Hazelnut

[ksgobbler]

Somebody school me on Hazelnut. I am looking for a road screen. My road is a dead end road not far past my gate but I get some traffic during rifle deer and turkey. I planted Sudan grass this year but it is mostly laid down now. State forest service has hazelnut and it caught my eye.

Looking for a shrub to benefit my quail. I have loads of American plum, Chicksaw Plum, ninebark, and choke cherry. I was looking to mix it up a bit with some new stuff.

 

[KJS-ND]

Diversity is always a good thing IMHO and I do like hazelnuts for wildlife plantings. I also really like red-dogwood osier if you have any wetter areas (along w/ plums which you said you already have plenty).

If you need a true 'screen' - maybe have to put in some cedars or other coniferous - at least here in ND, the deciduous tree leave are gone by middle of October.

 

[ksgobbler]

There were cedars where this is going. Red cedar is the scourge of the prairie and was making fire control difficult. I actually burned up a power pole that was in the huge stand. Wind shifted and fire made a run. Couldn’t leave my property, but it was embarrassing. Pines are not native here. The previous owner planted them all around my perimeter and they are all dying. First time we burned it we let fire back into them. Didn’t matter they still wanted to torch. I worked 5 years on a USFWS prescribed fire crew so I have put a lot of fire on the ground, but this place being so neglected presented a unique set of challenges.

 

[KJS-ND]

Yep - heard ERC can become invasive in some areas - here we struggle to get much of anything to grow and provide thermal cover and since the temp is -16 and wind chill is -42 this morning - them deer need some thermal cover and ERC are tough/drought resistant/low on browse list - so I've been planting them.

I have planted some hazelnuts, but they aren't really big enough, nor have they started to spread on their own yet - which I hope they do. Deer browse has been minimal, but not non-existent.

 

[Tree Spud]

Hazelnut does not come to mind when thinking of screening. Thin branching and minimal shrub form.

If you want something other than a conifer, I like siberian crababble. Farmers used them for years as wind breaks. Don't allow to to into a tree by top prunning. I have several that are15' wide and 10' tall and very dense even without leaves.
https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/trees/handbook/th-3-77.pdf

 

[ksgobbler]

Dwarf chinkapin was something else I thought about. It’s native, but I never have seen it, or if I did I didn’t know what I was looking at.

 

[Catscratch]

Gobbler, I have dwarf chinkapin on my place. I don't think I would consider it for screening. I can take some pics if you want to see what it looks like right now. Have you thought of Sawtooth? Fast growing and don't loose their leaves until spring. Top prune them and make a bush out of them...

 

[ksgobbler]

I’ve got some sawtooths but they haven’t done much. Kinda been disappointed thus far.

 

[Tree Spud]

I'd also consider lilacs. Double space rows alternating at 6' spread. Great visual screen ...

 

[Tree Spud]

Dwarf chinkapin was something else I thought about. It’s native, but I never have seen it, or if I did I didn’t know what I was looking at.

I am curious ... why put a food source at the road?

Why put dwarf chinkapin at the road? It is an oak ...

 

[ksgobbler]

Why not? I don’t give two shits about managing for deer. If every deer in this state got a disease and perished I wouldn’t loose a bit of sleep. I like hunting turkeys and quail and if quail like the acorns, and it provides them cover, Ill throw it down.

 

[bueller]

Why not? I don’t give two shits about managing for deer. If every deer in this state got a disease and perished I wouldn’t loose a bit of sleep. I like hunting turkeys and quail and if quail like the acorns, and it provides them cover, Ill throw it down.

Well that's a different point of view than most here . As for hazelnut I have a bunch of it here growing naturally so I've never planted any cultivated varities. IMO it doesn't get tall enough for a road screen, at least around here it doesn't. You will be able to look right over the hazelnut any place where the road is even slightly above ground level of your screen.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Well, you haven't said where you are, so I'll just throw this out there in case it's pertinent. As the other have said, hazelnut would not come to mind at all as a screen, nor as anything that would benefit quail as a food source. We have loads of native hazelnut here....it's a small spindly shrub that might top out at 7 or 8'. And black bears love it. So if you have them, you are going to find that they will knock it all over to get to the nuts in the fall.

 

[Tree Spud]

Why not? I don’t give two shits about managing for deer. If every deer in this state got a disease and perished I wouldn’t loose a bit of sleep. I like hunting turkeys and quail and if quail like the acorns, and it provides them cover, Ill throw it down.

Your gonna fit in nicely here as we have all been waiting for the "I don't give two shits about managing for deer. If every deer in the state got a disease and died I wouldn't lose a bit of sleep." thread ...

 

[cavey]

As a single plant species screen I would say its marginal as a screen but if you add depth to your screens with rows of diff species it adds to the mix... the plants catkins are i believe what the quail eat not so much the nuts but I'm not 100% sure on that.. and mine do not produce a lot of nuts - less than what i thought they would and it has taken years for them to get to the point where they have nuts in any numbers. I'm a believer in diversity of plants on my property and once it starts spreading I have been able to dig and split plants.

https://www.arborday.org/programs/hazelnuts/graphics/wildlife.pdf

 

[JFK52]

I have them growing naturally on my land. As mentioned, these plants do not get tall enough for a screen. They are heavily browsed by deer and in the fall every one of their nuts gets eaten by critters of some sort. Deer, turkeys, squirrels, etc. When the nuts ripen the local game seem to know or sense this fact and they waste no time eating all the available nuts on a plant.

 

[H20fwler]

I've got quite a few in and am planting more, they grow more like trees than shrubs for me. It seems everything eats them, nuts don't ever last on the ground.
I mixed them in my shrub strips with cranberry/pin oak/red dossier willow/crab apples and button brush. I am also trying to sexy the place up for quail.

 

[ksgobbler]

Kansas Forest Service has their quail bundle on sale. It’s being subsidized by a chapter of quail forever in the state. I may just order 2 and go that route although not sure I want to plant 200 shrubs this spring.

 

[Catscratch]

Kansas Forest Service has their quail bundle on sale. It’s being subsidized by a chapter of quail forever in the state. I may just order 2 and go that route although not sure I want to plant 200 shrubs this spring.

Lol, I had the exact same thoughts (especially about planting that many).

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[ksgobbler]

Ended up going with the quail bundle.
25 chokecherry
25 American plum
25 Golden currant
25 fragrant sumac.

Now need some short tubes to save them from the rabbits.