Hazelnuts

Hi,
Has anyone grown or is growing hazelnuts? I got 3 baby bushes from The Arbor Day Foundation today and they sound great. Wanted to talk to folks who actually may be growing these.

Thanks,
Susan in NC

I have grown the standard American hazlenut. Very care free shrub. If I remember correctly, the Arbor Day Foundation is offering an improved version. Takes a couple of years to come on line, but after that your only problem is squirels. They do need sun light, good soil and space. Tend to grow in clumps, but are not aggressive in spreading.

Susan, mine didn't make it. I got them from the Arbor Day Foundation as well, and they sent me replacements when two died, and I just hate to kill any more. I believe it's the intense heat here in the summer. It certainly could be me, of course, but I really believe it's the Texas sun. I hope yours grow; please post if they do!

I have an lady friend who is 91 and she donates quite a bit to Arbor Day Foundation. She told me she always starts any trees she gets from them in pots and keeps them there for about 2 years or more. This past Summer she gave me a lilac that ADF sent her and she had it in apot for 4 years. It was huge and flowering and beautiful. I have it in my garden and it is doing great.

So, I took her advice and put my three in pots in my greenhouse, I will keep them in pots for 1-2 years then transplant, hopefully they will take off.

Thanks for posting.

I wish I had done that with mine! I'd love to have hazelnuts.

Two of my 3 Arbor Day Foundation [hybrid] hazelnut trees died and they sent 2 replacements which I potted. The 3rd original eventually died. I subsequently moved from Charlotte NC to Raleigh NC area and planted the 2 potted ones. They are in fairly shaded area behind my garage but seem to be happy, especially the more shaded of the 2 (go figure!). I am not expecting nuts but was glad I hadn't killed more of them.
Susandonb1141; like your friend, I think the best plan is to pot the small plants from Arbor Day Foundation. I wish they would tell us that. I was very successful with 3 sugar maples I immediately planted in 2002 in the house near Charlotte. They had reached 5' or 6' when I left in 2007.
Paul

I, too, bought 2 hazelnuts from Arborday.org in the fall last year. I planted them where I get a lot of sun and I'm hoping they survive. I agree, Paul, that the Arbor Day Foundation should suggest potting them up initially. I have my fingers crossed that mine make it through this winter. They are well mulched and I water them if we're without rain for a while. Time will tell.

So far mine are doing great in their pots in the greenhouse. They look really healthy green and two of them have some leaf buds swelling. I am hoping too.

After the last cold nights this week, (I had 7 deg; is that still Zone 7B?) I wonder if the hazelnuts will even come back next Spring. Susandonb1141, I guess your greenhouse saved the day [night] for you,

The one I have left (which I yanked out of the ground and just stuck in a pot) seems to have some little swellings on it. Maybe it will live. I'll keep it in the pot until I HAVE to plant it in the ground if so.

Yeah, I am gonna keep them in pots for about 2 years then put them in their permenant home.

Good idea. Shoulda, coulda, woulda...

Definitely swellings on that little thing. I ordered 2 more from Arbor Day and will put them in pots, where they will stay until they're big enough. I'm so glad y'all brought that up!

Great Lily, let us know how it goes.

I have some growing in Nova Scotia. They reach about 10ft. tall and about 15ft. in diameter. Every year they are loaded with nuts and we watch as they develop. The squirrels, crows, blue jays, racoons and everyone else in the neighbourhood watch as well. Very few are harvested but I have noticed a number of seedlings appearing in hedgerows and such. I think attracting the wildlife is as valuable as any nuts would be. Robb.

Me too Zone- I think I originally bought my 3 hazelnuts to plant for the squirrels in the neighborhood to give them a break from acorns (and stealing birdfood). I really enjoy watching the wildlife.
Paul

Burnt Ridge Nurseries http://www.burntridgenursery.com/ has a good selection of hazelnuts, many of which are disease-resistant varieties. I suspect that it's too warm here for them: the few plants I have tried have failed, but admittedly due to neglect more than anything else, and I've vowed not to order anything before having a place cleared and prepared for it. I suspect that the chilling requirements would not be met in the average winter here (this winter, probably). They seem to have mostly (only?) the European varieties.

I get my Hazels from Burnt Ridge and Forest Farm. They are very nice trees, and here we have enough chill; around 800 hours usually.

I have one grafted onto a non suckering rootstock, the others are layered and may sucker.

CC

My hazels from Arbor day are doing OK. I started them when the hazelnut project started. No nuts yet, but they are not tended.

Glad I came across this thread. I have a couple of native hazelnuts I started from seed year before last and was fixin to plant them out next month. Guess I better hold off for another year or two...they are rather small at the moment.

Glad for this post! I got 3 hazelnuts from Burntridge nursery, and they weren't as well rooted as I was hoping. I'll definitely keep them in pots for a while longer thanks to your experience!

I have 2 big dogs (mastiff and newfoundland mix) that keep the squirrels out of the yard for the most part, but they sneak in anyway, and will as soon as the trees get bigger!

Susan

After re-reading this thread, I remembered that the problem I had with not potting the hybrid hazelnuts was the same as the problems I had with the "free" trees they send when you join. They are just too little. The trees I bought from them, sugar maples and something else, were several years older and, although shipped bare root, did just fine when I planted them in the Fall. I would buy trees and bushes from them again but I just say no thanks to the free ones.
Paul