School me on "Beaked Hazelnut"

[Travis Aasen]

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening -

I've come across huge patches of beaked hazelnut on my property (North Central, Wisconsin). The stuff is THICK & NASTY and looks amazing at screening.
Anyone have experience at propagation?
Quick grower?
Do Deer like the little hazelnuts? How old until these bushes produce the nuts?
Anything else I'm not thinking about?

Thanks in advance for the education!

 

[Native Hunter]

They are very similar to the American Hazelnuts that grow in my area. They do make good screening, and deer will browse the twigs in the winter. They will also eat the nuts. I would rate them as a very desirable shrub.

I've dug up and transplanted hazelnuts before. It's not hard to do. You just get a good rootball, and they survive well. The root system is shallow, so they dig fairy easily. They grow quickly but not as fast as some shrubs. If you find one that is especially good, you can clone it by layering the limbs to produce other bushes.

They will produce nuts at a young age, but if they are crowded too much, nut production will suffer. They are also very shade tolerant, but nut production will be better with at least 4 hours of sun a day. When you get a jungle of them like you described, you may not see a lot of nuts. An ideal situation for nut production is like in a fence row. This gives them a little space and also is good to promote pollination from bush to bush.

 

[MarkDarvin]

I'm a fan as well. The nuts don't last long, they browse the regen if I happen to cut it for some reason, and they don't seem to get taller than 6-7' on my place. In my book, that is about as good of cover as a guy can hope for, cause they'll hold up grass for a while too.

 

[Travis Aasen]

Thanks guys! Guess transplanting a few dozen of these in spring will be a priority.


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[dogghr]

On the old, not to be named, site, someone routinely used Hazelnuts for propagation by pinning down limbs with rocks along the ground and new shoots would easily begin. I haven't tried that yet with mine since they have been in Tube prison and until released never had a chance to really grow. But I intend to now that they have bushed out.

 

[shedder]

Corylus cornuta, the beaked hazelnut
Is it a good proxy for good chestnut conditions?