Photo: Fritz Geller-Grimm — CC BY-SA 2.5 · source
Survives zone 5 through 8
Harvest calendar
Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.
Distinguished from common hazel by its long husk, which wholly encloses or forms a narrow tube beyond the nut; cultivars including 'Kentish Cob' and the purple-leaved 'Purpurea' have long been grown commercially for large, richly flavored nuts.
- Hardiness
- Zone 5–8
- Habit
- Shrub
- Edible part
- Nut
- Ripens
- September
- Mature size
- Large suckering shrub 6–10 m; coppiceable; container short-term
- Light
- Full sun to partial — nut set needs sun
- Soil pH
- 6.0–7.5 (lime-tolerant)
- Environment
- Temperate
- Native range
- The northwest Balkan Peninsula and adjacent southeast Europe/Turkey; its precise wild origin is debated, since it's essentially a long-cultivated form rarely if ever found as a confirmed wild plant.
- Status
- Cultivated
- Years to fruit
- 3–4 yrs
- Growth speed
- Moderate — full size and cropping maturity over roughly 10–20 years; vigour is moderated by brutting and winter pruning
- Spacing
- 450 cm (177 in) apart — about 20 m² (218 sq ft) per plant
- Leaf shape
- Broad ovate, double-toothed, dark green (young leaves reddish-purple in ornamental cultivars), hairy, to about 13 cm — similar to but generally larger than European hazelnut leaves.
- Root system
- Suckering — spreads via basal root suckers vigorously enough to be flagged as potentially problematic in large plantings; suckers are also the standard commercial propagation method.
- Fruit description
- Large nuts (roughly 1.5–2.5 cm), rich and sweet-flavored with a slightly firm texture, borne in clusters of 1–5; the defining trait is a husk much longer than the nut, often fully covering it.
- Propagation
- Seed sown fresh in autumn in a cold frame, though seed-grown plants are inferior for named cultivars. Commercially propagated by removing rooted suckers, by autumn layering, or by stooling — cutting back to ground level and mounding soil over new shoots.
- Pollination
- Wind-pollinated, flowering January–March; self-pollination is sporadic, so plant at least two different cultivars in a group spaced about 5 m apart for reliable nut set — nearby wild hazel can also supply compatible pollen.
- Pollinator partners
- European hazelnut / cobnut
The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.
Growing guide
Fertilizing. An annual balanced fertilizer applied in late winter is recommended; avoid overly fertile soils, which promote leafy growth at the expense of nut yield.
How it spreads. A large, multi-stemmed, suckering shrub whose sucker growth can become problematic in large plantings if not managed.
Growing tips. The 'brutting' technique — hand-snapping young summer shoots partway rather than cutting them — encourages fruit-bud formation; combine with winter pruning to remove up to a third of old or overcrowded wood annually and keep an open, goblet-shaped center. Plant at least two different cultivars for reliable cross-pollination and good nut set.
Grow journal
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