I finally have European Hazelnuts

[Native Hunter]

Can't remember exactly how long ago I planted them, but bushes are now 8 or 9 feet tall. Guessing 6 years ago.

Things I did right:

• Got a good mix of cultivars for pollination.
• Used commercial cultivars developed at the Oregon State University to be immune to Eastern Filbert Blight. I do have one cultivar not developed there but known as an excellent and DR variety.

What I did wrong:

• Planted them in too shady of a place. Euros are not as shade tolerant as Americans. I feel that the shade is one reason my fruiting has been delayed. They are at the edge of a woods and getting 1/2 day sun or less. This would be fine for Americans, but not great for Euros.

Important Facts:

• I can easily start these at other places by layering them. I'm already doing it. They are on their natural roots, so no problem. Already getting some new ones started in sunny places.
• Euros are bigger than Americans. That's why they are grown commercially.
• My crops are not large this year, but one of the bushes is pretty loaded. Ironically, the most loaded one gets the least sun.
• Americans are immune to EFB, but run of the mill Euros are affected. That is why it's important to use cultivars developed for immunity. Mine look very healthy.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Want to know something odd. I tried planting some Hazlenuts at the farm and they all died within a year, babied them the first year or 2. I have 4 that are in probably 3 gallon size root maker type pouches at my house and they have been abused so bad that if there was jail for abusing hazlenuts I would have long since been convicted! They have been in those pots for 3 or 4 years and they are still alive and astonish me at how well they look. They havent grown much 3 of the 4 are probably 18' tall, the other is a bit bigger. There has been some die back on occasion but they are nonetheless still alive.

 

[Native Hunter]

Want to know something odd. I tried planting some Hazlenuts at the farm and they all died within a year, babied them the first year or 2. I have 4 that are in probably 3 gallon size root maker type pouches at my house and they have been abused so bad that if there was jail for abusing hazlenuts I would have long since been convicted! They have been in those pots for 3 or 4 years and they are still alive and astonish me at how well they look. They havent grown much 3 of the 4 are probably 18' tall, the other is a bit bigger. There has been some die back on occasion but they are nonetheless still alive.

I grew these in my yard but they had no special treatment. I had 2 or 3 to die, but have 6 big bushes like shown in my picture. I put some layered ones out at the farm and they did good, until I stole a cage from one of them for an apple tree. It got browsed hard after the cage was removed. However, I think these will be like other shrubs at my farm - once they get established and big, the browsing won't hurt them.

I also have native Americans growing at the farm. I have read that Euros and Americans can cross pollinate.

 

[chickenlittle]

Any suggested sources, varieties, or info to look at?

 

[Native Hunter]

Any suggested sources, varieties, or info to look at?

The main thing is to not buy any Euro Hazel unless it says that it was developed by OSU to be blight immune. You just need to shop around and find the best price. Last year I remember seeing some for $16 or $18 each, but can't recall where that was. Generally they are more like $25.

Here are a few good varieties I recall reading about. I have some of these.

Jefferson
Eta
Felix
McDonald
Yamhill
Wepster
Barcelona

I just looked and Burnt Ridge has some of these.

Stark Brother has 4 varieties but don't go into detail about blight resistance.

Raintree has a 5 tree hedge mix of Wepster and McDonald on sale right now for $75. That would likely be a good buy. Those are two of the latest releases from OSU and they pollinate each other well. I might consider adding that to mine this fall if it is still available.

My first trees came from Raintree. I think they were called Theta and Gama. They were OSU releases, but I don't see them advertised anymore.

Almost forgot - Tonda di Giffoni is an Italian cultivar known for its disease resistance and highly sought after nut. I have one of those, and it is the one that has the biggest crop this year. If you can find it, I think it would be great, despite not being an OSU release.

 

[DLH]

Is that Bob Ross on that quarter in your picture?

 

[chickenlittle]

Thanks for the info. On my list of things to try are some hazel hybrids developed by a family outfit a little north of me in NY. They sell improved seedlings from their breeding orchard and started with a variety of hazels including ones from OSU. I should take a trip up to visit them sometime when they have an openhouse. They also have worked with the NYS forestry college (SUNY ESF) to learn the micropropagation techniques used to support the American chestnut foundation work. That allows this company to clone chestnuts on their own roots instead grafting. They only offer one chestnut that way, the variety Collosal, but hopefully they can expand to some other varieties.

Their website is www.znutty.com

 

[rocksnstumps]

I planted a couple dozen hybrids this year from a place in WI doing stuff similar to NY. They are part of a group of nurseries working with MN and WI Extension programs. I can give a report back in oh say 6-8 years....
https://www.forestag.com/

If you make a roadtrip would be interested in your opinion on the NY places sometime in the future.

 

[bigbendmarine]

Is that Bob Ross on that quarter in your picture?

 

[Native Hunter]

Is that Bob Ross on that quarter in your picture?

It looks more like Bob Ross than Betsey Ross!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jhoss]

I’ve got Americans bearing nuts and Jefferson from Burnt Ridge planted last year..made it thru winter fine and growing great this spring. I’m hoping to train into single trunk tree. How do u think that will work?

 

[H20fwler]

Native, do you get much browsing on your American hazelnuts in your area?

 

[Native Hunter]

Native, do you get much browsing on your American hazelnuts in your area?

No, they don't bother them. But when I uncaged one of the small Euros it got hammered.

 

[Native Hunter]

I’ve got Americans bearing nuts and Jefferson from Burnt Ridge planted last year..made it thru winter fine and growing great this spring. I’m hoping to train into single trunk tree. How do u think that will work?

I think it will work okay. I think the more natural form is a bush, but that doesn't mean you can't train them to a small tree.

 

[Jhoss]

I’ll keep you posted on the training NH. I can tell u about browsing around here...no protection?...absolute devastation!

 

[H20fwler]

No, they don't bother them. But when I uncaged one of the small Euros it got hammered.

I have had the same experience here with American hazelnut with deer hardly touching them.
I have thought about trying the Euro hazelnut thank you for the tip on sticking with the OSU generated varieties.

 

[Skelly]

I have a lot of hazlenut at my place. I don’t notice browsing on mature leaves. Now if I cut one down and get some new growth that comes up, that will get nipped off quickly.

 

[Jhoss]

I'm going to uncage mine just to see what happens. It is way older now than when I saw the browsing...hey - I can use the cage elsewhere!

 

[KDdid]

On my “to do” list- start a small grove of European hazelnut bushes. I love eating them, and with retirement looming, I can occupy my time shooting squirrels out of them!


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