How they’ve done corresponds with protection they’ve gotten from deer, and whether watered when small. The original is thriving. Rooted and grafted tree died after deer depredation.
Squirrels get the nuts. I’m not sure if they prefer them over the wild ones.
The wildlife is brutal I know. I bought blueberries years ago, I may get some this year because the first year of the deer munched them down and set them way back. Same with raspberries, munched down first year, set us back a year.
Now we have two dogs with GPS collars on so they can run free and I think that’s helping. We took two very cheap 6 x 6 greenhouses flipped them over and screwed 1 inch deer fencing to the bottom. Then we took off the roof and replaced it with shade cloth. The blueberries have been able to recover inside the structure with no pressure from pests. It was so disappointing to buy those greenhouses only to find that not only do they not keep anything from freezing, but they cook things in the summer. That is why we had to take off the roof panels. I find it interesting that it will not keep anything warm, but will hold heat like that in the summer.
Was the first hazelnut you got a Lewis? Did you have any EFB rear it’s ugly head? I am not sure what kind of EFB pressure I would have.
Did you ever get to try a single nut? I’m wondering what your opinion was of the Lewis hazelnut. I guess it has a companion called Clark, which is kind of adorable.