Which hazel has a fused leaf aperture. Common hazel - giving hazelnuts: planting, growing and care. Collection and preparation

Common hazel or hazel(hazelnut) - Corylus avellana L. - a large shrub from the birch family (Befulaceae), distinguished by many taxonomists, together with the hornbeam genus (Carpinus), into an independent hazel family (Corylaceae). It has long slender trunks 2-4 m high, covered with smooth brown bark. Occasionally it looks like a small tree up to 7 m high.
The leaves are alternate, with well-defined veining. Their plates are oval or round, with a heart-shaped base and a pointed apex, dark green above, lighter below, unevenly jagged-serrate along the edge. The surface of the plate is rough and pubescent, especially along the veins on the underside. The leaf petiole is short, covered with glandular bristles.
The flowers are small, dioecious. The plants are monoecious. Male flowers are collected in long pendulous multi-flowered catkins. The female flowers are hidden in pairs in spherical buds, from which only reddish stigmas are exposed during flowering. The male flower consists of 4 bifurcated stamens fused with the covering scales, and 2 bracts; female - from a poorly developed perianth, a pistil with a lower ovary and 2 bracts.
Hazel inflorescences are fully formed by autumn, so it blooms unusually early, at the very beginning of spring, long before the leaves bloom. Anyone who visits the forest in March - April has probably observed how, when earrings are touched, a cloud of yellow pollen spills out of them. And to see the female hazel flowers, you need to look for them carefully, because the flower buds are outwardly little distinguishable from the leaf buds. Pollination is carried out by the wind, so a huge amount of pollen is formed in male flowers - experts say that up to 4 million pollen grains mature in one earring. Male and female flowers of the same individual bloom at different times, which prevents self-pollination.
The fruits are nuts (that’s what people call them, and that’s how botanists classify them), with a dense shell, surrounded by a leaf-shaped green involucre, a plus, formed from overgrown bracts. Nuts are crowded in groups of 2-5, less often single. They are light brown in color, have a shape from oval to almost spherical, a length of 10-18 mm and a diameter of 8-15 mm. 1 kg of mass is 870 hazel nuts.
The growing season of hazel is quite long - 8-9 months. The fruits ripen in August - September. Ripe nuts easily fall off even before massive leaf fall. In fairly dense thickets, the yield of nuts ranges from 40 to 500 kg/ha. Prolific years alternate with low-yielding ones, and in some years there is no fruit at all. Hazelnuts have good germination; most of them germinate in the spring of next year. Seedlings begin to bear fruit at 5-10 years of age. In nature, hazel reproduces mainly by vegetative means: root suckers, layering, stump shoots, etc. The total lifespan of the bush is 60-80 years.

Hazel distribution

Common hazel widespread in the forest and steppe zones of Europe, as well as in the Caucasus. The habitat of this plant generally coincides with the geographical distribution of pedunculate oak, whose companion is hazel. In European Russia, it is mainly characteristic of the zone of coniferous-deciduous forests, but is quite common in the southern taiga and forest-steppe. In the steppe zone it grows in forested ravines. In the north, hazel reaches St. Petersburg and Vyatka, in the east - to the Urals, but does not cross it and is absent from Siberia.
It lives in the undergrowth of mixed and deciduous forests, especially oak forests, mainly in bright areas, as it does not tolerate strong shading. It grows quickly in clearings and burnt areas, often forming continuous clean thickets in place of cleared forests. Hazel is quite common in complex forests, where it grows so much that it interferes with the regeneration of pine, so it is cut down by foresters.
Hazel grows on different soils. The superficial root system allows it to tolerate low soil thickness: it can be found from the valleys of large rivers with multi-meter alluvial strata to highlands with barely developed soil cover. Prefers calcareous, humus-rich, moderately moist loams and sandy loams. Due to the abundant leaf fall, hazel itself improves soil fertility.
Hazel is a frost- and heat-resistant plant, which ensures its growth in continental conditions, for example, in Bashkiria and the Volga region, as well as high in the mountains. However, in severe frosty winters, which we experience from time to time, hazel freezes and sometimes even freezes out. Hazel tolerates some dry soil and, on the contrary, does not tolerate stagnant water and waterlogging.

Other related hazel species

In the south of Russia, especially in the North Caucasus, hazel is cultivated for its fruit-nuts called hazelnuts. It is a complex hybrid of common hazel with Pontic hazel (Corylus pontica C.Koch), wild in Asia Minor and Western Transcaucasia, and large hazel (Corylus maxima Mill.) native to Asia Minor and the Balkans. High-yielding varieties with large nuts have been obtained through hybridization and targeted selection. At the same time, forms with easily cracked shells were selected.
The hazelnut culture originated in Western Asia, the second center being Chinese-Japanese. The current world production of hazelnuts is 200-250 thousand tons per year, with Turkey producing 50% of commercial production. There are about 600 varieties of hazelnuts known in the world. The lifespan of cultivated plants is 25-40 years. The yield of nuts on industrial hazelnut plantations is 20-40 c/ha.

Economic use of hazel

Hazel has a variety of uses. The main value is the fruits. They are very nutritious. Their kernels contain 58-72% fat, 14-1 8% proteins and amino acids that are easily digestible by the body, 2-5% sugars, nitrogenous substances, 2-5% sucrose, vitamins E and B. Fatty nut butter consists of 85% oleic acid glycerides, has a pleasant taste and aroma, and is highly nutritious. It belongs to the category of non-drying and, in addition to food, has technical significance - it is used in painting, paint and varnish and perfume production, and soap making. Hazel proteins belong mainly to globulins; they are well absorbed by the body. Nut kernels are rich in iron.
Nuts are eaten raw, dried and roasted (heated), and they are collected not only fully ripe, but also unripe. Hazel fruits are used in the production of liqueurs, in the confectionery industry for the preparation of cakes, pastries, sweets, creams, various fillings, etc. Especially many sweets from the nuts themselves and with the addition of them are prepared in the Caucasus. The cake remaining after pressing the oil is used to prepare halva.
Hazel wood, despite the thinness of its trunks, is used for small carpentry and turning crafts; the trunks are used to make hoops for wooden barrels, handles for agricultural and household tools, and canes; Baskets are woven from thin branches. Hazel rods are widely used among Russian fishermen. A lot of hazel is used for fences and fences, and the leafy branches are used as twig food for livestock, especially goats. Hazel sawdust is used in the Caucasus to clarify wines and vinegar. A special charcoal is burned from wood, which is in demand among artists. Previously, such coal was used to make gunpowder.
Hazel bark contains about 10% tannins and can be used to tan leather. The bark is used to produce yellow leather dye for shoes. In Azerbaijan, hazel leaves have nutritional value.

Medicinal value of hazel and methods of medicinal use

In scientific medicine, hazel is almost never used. True, in the 50-60s of the 20th century, the “L-2 Lesovaya” liquid was included in the arsenal of medicinal products. It was obtained by dry distillation of hazel wood. This drug was intended for the treatment of skin diseases: eczema, neurodermatitis, streptoderma, psoriasis, etc., but the therapeutic effect, apparently, was weak, it was discontinued.
Traditional medicine attaches incomparably more importance to hazel than scientific medicine. Walnut kernels are rightly considered a general tonic, especially useful for anemia. They are prescribed for urolithiasis and rheumatism, as well as for lactating women to increase milk production. In the old days, nut oil was used as an anthelmintic against roundworms.
Hazel leaves and bark are also used medicinally. The leaves contain vitamin C (up to 200 mg), essential oil, which has a vasoconstrictor effect; the bark contains essential oil, tannins, and lignoceryl alcohol betulin, which have capillary-strengthening and anti-inflammatory effects.

An infusion of leaves and bark is prepared at the rate of: 1 tablespoon of crushed raw materials per 1 cup of boiling water. Drink 1/2 glass 4 times a day before meals for varicose veins, phlebitis, periphlebitis, trophic leg ulcers, capillary hemorrhages.
For thrombophlebitis and varicose veins, the following fees can be used.

Hazel leaf - 2 parts, walnut leaf - 1 part, calendula flowers - 1 part.
One tablespoon of the mixture, pour 200 ml of boiling water, close, leave for 30 minutes. Without expressing, drink in equal doses.

Bark of young hazel branches- 3 parts, bark of young walnut branches - 1 part, oak bark - 1 part. Pour one tablespoon of the mixture into 250 ml of boiling water. Boil in a water bath in a sealed container for 10 minutes. After boiling, add to the original volume. Without expressing, drink in equal doses throughout the day. Monitor bowel function. It is advisable to eat pumpkin dishes, zucchini, and eggplants these days, as the harvest is strengthening. Alternate the collections so that the body does not get used to the herbs.

You can prepare an ointment. Take pork fat - 2 parts, hazel bark powder - 2 parts. Grind hazel bark, sift, mix with fat. Apply bandages for thrombophlebitis and ulcers.

By grinding fresh hazel seeds with a small addition of water, “milk” and “cream” are obtained. This product is highly nutritious and is recommended for weakened patients.
Dear hazel, calm your soul,
Take the pain from your head and bury it in the ground.
Give Me and My family the strength to live until the spring days,
Banish the ailment from your legs, the wheezing from your chest.
Native hazel, cover it with leaves,
Tuka will not rise to destroy you.
Give Me, Lord, strength to work for Your glory,
Don’t be angry, Lord, that I will weave baskets
And I will produce good deeds.
Save and have mercy on Me.
(A spell that was passed down from generation to generation).
Nuts with honey are recommended for rheumatism, anemia and neuroses as a general tonic.

