Hazel

Hazel: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Multi-stemmed shrub of 3–8 m, spreading out from the base.

Leaf

Alternate, almost round with a short pointed tip, 6–12 cm, double-toothed, softly hairy; heart-shaped base.

Bark

Shiny grey-brown with pale lenticels.

Flower

Yellow, hanging male catkins as early as January–February; tiny red stigmas on the female flowers.

Fruit

Hazelnuts in a leafy, frilly husk (September).

Flowering: January–March · Harvest and fruit: September–October · Pruning: November–March

Identify by feature: Heart-shaped leaves · Yellow flowers in spring · Winter flowers · Nuts, acorns and chestnuts

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Alder Alnus glutinosa: hairless leaf with a rounded or notched tip. Difference from alder
• Large-leaved lime Tilia platyphyllos: finely toothed, lopsided heart-shaped leaf; a large tree. Difference from large-leaved lime

Why grow it?

• Yellow catkins as early as January: the first pollen for bees and bumblebees.
• Your own hazelnuts in September, for you and for squirrels, woodpeckers and mice.
• Grows on almost any soil, in sun or shade.
• Can be coppiced every year, giving straight poles for beans and weaving.

Hazel: where does it grow best?

• Sun to shade; for plenty of nuts, preferably sun or light shade.
• Almost any soil, ideally slightly moist and fertile; no wet feet.
• Allow 4–5 m width: suitable for a border, hedgerow or mixed hedge.
• For a good crop: two shrubs or varieties nearby, for wind pollination.

Light

Sun to shade

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

6 m tall, 5 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Hawthorn: Together a mixed native hedge full of blossom and berries.
• Blackthorn: Flowers early in spring and fills the edge with thorny scrub for birds.
• Snowdrop: Flowers in February under the shrub, alongside the catkins.
• Wood anemone: A spring flower that seeks out the light shade under hazel.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• Together a mixed native hedge, good for birds and insects: hawthorn, blackthorn, dog rose, common dogwood, guelder rose, wild privet, field maple, hornbeam

Hazel: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant from November to March, bare-root or root-balled.
2. In a hedgerow or hedge: one plant every 1–1.5 m, mixed with other native shrubs.
3. Plant at the same depth as before and firm the soil well.
4. After planting, cut the branches back by a third: it will then shoot better from the base.

Care

Watering

In dry spells during the first year; rarely needed after that.

Feeding

A little compost in spring; too much manure gives long shoots and few nuts.

Suckers

Pull out suckers or use them to make new plants.

Harvest

Gather the nuts in September–October when they are brown and come loose; dry them in an airy place.

Tip: Plant two hazels together (or a hazel and a large-nut variety): they pollinate each other and you will harvest far more.

Hazel: when to prune it?

Pruning months: November–March.

When: In winter (November–March), preferably after the catkins have flowered.

How:

• Every year, cut a few of the oldest stems down to the ground: the shrub stays young and productive.
• Every 7–10 years you can coppice the whole shrub; it regrows from the base.
• Remove thin, weak and crossing shoots to let light into the shrub.

Caution: Don’t prune during the nesting season (mid-March to mid-August) if birds are nesting in the shrub.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Layering

In autumn, bend a long, flexible stem to the ground, nick it lightly and cover it with soil; after a year it will have roots.

Suckers

In winter, separate a rooted sucker from the parent plant and replant it elsewhere.

Sowing

Sow fresh nuts outdoors in autumn; seedlings give variable nuts.

Hazel: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy; the catkins withstand frost.
• The catkins appear in midwinter: leave the shrub alone after flowering until you prune.

Diseases and pests

• Nut weevil: Nuts with a round hole and a grub inside. Collect affected nuts and shake the shrub over a sheet in May to catch the little weevils.
• Big bud mite: Swollen, round buds that don’t open. Cut them off in winter and put them in the general waste.
• Squirrels and birds: They often take the nuts before they are ripe. Plant several shrubs, or pick a little earlier and let them ripen.
• Powdery mildew: White coating on the leaves in late summer; harmless, clear up the fallen leaves.

Through the year

• January: Yellow catkins: first pollen for bees.
• February: Flowering; after the catkins, prune or coppice.
• March: Last month for pruning and planting.
• May: Shake the shrub to catch nut weevils.
• August: Nuts swelling; watch out for squirrels.
• September: Harvest the hazelnuts.
• October: Finish the harvest and dry the nuts.
• November: Planting and layering.
• December: Winter pruning can start.

What can you use it for?

Food and drink

Hazelnuts, in September–October.

Also used for

Straight coppice poles for bean poles, weaving and walking sticks.

For wildlife

Pollen in winter for the first bees; nuts for squirrels, woodpeckers and mice.

Caution: The pollen (January–March) causes early hay fever.

Edible and useful

Nuts (September–October)

Pick or gather the nuts in September and October, when the leafy husk turns brown and the nut drops out easily. Be quick: squirrels, jays and mice love them. Good fresh, toasted, in baking, as a nut spread or as nut milk.

Storing

Dry the nuts in their shells for a few weeks somewhere airy; they then keep for six months to a year somewhere cool and dry. Keep shelled nuts in the fridge or freezer, as they go rancid.

Caution: Hazelnuts are a common cause of food allergy. People with hay fever from birch or hazel pollen sometimes get an itchy mouth and throat from raw hazelnuts; roasted nuts often cause fewer problems. Throw away nuts that are mouldy, shrivelled or bitter. Never eat anything you have not identified with certainty.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Chocolate hazelnut spread (Other · 1 jar of 350 g · 30 min)
• Hazelnut milk (Other · 1 litre · 15 min + overnight soaking)
• Hazelnut shortbread biscuits (Dish · ± 40 biscuits · 30 min + 1 hr resting + 15 min baking)
• Hazelnut dukkah (Other · ± 1 jar of 200 ml · 25 min)

Good for wildlife

Caterpillars

Host plant: caterpillars of butterflies or moths eat the leaves.

Birds

Berries, seeds or insects as food, or a place to nest.

Hedgehogs

Shelter and a layer of leaf litter full of insects.

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Did you know?

• Was traditionally managed as coppice: the long, flexible rods were used for wattle and wickerwork.
• It used to be managed as coppice: the long, flexible poles were used for wattle.
• Pollen from the catkins (January–March) is one of the first causes of hay fever each year.
• A squirrel buries hazelnuts as a winter store; the ones it forgets grow into new shrubs.
• The scientific name avellana refers to Avella, a small town near Naples that was already known for its hazelnuts in antiquity.
• A forked hazel twig was the classic divining rod, once used to search for water or ore veins.