I normally do ground layering. Wait for the branches to grow like 8-10" long, then wound it and bend it down. Dig a shallow trench like 1-2" deep, put on a small rock and pile with soil. It is similar to mounding, but does not bury the main trunk. The only thing is that, the branches should be a little longer than the regular mounding or air layering.
After I cut the rooted branch, the stub is still there that can still send more branches next year. Or I can just cut off the stub flush.
has anyone used Corylus colurna - Wikipedia
For it’s tendency to not sucker, and form a good single stemmed tree?
You graft your choosen variety on it, thus use colurna as a rootstock.
I have 1 to exeriment with. Was going to try to make cuttings but i read it’s really hard. Might try a rootgraft if i find the time.
PS: i remember reading somewhere it dwarfed the grafted variety. And there might be some incompatability’s. Can’t find back the source at the moment though.
I haven’t used it but it has a lot of appeal to me as a rootstock.
Hazelnut or Filbert?
I live in the burbs South of Seattle Wa. The next town to me is named Tukwila, in the local Salish language here it translates to Hazelnut and the city crest has the image of a cluster of branches and “hazelnuts” they are supposed to be indigenes to the Puget Sound area . The local Arborist says they are Filberts? I.D.K.
They grow like weeds here and are somewhat of a nuisance they spread by root , dropped nuts, and dirt layering, I have 4 clumps of these in my yard that I can’t kill without a pint of full strength Roundup on the fresh cut stump. I have never seen anyone here try to Bonsai one as they grow canes at a rate of several feet a year, then producing a dozen nuts per tree, so they are left for the Bluejays and squirrels to fight over and spread.
Do people really invest that much time in a low producing tree?
The wild “weedy” filbert and the nut producing hazelnut are different things. Same thing jujube grows wild in China. But many named cultivars are grown in orchard and farms.
The wild hazel are probably American types, tiny nuts. The European varieties are large and are commercial types. But they develop Eastern Filbert Blight (EFB) in most of the US, at least in the East regions. So a lot of efforts have been put in the hybrid hazelnut varieties. We hope we can develop some viable commercial varieties.
Also in my area, red oak and black walnut grow wild. I have to pull seedlings and cut down some small saplings from time to time. Some people treasure them.
I rarely grow wild plants because of the low production. True with many fruits. I have a hedge of 14 dogwood cherry seedlings. I also grow a selected cultivar. That one tree out produces the 14 seedlings put together. Why it has been cloned thousands of times. The hazelnuts sold to home growers are hybrids as mentioned and produce a tremendous amount of nuts. Although getting pollination right is difficult sometimes. You have to have the right mix of trees at least three cultivars. Otherwise production could be low.
Also, as I see, the hybrid hazelnuts propagate by cloning, or tissue culture. I’m not sure if those nuts sprout, or they will revert back to their parents or become unknowns, just like apple seeds.
If so, only the wild ones spread by birds and the hybrids do not. Still need to read on the hybrid hazels…
Once, someone in WA offered some wild hazelnut seedlings for free. I was thinking of getting those for pollination. Glad I did not get them. They would off little use to me. The hybrids and pollinators need to be compatible.
i agree. i have 1 10yr old that has never had nuts. i planted 3 more hybrids and finally it has nuts this year. all 4 are loaded. pollination is trickey with them. i thought maybe my wild beaked hazels would pollinate with them but i guess theyre incompatable.
Glad your hazels are bearing nuts now. I recently moved nine Jefferson air layers from 2020 to my new location. On these I grafted in York, Theta, Yamhill, and two americans. I’m hoping that with all these the pollination needs will be met. Just curious but what hybrid varieties did you use? Thanks.
not sure. the oldest one was pure American from Arbor day. the other 3 were from a Arborday program where they gave you 3 hybrids to test out for free and then reported back to them when and how much nuts they produced. i think they were from Badgersett reasearch which was working with Arbor day. they had contacted me a few years ago asking if they produced yet and they hadnt at that point. i probably should let them know they are finally producing. id like to know what they are a hybrid of as well.
I planted some nursery small trees last fall. They grew in spring. But has since been just sitting there, little growth. They are in full sun and get enough water. The same with my chestnut seedlings. Not sure if this is common for small trees.
They look healthy.
I have a couple of Hazelnut (bushes, very very “bushy” with a gazillion suckers) which I think I got from Arborday(?) I didn’t bother harvesting any nuts last year, they’re so tiny. Trim out everything and keep one stem and try and train it into tree form? Or will this variety just likely never product larger nuts do you think?
Thanks.
Thanks
Tractor supply had some tiny American filberts and I bought one mainly for a comparison to the newer hybrids and to aid pollination. The tiny stick finally started growing and it is very bushy compared to the more upright hybrids. I will graft it onto a limb of Jefferson later and then I might remove the american bush. This go around I’m training them to a single trunk.
Some say American hazelnut may not be compatible for pollination. So I do not want to get any of them. They are good for wild life, but can get wild with the right environment.
the nuts ripening on my 10 yr old bush are small compared to the 3 younger bushes. its growing on 1 trunk. it hasnt sent out suckers in like 5 yrs now. my younger ones try to sucker still but not real bad. i may remove the older one if thats all its going to produce and give the room for the others to grow. i also put in 2 ecos hybrids from oikios and a Winkler hybrid from z nutty this spring. hopefully with my mature nut bearing tress 20 ft away they will produce nuts sooner than my older ones did.
My opinion is that the nut size will stay small but I could be wrong.
My original spacing of my hazels was about 10’ apart and in a bush form. This time I spaced them 5’ apart in the row and my rows are 10’ apart in a tree form. I want a solid row for privacy and I also want to be able to use trunk guards to eliminate squirrels/etc. My method isn’t a proven way, just a plan. My opinion is that layering into the soil would be an efficient way to propagate hazels but I air layered into 2 liter drink bottles. I separate my air layer before they go dormant and seeing the root development is important.
@murky succesfully used cuttings inserted directly into the soil and they rooted.
With bush form, they grow upright. So they can be planted close. But with tree form, they grow taller and more spread. You need more spacing. You’ll also need ladders assume they will grow to mature sizes.
At some farms, they do cut 1/2 of the trees when they grow mature.