Oil squeezed from nuts mixed with egg whites is used to treat burns.
Walnut oil is applied to the head to strengthen the hair. In Cool Vertograd, hazelnut oil is mentioned:
That oil... is a velmi emollient, it heals liver and cystic diseases and the aphedron (anus, in this context - hemorrhoids), but it is harmful to the stomakha (stomach).

In Georgia, nuts are used as a laxative and also to increase milk supply in nursing women.

Juice from fresh young leaves during flowering of hazel is used for intestinal diseases, anemia, vitamin deficiency, rickets, prostate hypertrophy.
60 g of juice in the form of a microenema or a decoction of mashed nuts and leaves in the same quantity. 1-2 tablespoons of juice with an equal amount of honey are prescribed orally 3-5 times a day before meals.
According to Raphael, hazel is ruled by Mercury and is a healing tree for those born under the signs of Gemini and Virgo.

Although hazel is native to Asia Minor, today it can often be found in the center of Europe, the forests of the Caucasus, as well as America and Canada. In recent years, many gardeners have managed to appreciate not only its pronounced decorative properties, but also its taste qualities, for which it has no equal. This representative of the birch family marked the beginning of its widespread development in the southern regions, where quite large areas are allocated for the cultivation of hazel.

In the wild, this plant, which is also known as hazelnut, can be found in the forests of the Southern Urals and Perm region. And certainly novice gardeners would like to get answers to many questions regarding hazel: is it a shrub or a tree, what are the features of its cultivation?

Hazel: is it a shrub or a tree?

Although hazel is usually classified as a genus of shrubs, it includes several dozen representatives belonging to the group of trees. Such, for example, is the bear nut, which grows in the form of a slender and tall tree, decorated with an attractive crown. However, hazel mainly grows as a shrub. When growing wild, it often forms dense undergrowth in deciduous forests. The most famous is hazel, which many people know as common hazel. In this regard, I would like to mention the history of the origin of the word “hazel”. It is of original Russian origin: the leaves of the bush strongly resemble in shape the body of the lake fish bream, which was caught by the inhabitants of Rus' in ancient times.

Getting acquainted with the existing types of hazel, it can be noted that most of them are deciduous shrubs, covered with large, rounded leaves with a pronounced rich green color. Hazel grows best in warm areas where there is sufficient moisture and fertile soil. It is most often found in deciduous forests, where it thrives with neighbors such as oaks, elms and maples.

Hazelnuts are most abundant in undergrowth, where they form a solid wall. Hazel growing wild usually looks like branched shrubs, forming many stems arising directly from the rhizome.

• these shrubs are quite tall, reaching a height of 3-5 meters;
• Hazelnuts can be propagated vegetatively (using suckers or cuttings) or by seeds and nuts. When growing hazel through sowing seeds, only specimens at the age of 6-7 years begin to bear fruit. This moment can be brought closer if hazel is propagated vegetatively, which allows the shrubs to begin bearing fruit already in the fourth year;
• In summer, a hazel bush is extremely difficult to confuse with other plants: this is indicated by its oval leaves and small teeth present along the edge and a sharp tip;
• An additional feature of the shrub is the presence of a texture that is slightly rough to the touch.

Most types of hazelnuts grow in the form of tall, large shrubs with a height of 5-6 meters and smooth bark. Moreover, the latter can be modified gray to terracotta brown. The characteristic color of young shoots is gray-green, which can be complemented by small yellowish specks. Young hazel bushes can often be mistaken for linden shoots, but the difference is still present due to the dense pubescence.

Hazel shoots can sometimes pass themselves off as elm bushes. Their bark and leaves are similar, having identical color and texture. To distinguish them from each other, you need to pay attention to the trunk, of which the elm has only one. Hazel shoots form many branches, which is where the characteristic of a shrub appears. Hazel can also be distinguished by its buds, which are gray-green in color and oval in shape. Elm buds, on the contrary, are reddish with a pointed shape.

Features of the view

Hazel is a representative of monocotyledonous plants, which during the growing season produces male and female flowers on the same crop. Men's the flowers look like earrings, form soft inflorescences of a yellowish tint. They can easily be mistaken for birch or alder earrings. If you plant them in June-July, then in the fall they begin to grow, and with the arrival of spring, after a successful wintering, they begin to bloom. After ripening, the wind carries the pollen, ensuring the reproduction of the hazel tree.

Female flowers are extremely difficult to distinguish. They are formed by small flowers, which are located inside special buds that grow in the previous season. When the time for flowering comes, the leaf scales behind which the inflorescences are hidden begin to open, as a result, pollen carried by the wind can easily get there.

Types of hazel

Hazelnuts include approximately 20 species, within each of which many different cultures can be distinguished. And although they have different properties, for the most part they are frost-resistant and durable plants. Hazel can grow in the most unsuitable conditions for many other plants, since it is undemanding to the soil, but still the presence of organic matter in the soil accelerates the process of its development and fruiting.

Without exception, all hazelnut varieties respond positively to moisture, but it should be in moderation. Sometimes they can grow quite well in light shading, but this does not allow them to fully demonstrate all their decorative properties and ensure high productivity. Therefore, it is best to plant them in open sunny areas.

It usually grows in the form of a large multi-stemmed shrub, reaching a height of 4-6 meters, which is decorated with a wide spreading crown. Unlike other varieties, common hazel begins to bloom before the leaves bloom. That's why she of particular interest to bees. When many trees and shrubs are just preparing to bloom, golden earrings begin to bloom on the hazel, thereby providing food to the weakened bees.

• at the beginning of the growing season, hazelnut leaves are matte green on top and light underneath, but in the fall the foliage begins to uniformly turn yellow;
• At different stages of the life cycle, hazel provides different growth. In the first years of life, her increase in height is extremely unnoticeable. Growth is activated in the fifth or sixth year, which leads to the appearance of a large number of young shoots;
• Hazel can most often be found growing wild on the European territory of Russia and on the Crimean Peninsula. There are many of its representatives in Western Europe and the Caucasus.

Bear nut, or tree hazel

Bear nut stands apart from other representatives of shrubs, since it belongs to the group of tree-like plants. Can grow up to 15-20 meters, having a crown diameter of 6-8 meters. A characteristic feature of the bear nut is its slender, beautiful trunk.

Lombard nut

Being a monumental representative of its genus, this shrub is decorated with beautiful straight gray branches that can provide it height up to 10 meters. The leaves of the Lombard walnut look original, having a rounded shape, which is decorated with jagged edges. This variety of hazel can grow only in warm conditions; it tolerates cold extremely poorly. For many centuries it was grown in the Balkans and Asia Minor, where it survived as a nut-bearing shrub.

During the growing season, the bush forms dense, drooping annual shoots. The characteristic shape of hazel leaves is broadly oval, often round, and can reach 10-12 cm in diameter. At the beginning they have a heart-shaped shape, which shortens as it moves upward and ends with a sharp apex. Large men's earrings, 10 cm long, give additional attractiveness to the hazel tree. They are presented in the form of boring rosettes, where there can be up to 8 pieces, which are covered with a fluffy tubular wrapper.

Based on the Lombard nut, they were bred hazelnut cultivars, widely used in industry. High yields can only be obtained by growing this species on nutrient-rich loose soils. It is also widely used for decorative purposes.

Red-leaved form of hazel

This type of hazel looks very original, since it differs in foliage color compared to other varieties. It looks like a multi-stemmed shrub up to 4 meters high, which is decorated with large leaves of a dark purple color. During the growing season, nuts are formed in a red wrapper, containing pink kernels inside.

Red-leaved hazel is the most widespread as an ornamental shrub. Considering that it is mainly grown in the southern regions, it cannot withstand the harsh winters of temperate Russian latitudes. Attempts to cover it before winter are only partially successful: although this type of hazelnut does not die completely, in subsequent years one cannot expect either flowering or nuts from it. In such cases, it is of value only as an ornamental plant, giving the site a special uniqueness.

Manchurian hazel

This crop is successfully grown in the difficult conditions of the Far East, Primorye, as well as Korea and Northern China, so it tolerates frost well and thrives in conditions of significant shading. It grows as a shrub up to 4-5 meters high, forming a large number of highly branching shoots.

It is valuable due to its fruits that have healing properties. At the same time, this type of hazel has pronounced decorative properties. First of all, this is demonstrated by the brown color, densely pubescent young shoots and wide soft leaves, which in the warm season have a dark green color, and at the end of the growing season they change to orange or golden shades. In autumn, hazel nuts ripen and have a pointed shape. They have gained great popularity in Chinese medicine because they have excellent anti-inflammatory properties.

Conclusion

For most ignorant people, hazel seems to be a rather interesting plant, because without being an expert, it is difficult to say about hazel - it is a tree or a shrub. Although this is not the only reason why hazel deserves attention. Trying to get answers to other questions, many find out that hazelnuts are often used as an ornamental plant, although its value is not limited to this. After all, in the fall, hazel ripens nuts, which in some varieties have healing properties. Therefore, growing this shrub on the site is not only profitable, but also useful.

Hazelnut, hazel or hazel is a plant familiar to many, found in the wild, used in landscaping, and thanks to its tasty and healthy nuts, it has long gained popularity as a garden crop.

