Look for a spot in full sun or partial shade if your climate is hot and dry. As a general rule, filbertas need at least four hours of direct sunlight a day for good nut production and about 15 to 20 feet of space to spread out, so be sure to space the plants appropriately. If you have space, try planting a small hazelnut orchard, placing trees about 4 m (15 ft) apart so they have enough space. Create a matrix of different varieties to maximize pollination potential.
Check the pollinator compatibility of the trees you want to grow to ensure good compatibility. The varieties must be in bloom at the same time to ensure successful pollination. When growing hazelnuts, they can withstand some shade, especially in hot, dry areas. They need at least 4 hours of direct sunlight a day to produce well.
The shadier the location, the less fruit the tree will produce. Like many nut trees, hazelnuts can also be attacked by root rot, powdery mildew, bacterial blight, and cankers. Plant the seeds in the fall and keep them protected during the winter with a thick layer of mulch or a cold frame. For breakfast on Sundays, when I usually prepare something elegant for my family, I like to cover the pancakes with toasted hazelnuts or chocolates.
Plant the walnuts in a 6-inch pot filled with potting soil or in the garden at least 15 feet apart. So if you've been looking for a good source of healthy food to grow in your garden that doesn't take up much space and that you can start enjoying in just a few years, hazelnut is the perfect option. Hazelnuts are susceptible to a fungus known as oriental algae blight, which has decimated orchards in the Pacific Northwest. Even though they produce male and female flowers, they still require cross-pollination with another hazelnut.
There are hundreds of hazelnut cultivars, so when deciding what to grow, consider the pests in your area and select a variety that is resistant. In spring, hazelnut shrubs produce yellowish male clusters and small red female flowers on the same plant. Although the trees have male and female flowers, they are not self-fertile, so you will always get better results if you plant them in groups so that pollen can move from one hazelnut to the next, although other trees in the neighborhood will also help with pollination. Once in the ground, they will excavate and overwinter, reappearing in spring to lay eggs on hazelnuts.
Nitrogen-fixing plants, such as crimson clover or white clover, or plants that attract pollinators and improve the soil, such as comfrey, are good companions for growing hazelnuts. Another advantage of hazelnuts is that they are ideal for hedges because they form a dense screen without growing too tall or wide. Because of the way hazelnuts are grown, there's little you can do to keep squirrels away from trees, other than locking them in a fruit cage lined with wire mesh, which seems a bit excessive. Although hazelnuts can withstand dry conditions, they work best if you water them regularly with at least 1 inch of water every 10 days.
