Nothing noticeable yet, but mine is still small.
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Catkin update. Looks like going into third year at my place is when the big numbers of catkins show up. All four varieties now have the tags but Jefferson had me worried about its late arrival. In the last few days a few has popped out. My bushes had several blooms last season and I’m assuming that if a pollen source was available you could have nuts in the second year. I like other nuts but the wait time is just too long. Now I’m anticipating hazel nuts next year.
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Maybe this is them preparing to come out next spring? I too have a few Hazelnuts from Arbor Day and they have nuts (dozen or so) for the first time. 3rd year in the ground, tons of suckers, I should probably thin them some…
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Mine are still relatively small…probably because I had them in too much shade the first years, then moved them this spring. They weren’t happy about it.
That’s great you’ve got some nuts this year! Hope you will get them before any critters do!
I will look over my bushes today and compare. My Theta and York are loaded with catkins but my Jefferson only has a few.
I have a bunch of hazel seedlings leafing our from last year. I’m wondering whether I should grow them as a shrub or a tree. Thoughts?
My first three planting are growing as a bush but my two additional air layered Jefferson are starting out as a tree with a single trunk. I don’t know long term which I will prefer so I’m trying both.
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These were definitely catkins forming, to update. 
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I have had a pair of hazels (both american) for 5 years and added a third a couple of years ago. They are grown as bushes, in mostly clay soil in ~ 6 hours of sun (not full) The large of the 2 original bushes is ~ 7 feet. Pest-wise they are by far the preferred forage of my local japanese beetle population. I am pretty fastidious about beetle defense for the ~ 4 weeks of main concern so they are never more than ~ 20% defoliated. This fall I have my first catkins (on the larger tree). I was beginning to wonder if I was going to get them at all. Any experience out there on whether or not this is typical?
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My older hazels are all hybrids so they may or may not be a good comparison. The 3rd year I had blooms and almost no catkins, This is the 4th year and I had some blooms and only a few catkins. They are currently loaded with catkins and I think they will flower well come early spring 2021. I grafted in one wild American hazel this year.
Cool. With Auburn’s observations and looking over the thread in general I would seem that 5+ years for signs of reproductive behavior maybe unusual but not extreme, especially given that mine are not in full sun. It would be interesting to see how the grafts do. I will keep that in mind if I have any pollination headaches down the line.
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