Representatives of the genus, which unites about two dozen species of deciduous shrubs and trees, can be seen in different parts of North America, Asia and Europe. Despite the difference in size and range, all varieties have much in common. First of all, this concerns the external appearance of hazel leaves, the structure of its flowers, fruits, the characteristics of its flowering and reproduction.

Description of the hazel plant

The genus Corylus is dominated by large shrubs formed by numerous shoots and reaching a height of 3–10 meters. The exception is the tree-like hazel, which is not prone to the appearance of root shoots and over time turns into a powerful, long-lived tree up to 20 meters high.

Hazel of any type is easily recognized by its broadly oval or almost rounded leaves with a serrated edge and clearly visible venation. They are supported by short, dense petioles and densely cover long, twig-like branches.

Hazel flowers are divided into male and female. The appearance of catkins with male flowers is considered the beginning of general spring flowering. Fertilization of female flowers occurs due to the dispersal of pollen and the first insects. From 1 to 5 ovaries are formed in inflorescences. The hazel fruit ripening inside a hard woody shell is called a nut.

A characteristic feature of the culture is the presence of a kind of wrapper around the ovary. The helmet-shaped plus, or korys in Greek, is formed from a modified bract. As the fruit ripens, it dries and reveals a silver-brown or brownish nut shell.

Hazel cultivation

The excellent taste of hazelnuts or hazelnuts, their high nutritional value and benefits were appreciated by our ancestors several thousand years ago. For many centuries, Europeans collected the fruits of hazel, which grew in abundance in deciduous forests. The first cultural plantings, as evidenced by written sources, could have been located on the territory of the modern Balkans, the Mediterranean south of Europe, or on the Black Sea coast. Thus, nuts were grown in the Caucasus 6 thousand years ago, and their often used name “hazelnut” is of Turkish origin.

Varieties of southern origin are distinguished by large fruits and excellent quality of nuts.

But in the northern regions, where winters are more severe than in Turkey, Italy or Azerbaijan, plants run the risk of dying or producing a meager harvest. Therefore, hazel selection is an important task for domestic specialists, the first of whom was I.V. Michurin.

Common hazel (C. avellana)

The species, named after the Italian region of Avellano, the oldest center of crop cultivation in Europe, is one of the most common. The natural range of common hazel or true hazelnut covers the west of the European continent, as well as a significant part of Russia from the Leningrad region in the north to the Crimea and the Caucasus in the south.

The common hazel bush has adapted well to life in forest ash, forest-steppe and even steppe regions.

Mature plants can reach a height of about 5 meters and, in favorable conditions, grow well, forming dense, difficult-to-pass thickets. The common hazel shown in the photo feels especially comfortable under the canopy of a deciduous forest. Here are the plants:

• protected from frost;
• get enough nutrition and moisture;
• but due to poor distribution of pollen, they do not bear fruit in full force or do not form an ovary at all.

The species is actively used by humans. Due to its durability, unpretentiousness and winter hardiness, hazel is used in breeding. Today, more than 20 varieties of productive hazel have become widespread in Russia, producing hazelnuts of excellent quality, and several interesting decorative forms that will rightfully decorate both the garden and the urban landscape.

Decorative forms of hazel

Obtaining nuts is not the only purpose of hazel. Decorative forms of the plant are widely used, differing from the wild ancestor in the color of the leaves, the shape of the crown and individual shoots.

The most popular is red-leaved hazel. The shrub differs little from an ordinary plant, but its foliage has a distinct reddish tint. At the same time, on young leaf blades the redness is much brighter than at the base of the shoots, and in the shade more and more green tones appear in the color. A special feature of the hazel C. avellana Atropurpurea is the anthocyanin coloring of not only the leaves, but also the pluses around the ovaries.

Many Russian hazelnut varieties also have reddish foliage, which gives additional expressiveness to the plantings.

In addition to hazel purpurea, other varieties can be seen in Russian gardens. An example would be variegated forms:

• Albovariegata, distinguished by leaves on which a light green or almost white stripe along the edge is clearly visible;
• Aurea, the color of the foliage and the entire crown of which is dominated by yellow and golden-green tones;
• Aureomarginata, in which the golden color affects only the edge of the leaf blade and forms a kind of border.

At the disposal of landscape designers and everyone who is partial to unusual plants, there are forms of hazel that are dissected, serrated, pinnate, and even with inverted foliage.

Hazel is of undoubted interest:

• weeping or C. pendula, growing in the form of a standard tree with drooping branches;
• twisted or C. contorta, all shoots of which are intricately twisted, and the rotating speed is several times lower than that of ordinary plants.

Large hazel (C. maxima)

The species from which the cultural cultivation of hazelnuts began is called large hazel. Since ancient times, the plant, as a source of nutritious and very tasty nuts, has been cultivated in the Balkans, Italy, Turkey, the Caucasus and Crimea. By the name of the Italian region of Lombardy, the species began to be called the Lombard nut, and the peoples of the Black Sea region knew it as the Pontic nut.

Like other species, this crop is demanding on the soil. Where hazel grows:

• the soil is saturated with nutrients in advance;
• take care of regular watering and aeration;
• Fertilizers are regularly used, which are especially important for obtaining a stable and full-bodied harvest.

The crop that produces the highest quality hazelnuts or hazelnuts is easily distinguished by its large, multi-stemmed bushes reaching a height of 10 meters.

The twice-toothed, oval or almost round leaves of the plant are noticeably pubescent underneath. Venation is clearly visible on the leaf blades, and young foliage is often distinguished by its rich anthocyanin color. Long jagged pluses that completely hide the nut are also reddish.

Tree hazel (C. colurna)

Hazel, which does not look like a bush that is familiar to many, but a tall tree, is called tree-like. The species, characteristic of Asia Minor, the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, as well as the Balkan Peninsula, along with the Pontic walnut, is one of the most ancient crops that have interested people in their fruits.

Tree hazel has long been grown in Turkey, but today it has given way to its bush counterparts that are more productive and easier to cultivate.

Trees that live to be two hundred years old are increasingly finding a place in landscaping. Plants that are popularly called bear nut can be recognized thanks to:

• slender trunks covered with grayish bark;
• a crown that looks like a wide candle or cone;
• dark jagged foliage;
• fruits collected in 3-8 pieces, hidden in a velvety, heavily dissected plus.

Hazelnuts of this type are not just edible, but very tasty. They ripen at the end of summer or in the first half of September. In Russia, tree hazel is capable of bearing fruit only in the southernmost regions; in the middle zone, the crop is used as an ornamental plant.

Variegated hazel (C. heterophylla)

The Asian variety is common where the range of common hazel ends. Variegated hazel, named because of the characteristic shape of the leaf blades, can be found in the Far East, the Chita region, China, Mongolia, as well as on the Korean Peninsula and even on the Japanese Islands.

Like its species, this species prefers dry slopes, on which it readily grows, broad-leaved mixed forests and oak groves. Bush:

• distinguished by a wide-rounded crown, consisting of several trunks with a diameter of up to 10 cm;
• reaches a height of 3 meters;
• in favorable conditions, it forms dense thickets that prevent the growth of other species characteristic of the undergrowth.

A distinctive feature of variegated hazel is leaf blades with a small pointed tip and a seemingly cut off upper part.

The species is also characterized by early flowering and fruiting. The ovary is surrounded by a two-part, pubescent plus, shaped like a bell. Ripe hazel nuts reach a diameter of 15 mm. The kernel is hidden under a durable grayish shell.

The plant is incredibly hardy, tolerates drought better than other species and is not afraid of frost. This makes it possible to grow hazel in Siberia, use it to strengthen the slopes of ravines, and plant it where there is a danger of wind erosion.

The main thing is that the place where the shrub will grow is protected from flooding and stagnation of melt or rain water.

In the conditions of a personal plot, hazel has proven its unpretentiousness and flexible disposition. It is light-loving, but can also grow in partial shade; the thickened crown can be easily tidied up with the help of pruners, and with proper care, the bushes live and bear fruit for several decades.

Manchurian hazel (C. sieboldiana var. mandshurica)

Manchurian hazel grows in the Russian Far East, Korea and northern China. This variety differs from the plants described above in its unusual shape of the plus. Forming a long, dense tube that hides the nut, it grows up to 6 cm.

The shoots, forming a shrub up to 4 meters high, are covered with brownish-gray bark, smooth on young branches and covered with cracks on perennial wood. The species is characterized by large soft foliage. The ovary, formed after May flowering, is collected together in 3–4 pieces. The nuts that ripen in the first half of autumn have an oblong, pointed shape. The kernels are covered with a thin shell and are edible, but obtaining nuts is difficult due to the bristly plus.

The plant is not afraid of frost. Therefore, with the right place for planting hazel in Siberia and care, the crop can be used as a nut-bearing and ornamental plant.

How to grow hazel

Hazelnut is an undemanding crop that even novice gardeners can take care of. Preparation for planting and caring for common hazel begins with choosing a suitable location.

Hazel loves light, but can also grow in the shade. But if the foliage of the seedling is red, it will look brighter in the sun. In the shade, such plants gradually lose their attractiveness and turn green. Foliage with a white or yellow color fades in direct sunlight, and here it is necessary to take care of protection during the hottest hours.

