Hazel trees should be watered every year during periods of low rainfall. Irrigation is very important in establishing the plantation to promote proper root development. Sufficient water should be used to moisten the entire rooting area. Adequate water is essential during the nut filling period, from mid-July to mid-August.
Never allow the soil around a hazel tree or shrub to dry out completely. Irrigate weekly during periods of drought, allowing as much water as possible to penetrate deep into the soil. It is also best not to allow the soil around the hazelnut bush to dry out completely. During the dry season, you should water weekly.
Allow as much water as you can to penetrate the soil. Newly planted hazel trees require regular watering for the first two years. Once established, the water is reduced to once or twice a month. Mulching the tree with 3 to 4 inches of bark mulch helps maintain soil moisture and reduces weed germination.
In general, as long as the tree looks healthy and produces nuts, fertilization is not necessary. However, if nut production starts to decline, many gardeners fertilize in early spring with a balanced 10-10-10 fertilizer. The hazelnut (Corylus), or filbert, is a traditional native nut that colonists and farmers cultivate both for nuts and for hedges. Your hazel tree can live for about 40 years and produces nuts throughout its life.
While native hazelnuts can be pruned into a tree shape, gardeners usually keep them as a large shrub and prune them after the leaves fall and the trees go dormant in the fall. Hazelnuts often fall off the tree on their own, and it may be easier to put them all together in a pile. Several acres of hazelnuts have been established in the NWREC to evaluate the effect of different irrigation rates and application methods on newly planted young hazel trees, and to investigate how supplemental water affects growth and yield as trees age. Unlike many other trees that bear fruit and nuts, hazel trees don't cross-pollinate with all hazel trees.
You should also watch out for squirrels that can feed on growing hazelnuts, as they will eat both ripe and immature nuts. While hazelnuts grow in any moist soil with good drainage, they prefer acidic soil modified with compost or other organic matter. Hazelnuts are naturally fertile, so they prefer well-drained soil that doesn't have a lot of nutrients. Hazelnuts are not trees in the normal sense, but rather shrubs that can grow quite tall and tall without needing to be pruned.
You can pick the growing hazelnuts straight from the tree if you want, but when they're fully ripe, you can shake them directly onto a sheet or tarp. Hazelnuts need little or no pruning when grown as shrubs, other than the removal of sprouts that emerge from the roots. You can prune branches and branches with canker to prevent this disease from killing your hazel trees. While hazelnuts require relatively low maintenance, there are a few things you'll need to do to make them produce.
Consider using higher amounts of NPK in your fertilizer when the leaves of the hazelnut bush are yellow or if your growth is slow.
