Witch hazel

Witch hazel: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Broad, vase-shaped shrub of 3–5 m with obliquely rising branches; slow-growing.

Leaf

Alternate, 8–15 cm, broadly oval with a lopsided base and a wavy, toothed margin; glorious yellow to orange-red autumn colour.

Bark

Greyish-brown and smooth; twigs with hairy buds.

Flower

Flowers with four ribbon-like, crinkled petals, yellow, orange or red, from December to March on bare branches; fragrant.

Fruit

Woody capsules that shoot their seeds a few metres away.

Difference from hazel

Hazel flowers with hanging catkins and bears hazelnuts.

Flowering: January–February · Pruning: March–April

Identify by feature: Lopsided leaf base · Red autumn colour · Yellow flowers in spring · Winter flowers

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Hazel Corylus avellana: flowers with hanging catkins and bears hazelnuts. Difference from hazel

Why grow it?

• Fragrant flowers in the middle of winter, on bare branches.
• Fiery autumn colour in yellow, orange or red.
• Grows slowly and needs hardly any pruning.
• A shrub for every season: winter flowers, fresh summer leaves and autumn colour.

Witch hazel: where does it grow best?

• Sun to partial shade; in sun it flowers more freely and colours better in autumn.
• Humus-rich, moisture-retentive soil, ideally slightly acid; not on wet or chalky soil.
• Allow 3–5 m width in the long run: give it an open spot where it can spread.
• Put it where you will see and smell it in winter: by the path, the front door or in front of a window.

Light

Sun or partial shade

Legal basis

Acid soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

4 m tall, 4 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Winter heath: Pink or white winter flowers at its feet, in the same months.
• Japanese skimmia: Evergreen with red buds: a dark backdrop for the bare, flowering branches.
• Common dogwood: Red stems beside the yellow or orange flowers: a warm winter scene.
• Snowdrop: White beneath the shrub, in the same weeks.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• Suits the woodland edge or the light shade of: english oak, sessile oak, pin oak, turkey oak
• Like acid soil, just like this plant: heather, rhododendron, japanese skimmia, raspberry, highbush blueberry, broom, gorse, camellia

Witch hazel: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant in autumn (October–November) or in spring; a pot-grown plant can also go in while in flower.
2. Dig a generous planting hole and mix in leaf mould.
3. Plant at the same depth as in the pot: the graft union stays above the ground.
4. After planting, cover the soil with a layer of leaf mould or bark to stop it drying out.
5. Choose the right spot from the start: it dislikes being moved.

Care

Watering

In dry spells for the first few years; in hot, dry summers later on too, or the leaf edges will scorch.

Feeding

A layer of leaf mould in spring; no artificial fertiliser needed.

Soil

A layer of leaf mould or bark keeps the soil cool and moist.

Wild shoots

Remove shoots below the graft union straight away: they come from the rootstock.

Tip: Buy a witch hazel while it is in flower: then you can see the colour and smell the scent, which vary a lot between varieties.

Witch hazel: when to prune it?

Pruning months: March–April.

When: After flowering, in March–April.

How:

• Prune as little as possible: only remove dead, damaged or crossing branches.
• Shorten an overlong branch to just above a side branch; never cut the shrub back hard.
• Witch hazels are usually grafted: remove any wild shoots below the graft union straight away, flush with the stem.

Caution: If you leave wild shoots from the rootstock, within a few years they will take over from the grafted shrub.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Layering

In spring, bend a low branch to the ground, nick it lightly and cover it with soil; after one or two years it will have roots.

Sowing

Sow the seeds outdoors in autumn; they often only germinate after two winters, and seedlings flower differently from the parent plant.

Witch hazel: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy; the flowers withstand frost without damage.
• A mild winter brings flowering forward, a hard one delays it.

Diseases and pests

• Wild shoots: Shoots from the base, below the graft union, come from the rootstock. Cut them off flush with the stem.
• Drought: Brown, scorched leaf edges in summer. Water and mulch the soil with leaf mould.
• Few flowers: A young plant still flowers sparsely. Too much shade, or drought in summer when the buds are forming, also means fewer flowers.
• Yellow leaves: On chalky soil the leaves turn yellow between the veins. Work in acid leaf mould or pine needles.

Through the year

• January: Flowering: fragrant flowers on bare branches.
• February: Flowering; in frost the petals curl up.
• March: After flowering, prune lightly and remove wild shoots.
• April: Last month for pruning; leaf mould around the base.
• July: Water in dry spells: the flower buds are forming.
• October: Autumn colour in yellow, orange or red; planting.
• December: First flowers on early varieties.

What can you use it for?

Garden and landscape

Fragrant winter flowers and fiery autumn colour: a shrub for every season.

Also used for

The American species (Hamamelis virginiana) is used to make witch hazel, a skin remedy.

Did you know?

• In hard frost the petals curl up and wait until the weather turns milder.
• The ripe capsules burst open and shoot their seeds a few metres away.
• The American species (Hamamelis virginiana) is used to make witch hazel, a skin remedy.
• Hamamelis comes from the Greek hama, ‘together’, and melon, ‘fruit’: the new flowers appear while last year’s fruits may still hang on the shrub.
• Forked twigs of the American witch hazel were used as divining rods. Yet the ‘witch’ in its name does not refer to witches but comes from an old word meaning ‘pliable’.