In the wild, shrubs live in deciduous forests with loose soil rich in humus. At the same time, the root system of the plant does not tolerate stagnation of moisture, and drought quickly provokes wilting of the foliage and loss of the harvest.

In spring, the plant wakes up early, and moving it to a new place can cause long-term acclimatization. Therefore, the best time to plant hazel is autumn.

Pits measuring at least 50x60 cm are prepared in advance. If you have to grow hazel and care for several specimens at once, leave about 4–5 meters of free space between them. For rapid rooting and active growth, a mixture is prepared for backfilling based on:

• fertile soil;
• 10 kg of high-quality humus;
• 200 g superphosphate;
• 50 g of potash fertilizers.

The composition is laid out on the bottom in the shape of a cone, on which the roots of the bush are carefully laid out so that the root collar is at ground level. Once the hole is filled, the soil is compacted, watered generously, and then mulched to maintain optimal soil moisture.

How to grow hazel, which not only decorates the plot, but also regularly delights with delicious nuts. Experts advise selecting varieties according to flowering time, and also taking into account the possibility of wind pollination.

Crop care includes:

• watering, which is extremely necessary during the ripening period of nuts;
• feeding in early spring and at the time of ovary formation;
• pruning carried out to form the crown, rejuvenate or maintain a healthy state.

In regions with harsh winters, young shrubs may freeze. They are advised to bend them in the ground and cover them. Pruning hazel in the spring allows you to free the plant from broken, frozen or dried branches. In addition, a simple procedure will help to correctly form the crown and give access to the sun to each fruit-bearing branch.

To do this, 8–10 strong shoots are left in each bush, and the rest, trying to free the center, are removed at ground level. For hazel, it is possible to grow on a trellis, as well as form a standard plant.

In order not to weaken the bush, excess root shoots are cut out annually. This is especially important on grafted specimens.

Hazel: beneficial properties and contraindications

The main treasure of the plant are nuts. This is a real storehouse of vitamins, healthy fats, proteins and minerals.

About 65% of the kernel's weight comes from essential fatty acids. Among the micro- and macroelements there are magnesium, potassium and calcium, phosphorus and sulfur, zinc, manganese, fluorine. Vitamins are represented by group B, ascorbic acid, A, E and PP. The calorie content of 100 grams of fruit is 700 kcal.

The rich composition and high energy value of the product determines the beneficial properties of hazel and contraindications that should be taken into account when consuming delicious nuts.

What are the benefits of hazelnuts? Rich in healthy fats, magnesium and potassium, nuts are a valuable product for the prevention and treatment of heart and vascular diseases, especially:

• atherosclerosis;
• ischemic disease;
• cerebral vascular sclerosis;
• myocardial infarction.

The natural remedy not only stimulates the heart muscle, but also strengthens blood vessels and improves blood quality. In addition, hazel nuts are good for the nervous and digestive systems, they stimulate the gallbladder, improve metabolism and resist the aging process of the body.

Thanks to the mass of vitamins, proteins and fatty acids, hazel fruits are indispensable in the diet of vegetarians, and people with lactose intolerance can replace cow's milk with tasty and healthy nut milk. The low sugar content ensures that hazelnut dessert will not affect the health of a diabetic or cause weight gain for someone trying to lose weight.

When talking about the benefits of common hazel, we must not forget about the leaves, bark, plus and other parts of the plant. All of them contain biologically active substances that give plant raw materials astringent, antipyretic, vasodilating, anti-inflammatory, and restorative properties. Infusions and herds based on hazel are prescribed for digestive problems, vascular diseases, genitourinary diseases and helminthic infestations.

Walnut oil has a wound-healing effect. It helps to quickly relieve irritation, reduce pain and accelerate tissue regeneration. Milk from crushed kernels is a proven folk remedy for the treatment of gastritis, cholecystitis and enterocolitis, as well as other problems accompanied by spasms, irritation and pain.

Secrets of growing nuts - video

Plant hazel, or hazel (lat. Corylus) belongs to the genus of deciduous shrubs or trees of the Birch family. There are about 20 species in the genus, native to Eurasia and North America and forming undergrowth in coniferous-deciduous forests. The most common cultivated species is common hazel, or hazelnut. Such cultivated hazel species as Pontic hazel, large hazel and common hazel are often called hazelnuts. Hazel is one of the oldest cultivated plants in Europe. For many centuries, hazel was grown in Turkey, Spain, Italy, France, Germany and even in the UK. In Russia, hazel fruits appeared in 1773 as a result of an exchange for leather and velvet. The name “hazel” comes from “leska” and means forest nut.

Planting and caring for hazel (in brief)

• Landing: in spring, before the start of sap flow, and in autumn, 2-3 weeks before a steady cold snap.
• Bloom: at the end of March or beginning of April.
• Lighting: bright light, direct or diffused, at a distance of at least 4-5 m from other trees.
• The soil: rich in humus, light, loose, with a slightly acidic or neutral reaction.
• Watering: the first watering is a week after planting. During the season, you need to carry out 5-6 waterings - approximately once a month, spending 6-8 buckets of water on each adult bush. In dry summers, you can water more often and more abundantly, and in the rainy season, you can not water at all.
• Feeding: in the spring, as soon as the buds swell, and in July, for the simultaneous ripening of the fruits, nitrogen fertilizer is added to the soil, and in the fall the hazel is fertilized with potassium and phosphorus. It is better to feed young animals with organic matter - every 2-3 years add 10 kg of compost or rotted manure under each bush.
• Reproduction: seeds, suckers, layering, cuttings, grafting and dividing the bush.
• Trimming: in the spring, at a late stage of flowering, to help the plant with pollination. Anti-aging pruning is carried out when the bush reaches eighteen years of age and its productivity decreases. Don't forget to cut out unnecessary root shoots.
• Pests: nut weevils, leaf beetles and longhorned beetles, as well as aphids and bud mites.
• Diseases: affected by rust, branch rot and powdery mildew.

Read more about growing hazel below.

Hazel or hazel - description

Hazel – tree or shrub

The hazel tree can reach 7 m in height. It has a spherical or ovoid crown with a cone-shaped top. The hazel leaves are large, broadly oval or round, with jagged edges. The flowers are unisexual and monoecious: male flowers develop in autumn and form dense cylindrical catkins on short branches. In spring they bloom even before the leaves appear. Female flowers form kidney-shaped inflorescences and are located two at a time in the axils of the bracts. Hazel blooms at the end of March or beginning of April and produces a huge amount of pollen, which is the main food for bees after wintering. Blooming hazel is decorated with flowers and golden earrings. The hazel fruit is a small (about 2 cm in diameter) spherical yellow-brown single-seeded nut, surrounded by an incised tubular integument (plush) and a woody pericarp. The nuts ripen in August.

Hazelnut prefers temperate and subtropical climates. Its plantations can be seen in southern Europe, Cyprus, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ukraine and central Russia. Unfortunately, in amateur gardens, hazel cannot yet be found as often as other fruit shrubs - sea buckthorn, rose hips, hawthorn, actinidia and others.

Planting hazel in the garden

When to plant hazel

Hazel trees are planted both in the spring, before sap flow begins, and in the fall, 2-3 weeks before the onset of persistent cold weather, but autumn planting is preferable to spring planting. Where to plant hazel? Find a moderately lit area in your garden, protected from drafts, where groundwater lies no higher than one and a half meters from the surface, and it is better if this place is not far from the western or southern wall of the building. Do not plant hazel trees in places where melt water accumulates in the spring. The nearest large trees should be located at a distance of 4-5 m from the hazel, since the optimal feeding area for hazel is from 16 to 25 m². As for the composition of the soil, poor, heavy, loamy or marshy soils are not suitable for hazel. The best soil for hazel is humus-rich, light and loose soil with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction. If you are going to plant several seedlings, then before preparing the holes, do a deep digging of the area.

Planting hazel in autumn

For planting, choose hazel seedlings without leaves, with 3-4 strong shoots with a diameter of at least 1-1.5 cm, with a well-developed root system. The length of the roots should be at least 50 cm, but before planting they are cut to 25 cm. If you are going to plant several bushes, then place them at a distance of 4-5 m from each other in a row with row spacing of about 6 m.

Planting holes are prepared a month in advance so that the soil in them has time to settle and compact. If the soil on the site is fertile, then a hole with a depth and a diameter of 50 cm will be sufficient. In poor soil, the depth and diameter of the hole should be at least 80 cm. Before planting, the hole is filled with a fertile mixture - soil from the top layer mixed with 15 kg of rotted manure and two glasses of wood ash or 200 g of superphosphate. It’s a good idea to throw a few handfuls of earth from under the hazel tree into the hole.

A hill is formed in the center of the hole, a seedling is placed on it, the root system of which is immersed in a clay-manure mash before planting. The seedling must be positioned in such a way that the root collar after embedding is 5 cm above the ground level. The hole is filled up, the surface is compacted, a stake is driven in nearby and the seedling is tied to it, after which the plant is watered abundantly, using 3 to 5 buckets of water, regardless of whether you planted the plant in dry or wet soil. When the water is absorbed, mulch the tree trunk circle with a layer of sawdust, humus or peat 3-5 cm thick.

