Oh, I so hope I am not driving you nuts over hazelnuts! I know I am driving my precious hubby to the edge of nuts with all I the plans I keep suggesting for our garden.
You would think planting a hazelnut tree is just planting a tree. Plant it and let it do its “tree thing.” Alas, how I wish it were that simple. Last night when I reminded Scott that very shortly after our arrival we will need to be planting trees and such, he felt momentarily overwhelmed. We have a kitchen to plan and make functional… a laundry room to set up… and we don’t even know which room will be which yet… and, I want him to be concerned about our trees?
But, if we don’t plant the trees and other plants at the appropriate time this year we have to wait one more year before we can think about planting them again. So with that in mind we both realize we do need to prepare the area where the hazelnuts will be planted.
After checking with one of the previous owners to make sure the back lot was just filled with years of neglected overgrowth, they confirmed that it needs to be cleared. So before we will be successful in planting hazelnuts… the back fence area of our lot must be cleared.
Spacing… if we want to use the hazelnuts as a hedge we should plant them about three to four feet apart, but if we hope to reap a crop of nuts they need to be between six and ten feet apart. The back lot is sixty-six feet long by eighty feet wide (from street to neighbors fence). Nuts are our goal so ten feet it is. Subtracting how much space the hazelnuts need from the lot size leaves us with approximately forty-six of the eighty foot width for the majority of the yard.
In late winter and/or early spring our backyard will dazzle because all male hazelnuts produce stunning dangling yellow catkins. These male parts contain the pollen necessary for fertilizing the female flowers. Apparently clouds of pollen from the male plants glide through the air on windy days to pollinate the tiny female flowers. The dance of hazelnut love…
Because hazelnuts like warmth but tolerate cold… we are planting them where they will experience the frigid winters of Gloversville but, because we are planting them along the back fence they will be provided some shelter from the harshest of winter winds. Fortunately, the lot behind us is another neglected lot and there are lots of trees to provide shelter from the harshest northern winds. And the house on the adjoining street also butts that area to provide shelter.
So shortly after the trees arrive we will soak them in water for about an hour to increase their chances of survival and thriving… dig three holes, about six to eight inches deep… then, only plant the tree to the depth it was at the nursery. When filling the hole around the trees we need to make sure it is loosely packed so we don’t smother our new baby filbert’s roots. Our precious baby nut trees… to be tended and coddled…