How to plant a hazel tree in spring

Spring planting of hazel trees is carried out according to the same procedure, but it is advisable to dig holes in the fall so that over the winter the soil in them is saturated with moisture and compacted. To guarantee hazel pollination, you need to plant at least three bushes on the site, and it is advisable that they are not of the same variety. And don’t forget to add a few handfuls of hazel soil to the hole when planting: it contains fungi that are favorable for hazel. At first, it is better to shade the seedlings from the bright spring sun.

Hazel care

How to care for hazel

Planting and caring for hazel is not labor-intensive, and if you sow mustard, lupine or vetch with oats in the trunk circle of the bush to use them as mulch after mowing, then you will have even less trouble. You can keep the soil under the hazel under black fallow, loosening it from time to time to a depth of 4-7 cm and clearing it of weeds. In addition, you will have to constantly fight with the root shoots, and it is better to do this while the shoots are still weak. Each root shoot needs to be dug up and cut off at the place where it extends from the root. Cuts on the roots are treated with crushed coal.

Watering hazel

Hazel tree care includes watering the plant. Seedlings begin to be watered within a week after planting. Lack of moisture can adversely affect the formation of flower buds and the ripening of hazel fruits. During the growing season, the soil under the hazel tree needs to be watered 5-6 times, spending 6-8 buckets per adult bush. In dry summers, you can moisten the hazel tree more often - it loves water very much. But in the rainy season, you don’t have to think about watering the hazel tree. On average, hazel is watered once a month. Water is poured into the tree trunk circle in portions so that it does not stand as a puddle, but is absorbed. The next day after watering or rain, it is advisable to loosen the soil in the tree trunk circle.

Feeding hazel

Growing hazel involves applying fertilizer to the tree trunk. In the fall, the hazel tree is fed with potassium and phosphorus: once every 2-3 years, 3-4 kg of manure, 20-30 g of potassium salt and 50 g of superphosphate are applied to each bush. And in the spring, the hazel tree will need nitrogen fertilizer, for example, ammonium nitrate or urea: as soon as the buds swell, apply 20-30 g of fertilizer to the tree trunk circle. The hazel tree also needs nitrogen fertilization in July so that the fruits ripen at the same time. It is advisable to feed young plants with organic matter in the form of compost or rotted manure - it is enough to apply them every 2-3 years in the amount of 10 kg per hazel bush.

Caring for hazel during flowering

An indicator of the successful development of hazel is its flowering. When does the hazel tree bloom? Flowering occurs in April, even before the leaves appear on the bush. When the air temperature rises to 12 ºC, hazel catkins grow and add 3 cm per day, and the drier the air, the faster they lengthen, and when the catkins reach a length of 10 cm, they become loose and begin to scatter pollen. This pollination lasts from 4 to 12 days, while the female flowers open for two weeks. Female flowers catch pollen from male flowers either from their own or from a neighboring hazel tree. That is why it is better to grow at least three hazel bushes in one area.

Hazel propagation

Hazel propagates by seeds, layering, suckers, grafting, cuttings and dividing the bush. The seed propagation method is used mainly to perform breeding tasks - it allows you to obtain new varieties adapted to certain climatic conditions. However, in amateur gardening, the generative method of hazel propagation does not justify the time and effort spent, since at best, only one seedling out of a thousand reproduces the varietal properties of the parent plants. To preserve varietal qualities, they resort to vegetative propagation methods, which we will describe below.

To propagate hazel by horizontal layering, you need to bend low-growing annual hazel branches to the ground in early spring or late autumn, place them in furrows 10-15 cm deep, secure and slightly shorten the top remaining above the surface. There is no need to fill the furrows with soil. Vertical shoots begin to grow from the buds on the branches, which should be hilled several times to the middle, tearing off the hazel leaves from the bottom of the shoots. Gradually, the shoots will take root, and you will have a large number of seedlings that need to be grown for 1-2 years before planting in a permanent place.

According to the same principle, hazel is propagated by arc layering: in the spring, the branches are bent in an arc, the bark on the part of the branch touching the soil is cut, the branch is fixed in a hole 20-30 cm deep, the hole is filled up, but so that the tip of the shoot remains on the surface - it is tied to a peg . The rooted cuttings are separated from the mother plant in the fall, dug up and grown for 1-2 years before being planted in a permanent place.

Propagation of hazel trees by vertical layering is also a very simple procedure: after rejuvenating spring pruning, the stumps of large branches are hermetically covered with film at a height of 50 cm in order to awaken dormant buds to growth. When the shoots begin to grow and they reach a height of 15 cm, they are covered with humus to a height of 4-5 cm, having previously tied them at the very bottom with soft wire. When the length of the shoots becomes 20-25 cm, they are hilled with humus to a height of 8-12 cm, and when the shoots reach 30-35 cm, they are earthed up at a height of 20 cm and mulched. After the third hilling, the film is removed. The bush is watered and weeded all summer. Hazel leaves at the bottom of the shoots are removed before each hilling. In the fall, the soil is carefully raked so as not to damage the adventitious roots and well-rooted shoots are broken off at the site of the constriction. Weakly rooted shoots do not need to be separated.

The growth of hazel shoots occurs in a diameter of 1 m from the trunks. Offshoots are formed in the second or third year after planting from dormant buds on the roots and emerge from the ground at a distance from the bush. For reproduction, offspring 2-3 years old growing on the periphery are used - they are called peelings. The cuttings are separated from the rhizome with an ax and planted for growing into a school. You can plant them immediately in a permanent place by placing 2-3 peels in one hole.

When propagating hazel by grafting, you can use wild hazel seedlings as a rootstock, but the best rootstock is a bear nut seedling, which does not produce offspring. Hazel trees are grafted in the summer using budding with a sprouting eye or in the spring by cuttings into the butt, into a splinter or behind the bark. Cuttings for scions are suitable for apical ones or they are cut from the middle part of the shoots. Cuttings are prepared in winter and stored until spring in the refrigerator or in the snow.

It is also easy to propagate hazel by dividing the bush. The dug up bush must be divided into parts so that each of them has roots 15-20 cm long. After treating the sections with crushed coal, the sections are planted in pre-prepared holes.

Wintering hazel

Young plants are wrapped in spunbond or lutrasil for the first 2-3 winters. Some gardeners prefer to bend young bushes to the ground and cover them with spruce branches, and then cover them with snow to protect the shoots from freezing or breaking off. Adult plants overwinter normally without shelter.

Hazel trimming

When to prune hazel

Pruning the hazel tree can be done in winter while the bush is dormant, but it is better to do it in the spring, at the late stage of flowering, since when pruning the bush moves and shakes, and this increases the efficiency of pollination of the hazel tree.

How to trim hazel

You can grow hazel as a tree on a trunk 35-40 cm high, but it is more convenient to form hazel in the form of a bush. The first pruning is carried out a week after planting at a height of 25-30 cm above the soil surface. Over the summer, shoots will appear on the plant that do not need to be pruned: hazelnuts bear fruit on one-year-old wood. Starting next spring, begin to form a hazel bush. No more than 10 strong shoots are left on the bush, growing in different directions from the center of the bush at a distance from each other. Weak, broken, frozen, intertwined, deformed and disease- or pest-affected shoots must be removed. Do not allow the bush to thicken. The plant will begin to bear fruit in the fourth year after planting, and your task is to timely thin out and sanitary pruning of the hazel tree.

They begin to rejuvenate the bush at the age of 18-20, when its productivity declines. Every year, cut 2-3 old trunks per stump, leaving instead 2-3 basal shoots growing close to the center of the bush. New skeletal branches should be slightly shortened to encourage the formation of side shoots on them.

If you are growing a hazel tree, then a week after planting, cut off all the shoots on it, leaving only the trunk, and then, as the shoots appear, remove them at the bottom of the trunk, and form 4-5 skeletal branches at the top. Don't forget to destroy root growth.

Pests and diseases of hazel

Hazel pests

Among the pests, hazel trees can be bothered by walnut weevils, leaf beetles and longhorned beetles, as well as aphids and bud mites.

Kidney mite- a small insect up to 0.3 mm long that overwinters in plant buds and lays eggs in them in the spring. Such buds can be seen with the naked eye: they swell to the size of a large pea. While healthy buds begin to bloom, buds affected by the mite dry out and die.

Aphid– a small sucking insect that feeds on plant cell sap and transmits viral diseases. Aphids are difficult to see, and this is their danger. As a result of the vital activity of aphids, the leaves of the plant curl, the shoots and buds are deformed, their development slows down, and the fruits do not ripen.

Nut weevil- a brown beetle up to 1 cm long. The caterpillar of the beetle has a yellowish-milky body and a red-brown head. The female beetle lays eggs in the unripe fruits, and they feed on the nut pulp. With severe damage, you can lose up to 50% of the crop.

Walnut (hazelnut) barbel– a very dangerous pest, a black bug up to 15 mm long on yellow legs. It lays eggs under the bark of young shoots. The larvae gnaw through the core of the shoots, and they dry out, and the upper leaves on them turn yellow and curl.

Walnut leaf beetle- a beetle 6-7 mm long with violet elytra, the most dangerous leaf-eating pest of hazel. The beetle larvae have a dark green body, difficult to distinguish against the background of the leaves on which their development takes place. This beetle damages not only hazel trees, but also alder and willow.

Hazel diseases

Hazel is more resistant to diseases than to pests, but can be affected by rust, branch rot and powdery mildew.

Powdery mildew- a disease well known to gardeners, the symptom of which is a whitish coating on the leaves and shoots, which over time becomes dense and turns brown. The affected parts stop growing, darken and die. Inflorescences do not form ovaries, and the winter hardiness of plants is greatly reduced.

Rust– this fungal disease is manifested by the formation of dark red tubercles on the upper side of the leaves, and round or oval pustules on the lower side. The spots gradually turn into stripes, and the leaves of the plant turn yellow and fall off.

If you find insects on a hazel tree, spread a film under it and try to shake them off onto it. If the pest infestation of hazel is very strong, you will have to resort to treating the plant with insecticides, and sucking insects are destroyed with acaricides. The best drugs for pest control are Karbofos, Actellik, Chlorophos and other drugs of similar action.

Against fungal diseases, if they have become effective, you will have to use fungicides - Bordeaux mixture, copper sulfate and more modern copper-based preparations. But the best protection for hazel trees from fungi is compliance with agricultural practices, as well as good and timely care.

Types and varieties of hazel

As we have already mentioned, there are about 20 species of hazel in nature. There are many varieties, varieties and hybrids of cultivated hazel species. The following types of hazel are most in demand in culture:

- a multi-stemmed shrub, reaching a height of 4-6 meters, with a wide spreading crown with a diameter of up to 4 m. The shoots of this hazel are pubescent, the leaves are round, up to 9 cm wide and up to 12 cm long. Flowering of common hazel begins before the leaves appear. The spherical nuts, up to 1.5 cm in diameter, in a light brown peel, ripen in September. The plant is found both in cultivation and in the wild;

or bear nut - an ornamental plant with very tasty fruits. This is the only type of hazel that is a tree. Tree hazel grows up to 8 meters in height, but in warm countries it can reach 20 m. Tree hazel lives up to 200 years. The leaves of this species are broadly ovate, located on petioles about 5 cm long. Despite the fact that the fruits of hazelnut are larger than those of other hazel species, they have smaller kernels, but they taste more pleasant than hazelnut kernels;

- a multi-stemmed, highly branched bush up to 5 m high with fissured dark gray bark. A distinctive feature of the species are the oblong leaves and fruits. Peeling the nuts is difficult because they are enclosed in a prickly wrapper. This species is widespread in China and the Far East;

Variegated hazel (lat. Corylus heterophylla)

- a shrub up to 3 m high with two-lobed leaves and a truncated top. In spring, catkins of male inflorescences and almost invisible red buds of female flowers appear on it. The fruits are formed in 2-3 pieces in a leaf wrapper. The species is widespread in Japan, China, Korea and the Far East. It is unpretentious to climatic conditions and can grow well in the middle zone;

- an ornamental shrub 4-6 m high, attracting attention with a lush crown of dark purple foliage, which acquires a green color only in autumn. The earrings of this hazel are dark burgundy, as are the buds. This type of hazel served as the basis for the development of many popular varieties and hybrids of the crop;

or Lombard walnut - a shrub up to 10 m high. The fruits of the plant are located in a tubular wrapper, which is twice the size of the nuts themselves. The fruit kernels are fleshy and elongated. In nature, this species is found in the forests of Turkey, Italy and Asian countries.

There are also Chinese, American, Colchian, horned, Himalayan, or awesome, Siebold's hazels and other lesser known species.

Of the hazel varieties, the most popular in our climatic conditions are:

• Isaevsky– one of the most valuable frost-resistant varieties with large fruits of excellent taste;
• Masha– a productive and winter-hardy hybrid of red-leaved hazel with elongated fruits of medium size and excellent taste, enclosed in a thin shell;
• Roman– a disease- and pest-resistant variety of mid-ripening Italian selection with large flat-round beautiful fruits of excellent taste.

In the middle zone, the following hazel varieties have proven themselves well: Ekaterina, Moscow Rubin, Pamyat Yablokova, Pervenets, Pushkinsky Red, Ivanteevsky Red, Kudraif, Moscow Early, Purpurny, Sakharisty, Sakharny, a series of varieties Severny, Tambovsky Early, Tambovsky Late, Lentina, Alida , Lena and others.

In the southern regions of Russia and Ukraine, the popular hazelnut varieties are Panakhessky, Altaisky, Cherkessky, Kuban, Perestroika, Futkurami and others.

Properties of hazel - harm and benefit

Useful properties of hazel

Hazelnuts are the richest source of substances beneficial to the human body. The core contains vitamins A, PP, C and E and B vitamins, as well as amino acids, fatty oils, iron, iodine, calcium, magnesium, copper, fluorine, manganese and potassium. According to their biological properties, nuts are equated to proteins, so it is best to eat them separately from other foods. Useful properties of hazelnuts:

• it has a positive effect on attention and memory;
• helps normalize the functioning of the cardiovascular system;
• strengthens the body's immune system and accelerates metabolism;
• has a positive effect on exhaustion of the body and helps to recover from illness;
• indicated for anemia, allergies, obesity, rheumatism, urolithiasis, burns, measles, anemia, epilepsy, to cleanse the liver and enhance hair growth.

In addition, it is recommended to drink an infusion of hazel leaves for thrombophlebitis, dilated veins, trophic ulcers and prostate hypertrophy. An infusion of hazel bark helps with diabetic retinopathy; it is used to improve blood circulation in small vessels and as a vasoconstrictor. A decoction of hazel bark and plumes is used to wash hair to give it a darker shade, and a decoction of the leaves relieves redness of the skin and swelling of the eyelids.

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In the Caucasus and Crimea, large hazel, or Lombard nut, is cultivated, which, like common hazel, is sometimes called hazelnut.

At least a dozen trees have grown on our self-seeding plot, because... nearby there is a huge hazel tree covering several hectares.

Did you know that earrings are male hazel flowers? And I showed the women’s ones to David on Friday, and took a picture at the same time. They are small - a few millimeters. There are no bees yet, or other insects, so they are not trying to attract them. Calculate only on the wind.

Hazelnut is a monoecious plant with dioecious, wind-pollinated flowers.

Male flowers (with 4 stamens) in catkins, bloom 2 - 5 from one bud, drooping, consisting of numerous flowers, overwinter in open buds - catkins. Female flowers are borne at the tops of the current year's shoots in the axils of the bud scales. The female inflorescence is similar in appearance to a bud. The flower consists of a pistil fused with a reduced perianth.

The female flowers are small, consisting of bright red tufts of stigmas, barely visible from the top of the flower bud. The more shaggy the stigma bundles are, the more female flowers are contained in the bud and, therefore, the more nuts will be formed in the infructescence. Stigmas are designed to catch pollen and appear somewhat earlier than the male flowers begin to “collect dust,” but in some varieties it’s the other way around.

An indicator of the successful development of hazelnuts is flowering. The flowering phase begins in April before the leaves bloom. When the air temperature reaches +12* C during the day, male catkins begin to grow up to 3 cm per day. The drier the air, the faster the catkin's stem lengthens. If the weather is rainy and the air is saturated with moisture, then the catkins, despite the warmth, grow slowly - they seem to wait out bad weather (dampness) and postpone flowering until a more favorable time. (Anemophilous pollen is released from the anthers, which crack under the influence of dry air). The length of the earrings reaches 10 cm, they loosen and begin to gather dust, producing about 4 million grains of pollen (and this is only one earring - 4,000,000!). Clouds of pollen are easily carried by the wind from one bush to another. “Pollination” lasts 4-12 days, but nothing: female flowers - bunches of red stigmas - are open for more than 2 weeks and they “catch” a yellow cloud of pollen either from their own or from another plant.

Biological features of hazel (hazelnut)

The cultivation of hazel and hazelnuts is completely the same

Hazelnut is a promising nut crop and is a large shrub. It is found in natural biocenoses of broad-leaved and coniferous-deciduous forests; it develops well under the canopy of trees in the forest, but does not bear fruit in the shade. It grows slowly at first, then faster. The growth rate increases as the root system develops. At 4-5 years of life, the growth of the main axis of the plant weakens. It becomes slanted and gradually dies. By the age of 9-19 years, the upper lateral branches overtake the main axis and a palmate, fan-shaped crown with horizontal branches is formed. The density of the crown is enhanced by the two-row arrangement of leaves and buds. When there is a lack of light, the leaves take a horizontal position and are located on the branch so that they do not obscure each other. In the spaces between large leaves, small leaves are placed, forming a so-called leaf mosaic. The horizontal position of leaf blades and leaf mosaics are devices for better light capture.

Branching is also characteristic of the underground part of the plant. The root system is powerful, quickly growing, and protects the soil well from runoff and erosion. Because the root system is superficial, plants are sensitive to compaction of the top layer(It is not recommended to dance in a circle under a tree unless necessary).

The plants prefer fertile soils, are light-loving (red-leaved forms of hazel become less bright in the shade), and are relatively cold-resistant - able to tolerate frosts of 25-30 ° C and below. They bloom in early April, which is why they periodically suffer from frosts. Vegetative buds bloom 3-4 weeks after the start of flowering. The strongest growth of shoots is observed in early spring - when there are reserves of moisture, but they do not like either excess or lack of water.

Seeds germinate in the soil (within 1-2 years), while the cotyledons remain in the forest floor until autumn. During the first summer, a shoot 20 cm high is formed in the underground part. Above the cotyledons, several, first scale-like, and then green (red) leaves are formed. The development of the shoot ends with the formation of apical and underground buds.

Hazel trees begin to bear fruit depending on the method of propagation. With the vegetative method, the first harvest is produced in 3-4 years, with the seed method in 6-8 years. Abundant and annual fruiting is observed from 8-10 years. During this period, there is intensive growth of shoots. (Coppling propagation is of great biological importance for the regeneration of hazel in nature, and is also successfully used for propagation in horticulture). The lower part of the bush retains the ability for vegetative renewal for a long time (tillering process) - skeletal branches develop from the tissues of dormant buds. Annual growth varies and depends on the location of the shoot on the plant (up to 150 cm). The longevity of individual branches is 20-25 years. The reproductive age of the bush is 80-90 years (or 150-180 years according to other sources).

Hazelnut is a monoecious plant with dioecious, wind-pollinated flowers. Male flowers (with 4 stamens) in catkins, bloom 2 - 5 from one bud, drooping, consisting of numerous flowers, overwinter in open buds - catkins. Female flowers are borne at the tops of the current year's shoots in the axils of the bud scales. The female inflorescence is similar in appearance to a bud. The flower consists of a pistil fused with a reduced perianth.

The female flowers are small, consisting of bright red tufts of stigmas, barely visible from the top of the flower bud. The more shaggy the stigma bundles are, the more female flowers are contained in the bud and, therefore, the more nuts will be formed in the infructescence. Stigmas are designed to catch pollen and appear somewhat earlier than the male flowers begin to “collect dust,” but in some varieties it’s the other way around.

An indicator of the successful development of hazelnuts is flowering. The flowering phase begins in April before the leaves bloom. When the air temperature reaches +12* C during the day, male catkins begin to grow up to 3 cm per day. The drier the air, the faster the catkin's stem lengthens. If the weather is rainy and the air is saturated with moisture, then the catkins, despite the warmth, grow slowly - they seem to wait out bad weather (dampness) and postpone flowering until a more favorable time. (Anemophilous pollen is released from the anthers, which crack under the influence of dry air). The length of the earrings reaches 10 cm, they loosen and begin to gather dust, giving about 4 million

pollen grains (and this is just one earring - 4,000,000!). Clouds of pollen are easily carried by the wind from one bush to another. “Pollination” lasts 4-12 days, but nothing: female flowers - bunches of red stigmas - are open for more than 2 weeks and they “catch” a yellow cloud of pollen either from their own or from another plant.

So, we have come to the need to highlight some biological features, as well as features of agricultural technology.

Growing hazelnuts is simple, but you need to know some important points, without which it is impossible to get a harvest. Hazelnut is a monoecious, dioecious, wind-pollinated (cross-pollinated) plant, and the yield of cross-pollinated plants largely depends on climatic conditions during the flowering period and pollination activities, as well as measures to preserve flowers from damage by spring frosts, therefore, for better memorization and We will try to consider each feature in detail.

A-A. For all types of hazelnuts characterized by non-simultaneous maturation of stamens and pistils, i.e. The flowering periods of female and male flowers do not coincide in most hybrids of red-leaved hazelnut varieties. Non-simultaneous maturation of male and female genital organs is very common. This is the most widespread adaptation in the plant kingdom that ensures cross-pollination. It is called dichogamy - (in some cases, the stamens develop first, and the anthers open at a time when the pistil is still underdeveloped and its stigma is unable to accept fertilizing pollen grains and vice versa).

Like animals, plants avoid combining closely related sexual elements and therefore more often resort to cross-pollination, which results in cross-fertilization (allogamy). In this case, the stigma is pollinated by the fertile pollen of another plant of the same species, and its own pollen is used in exchange for pollinating the stigmas of other flowers. If pollen from another species of the same genus falls on the stigma during cross-pollination, fertilization nevertheless often occurs and crosses or hybrids are obtained. The benefits of cross-pollination are so great that plants have developed many different adaptations that facilitate such pollination, and in some cases even make it the only possible one. Most, however, forms with cross-pollination also retain the ability to self-pollinate (resorting to it in rare cases).

Conclusion: Self-fertility in hazelnut hybrids is low, i.e. It is pollinated poorly (rarely) by the pollen of its variety. Therefore, for successful cultivation, it is necessary to have plants of different varieties and plants of seed origin nearby, which will pollinate each other. Especially varieties with a long (extended) period of flowering (dusting) of male catkins. The more plants of the same species growing nearby, the higher the likelihood of cross-pollination. This means that on one bush the pistils are ripening, and on the other at the same time the anthers on the stamens are ripening. It is better if these plants are taken from different places or different varieties. This means, to get a good harvest, you should plant at least2-3 xvarieties. This is a prerequisite for this culture.

B-B. Many hazelnut hybrids have semi- or completely sterile pollen, and some have predominantly female flowers. Most varieties are self-sterile.

Conclusion: For points A-A and B-B, the need for cross-pollination is 100% obvious. To obtain a sustainable harvest, additional pollination is required. For this purpose, pollinator varieties are selected that produce a large amount of pollen (for every 10 bushes, 1-2 pollinator bushes). Having pollinating varieties on your plot, you will always have a good harvest. If the variety is self-fertile or partially self-fertile, then be sure to select a suitable variety for it - a pollinator or a plant of seed origin. The main thing is that it must coincide with your variety in terms of flowering time and be located at a distance of no further than 10-15 m from the pollinated variety and always on the leeward side. However, even if the variety is self-fertile, for better fruiting it is also a good idea to choose another pollinator variety: the yield will be higher, so it is advisable to plant several different varieties on the site. It is recommended to place green-leaved ones next to red-leaved forms. For normal fruiting, you need to plant several plants that do not belong to the same clone. Good pollinators are Tambov early, Tambov late, Pervenets, Moscow ruby, Ivanteevsky red, 4219.

Charles Darwin experimentally showed that “cross-pollination,” when pollen is taken from another plant of the same species, produces more numerous, stronger and, in turn, more fertile offspring.

V-V. To clarify the following features, it is necessary to remember 2 important concepts that apply to all fruit plants without exception. The majority of gardeners often confuse the concepts of winter hardiness and frost resistance. But these are completely different things. Frost resistance is the ability of a variety to withstand certain subzero temperatures. Winter hardiness is a complex concept. It includes frost resistance, regenerative ability, or, more simply put, the survivability of the variety and the ability to withstand temperature changes.

Hazelnuts, thanks to breeders, tolerate t = −25-30*C without additional shelter. Male inflorescences - catkins - are less winter-hardy than female fruit buds. Often, catkins freeze slightly before flowering. Male inflorescences are laid and formed in the summer and autumn of the previous year and overwinter fully formed, ready for flowering. Branches brought into the room in winter begin to gather dust, and therefore short periods of warming in winter cause vigorous activity in the catkins. Frosts that follow warm days destroy them. That is, the winter hardiness of male inflorescences of many varieties is insufficient.

Female inflorescences are formed much later; by winter, female flowers are very poorly developed, most often they overwinter in the stage of proliferation of tubercles. They are surrounded by thick scales and leaf buds, so they are less exposed to temperature fluctuations and do not grow during warming periods, and therefore freeze out less often.

Knowing all this, you can help the plant produce annual nut harvests. To guarantee a safe overwintering of plants, it is recommended in the fall to bend the lower branches with catkins to the ground, secure them and cover them with snow. All winter they will be under the snow, like under a fur coat. Sharp fluctuations in air temperature will not affect them. In the spring, don’t forget to free the branches from the snow captivity, and then the men’s earrings will fulfill their purpose. For better pollination, it is necessary to bend the branches precisely from the direction of the prevailing winds, and the wind itself will do the rest.

Conclusion: We plant varieties in the neighborhood that are characterized by high frost resistance and winter hardiness of male inflorescences. The varieties Tambovsky early, Tambovsky late and Pervenets are classified as pollinating varieties of red-leaved forms (they form many more winter-hardy male inflorescences). Green-leaved hazelnuts are considered more winter-hardy; Among the red-leaved ones, Pushkinsky red, Miracle of Vsesvyatsky, Maria Makarevich are more resistant to frost. For example, the varieties Tambovsky early, Tambovsky late, Isaevsky, during an extremely unfavorable winter of 1978/1979 in the Moscow region, withstood the test of frost t = −42°C and still bore fruit, while the wild hazel in the forest was mostly frozen out. It is a fact. This is evidenced by Kudasheva R.F. and Moiseev A.E., a full member of the Moscow Society of Natural Scientists in the magazines “Homestead Farming” and “Science and Life” No. 4 for 1990.

G-G. Hazelnut is a wind-pollinated plant, so it is necessary to take into account the prevailing wind direction at the time of flowering of the plant. See the section “Pollination” for more details.

Conclusion: 1) taking into account the above, we plant the pollinator on the leeward side. 2) additional pollination of hazelnuts is facilitated by pruning during the flowering period of the plant: spontaneous shaking at the moment of cutting branches contributes to the active dispersal of pollen.

D-D. A characteristic feature of hazel trees is that their ovaries after flowering begin to develop only after 1.5 - 2 months, i.e. the fruits begin to form not in April, but in June - as a result, 4.5 - 5 months pass from the moment of pollination to the ripening of the kernel. And when the buds have already blossomed and the growth of shoots with pollinated female flowers has begun, the crop can be destroyed by late return frosts down to - 3 * C. (Although the pollen tubes quickly reach the base of the style, fertilization itself occurs only 2-3 weeks after pollination).

Conclusion: Hazelnuts bear fruit annually. However, weather favorable for abundant fruiting in the central zone occurs once every 2 - 4 years, and frosts during flowering are no exception. After all The main danger for hazelnuts is not winter frosts, but spring frosts. At rest, plants can withstand low temperatures, but sudden spring frosts can kill buds, flowers and young shoots. The plant's sensitivity to low temperatures depends on the degree of bud opening - the further the bud development has progressed, the greater the danger. In winter, pollen in male earring inflorescences is not damaged even at t = –30°C, but during spring flowering it can only withstand t = −3 −5°C. Female hazelnut inflorescences can withstand frosts t ≥ –30°C in winter, during flowering they can withstand temperatures t = –8 –9°C, and the fertilized ovary can only withstand t = –3°C. Although other fruit crops have an even lower permissible critical temperature threshold, nevertheless, emergency measures to protect the future harvest cannot be avoided. (Let’s take an apple tree as an example: a blooming flower bud dies at –3.5°C, –3°C is destructive for buds, –2°C cannot withstand the blooming buds, –1.5°C is fatal at the stage of petal fall, and –1°C kills the ovaries °C.)

This is one of the big problems for gardeners, so let’s take a closer look at it. With the arrival of warmer weather, the time for flowering begins - a crucial period for fruit crops. Late spring frosts are possible at this time. Observations show that hazelnuts are most harmed by frost at the time of ovary formation. A drop in temperature below −3°C causes the death of the crop. The likelihood of frost occurring can be determined by the following signs. A sharp drop in temperature in the afternoon, a quiet windless and cloudless clear night, the absence of evening dew, dry air, as well as the upcoming weather can be judged by the behavior of the hazelnut itself. If the stigmas are hidden in the bud, and the earrings have shrunk, decreasing by 1/2, then expect frost; if they show themselves in all their glory, it will be warm.

Protecting all fruit plants, without exception, from late spring frosts is an urgent problem for gardens not only in the Middle Zone. So this problem is not only ours and not only with hazelnuts. Therefore, we stock up on knowledge, patience and move forward - light fires and more.

Options for protection against spring frosts

1. The most effective method of protection is fine-drip sprinkling. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that light, intense rain covers the entire surface of flowering plants throughout the entire freezing period. Sprinkling allows you to protect flowers and ovaries from frost damage even at temperatures of −4–5°C. The use of sprinkling is based on the fact that when water freezes, it releases heat and thereby protects the flowers. Spraying must be completed 1-2 hours before sunrise, otherwise the plants, thawing under the influence of sunlight, will turn black and die.

If the frost has done its job, then before sunrise, until the green parts of the plant have thawed, you need to sprinkle them generously with water. Under the influence of cold water, the plants move away gradually, and frost will not cause them any harm. If sprayed for a long time, the branches may become covered with ice, and therefore supports should be placed in advance under weak branches. In this case, do not forget about effective soil drainage, otherwise it may become waterlogged, which will lead to serious damage to the roots.

2. Smoking is the most common way to protect fruit plants from frost. The use of smoke is based on the fact that when the material burns, a curtain of smoke and particles of water vapor is formed. Smoke, being a poor conductor of heat, prevents the cooling of the surface layers of the soil and retains heat in it. The use of smoke increases the air temperature by 2-3°C or more.

However, this method gives a positive result only in clear, windless weather and with prolonged use. It is important to first determine the direction of the smoke. Then arrange heaps for smoking. They are laid, starting with installing a stake and lining it with straw, wood chips, brushwood (highly flammable material). After this, the heap is covered with manure, leaves and earth on top and set on fire. The pile should burn slowly for 5-6 hours. They make 1-2 per hundred square meters, placing them no closer than 1.5-2 m from the tree. It is important to correctly determine the onset of smoking. It starts when the air temperature drops to +1°C and continues to fall. If half an hour after sunset the temperature has not dropped below +1.5°C, the smoking of the fires is postponed until the next time.

3. Foliar feeding of flowering plants with minerals. It improves their nutrition and increases the concentration of cell sap, which increases the resistance of fruit plants to freezing. Foliar feeding is carried out by spraying in the evening or 2-3 hours before the onset of frost. The solution is prepared from potassium and phosphate mineral fertilizers (3-4% potassium sulfate and 4-5% superphosphate).

4. Non-woven covering material also helps preserve the crop during spring bad weather.

5. It is necessary to try to choose varieties with increased winter hardiness of fruit buds, as well as varieties with a later flowering period or long-flowering varieties.

HER. Successful pollination depends largely on weather conditions, e.g. long rains during flowering interfere with the spread of pollen in wind-pollinated plants. This leads to massive death of pollen and in such years the harvest decreases sharply. As E. B. Kvach from Belarus writes: “Over many years I have become convinced that rainy weather during flowering causes much more harm than frost, since pollen is washed off from flowers. Productivity in such years is low. Although the nuts are developing externally, many are empty and have blackened flesh inside.”

Conclusion: A.E. Moiseev from the Moscow region successfully used artificial pollination about 20 years ago. In this case, it is necessary to collect the male earrings with twigs in advance before they become dusty, put them in a clean paper bag and in the refrigerator, where the pollen retains the ability to germinate for 2-3 weeks. You can’t keep pollen in the sun even for a few minutes, it dies. The package is stored in the refrigerator at a temperature of about 0 degrees. When good weather arrives, you need to place the branches with catkins in a bottle of water on parchment paper overnight. Pollen will fall there, collect it in a bag and carefully apply it to the stigmas of the pistils with a soft watercolor brush. Hand pollination should be carried out in the morning before the sun appears or in cloudy weather. For small hazelnut bushes, this method is convenient and reliable. It takes very little time to pollinate a flowering bush - 15-20 minutes. Or the second option for mature trees: prepare pollen (as with hand pollination), collect it, mix with water, fill the spray bottle and early in the morning, or in cloudy (dry) weather, carry out pollination - spraying.

J-J. Hazelnuts have a powerful root system. As with many cultures Nuts are characterized by the presence of mycorrhiza. A cover of fungal hyphae is formed around the small roots, that is, special soil fungi that can replace the suction hairs of the root and additionally take on other protective functions. In the rhizosphere (around active roots) a specific microflora develops, consisting of hyphae of soil fungi living on the surface of the root. Mycorrhizal fungi belong to the group - symbiophytes. This symbiosis(cohabitation) of fungi and higher plants. In the process of mutually beneficial cooperation, the tree gives up to 10% sugar and starch to the mushrooms, and the mushrooms give moisture and nutrients (phosphates).

In addition, mycorrhiza prevents infection of tree roots by pathogenic microorganisms, accumulates large amounts of heavy metals (where they are in excess), and creates a buffer environment from adverse effects. Mycorrhiza gives the greatest effect if the environment in which planting is carried out is associated with stress for the seedling: lack of moisture (drought), lack of nutrients, low pH, high concentration of heavy metals, etc.

Conclusion: Before planting hazelnut seedlings, don’t be lazy, go into the forest and from under the hazelnut from a depth of 10-15 cm, collect mycorrhizal soil (forest humus with hyphae fungi) - this is where the mycorrhiza of fungi is located. This will be the best nanny for your nut plantings for all time - you only need 1-2 handfuls of it(100-200 g)for each hole. Produce a similar bedding when propagating by layering and other methods. Mycorrhiza forms in optimal humidity conditions. A decrease in humidity leads to the death of the fungal root, and if the humidity then increases, new suction roots appear, and mycorrhiza appears again. Mycorrhiza is often found on the roots and at great depths. (Apple, pear, hazel, cherry, plum and berry plants have both mycorrhiza and root hairs).

Z-Z. Common hazel seedlings used as a rootstock are suitable for standard cultivation, provided that the shoots are regularly removed, since a lot of rhizome and stump shoots usually form at the base of the bushes. But you can almost completely get rid of this growth by deepening the grafting sites to a depth of 20–25 cm when planting. And such rootstocks as seedlings of bear nut and its hybrids do not form shoots at all. To prevent shoots from forming on rooted standard plants, a film circle with a diameter of 50-60 cm is placed around the standard, its edges are dug in, and in the center it is tied around the standard 5-10 cm above the root collar. Although grafted specimens are offered for sale, preference should be given to own-rooted ones, so that growth from the rootstock does not bother you in the future.

Some hazelnut varieties are prone to excessive root growth, which leads to depleted bushes and reduced yield. In this case, part of the shoots must be removed at an early age, when the shoots rise 5-8 cm above the soil surface. Cutting them out at the soil surface does not reduce the amount of root shoots. Even the reverse process is observed, since pruning the shoots causes them to branch.

Conclusion: To effectively remove shoots, you need to dig up the soil around each shoot and cut it down to the base with pruning shears. Pruning is carried out as it grows.

The above features are not taken into account and, as they say, are at your own loss. When cultivating hazelnuts, it is necessary to take care first of all of the pollinator, of varieties with high winter hardiness of male catkins and female inflorescences. If the area of ​​the plot allows, then plant 5-8 carefully selected varieties and you will only have one problem left - the problem of harvesting. The harvest of nuts from a wild hazel bush reaches 1-3 kg (once every five years), in cultivation almost annually 2-4 kg, under favorable conditions and proper agricultural technology up to 7-10 kg (some varieties).