Whether you garden in the ground or in containers, hazelnuts are a great addition or re-addition to your plant family. Read on for simple, straightforward specifics about growing hazelnuts, also called filberts.
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Family | Container Size | Good Companions | Bad Companions | Soil Conditions | Germination | Sun | Water | Temperature Range | Height | Lifespan | Reproduction | Yield Per Plant | Ingestibility | Further Reading
What Family Do Hazelnuts Belong To?
Hazelnuts (Corylus avellana) belong to the Betulaceae family, also known as the birch family.
Some of their relatives include birches, alders, and hornbeams.
What Size Container Should I Use for Growing Hazelnuts?
The minimum container size recommended for a mature hazelnut tree is 25 gallons.
It is possible to start with a smaller container than this and continue repotting as the tree grows.
Learn more in our Choosing the Right Planter for Your Container Garden article here.
What Are Good Companion Plants for Hazelnuts?
Some of hazelnuts' best companions are as follows:
- Cherry, especially black cherry
- Dogwood
- Hickory
- Oak
- Geranium
- Strawberry
- Peas
- Beans like green bean
- Garlic
- Cilantro
- Chives
- Mints like water mint and spearmint
- Blackberry
- Walnut. Because walnut trees do not always grow well beside many vegetables due to their allelopathic effects (similar to fennel), hazelnut trees make an excellent barrier between walnut trees and the garden.
What Are Bad Companion Plants for Hazelnuts?
Hazelnuts are not compatible with every plant. Some things to avoid planting with hazelnuts are as follows:
What Soil Conditions Do Hazelnuts Need?
Hazelnuts prefer well-draining soil that is neutral to slightly acidic. They are tolerant of a wide range of soil fertility levels and are not picky about whether the soil is mainly sand/silt, loam, or clay.
How Long Do Hazelnuts Take to Germinate?
Hazelnuts require cold stratification. They should be planted in autumn for spring germination.
How Much Sun Do Hazelnuts Need?
Hazelnuts can grow in full sun to part shade.
In other words, they grow fastest in full sun. They will still grow in dappled shade or part shade, just at a slower rate. As forest plants, they tolerate more shade than most fruit trees, but they are still most productive in full sun.
Sun recommendations can vary by region, and hazelnuts grown in hot areas or in warmer conditions than the ideal temperature range noted below may need more shade.
How Much Water Do Hazelnuts Need?
Hazelnuts need 1 inch of water every 10 days.
What Is the Ideal Temperature Range for Growing Hazelnuts?
Hazelnuts tolerate temperatures of 10-85°F. However, they grow fastest in temperatures of 50-75°F.
This is their ideal temperature range. Although they will grow in temperatures both cooler and warmer than this range, the growth could be slower or even stunted.
Minimum and maximum temperatures will vary by variety. Some hazelnut varieties are bred for later harvests and others for warmer climates.
How Tall Do Hazelnuts Get?
The average height of hazelnuts is 15-18 feet.
They also grow 10-12 feet wide on average.
Are Hazelnuts Annual, Biennial, or Perennial?
Hazelnuts are perennial trees, meaning that they live for longer than a couple years. Specifically, they can live for up to 80 years.
How Do Hazelnuts Reproduce?
Hazelnuts reproduce by seed (nut).
How Many Hazelnuts Are Produced Per Plant?
For hazelnuts, how many are produced per plant (also called the yield) largely depends on the type and variety.
Most hazelnut trees produce 20 pounds of nuts per year. Nut production begins 4-5 years after germination.
Can Hazelnuts Be Ingested?
Hazelnut nuts are edible.
Hazelnut inner bark, leaves, flower buds, and nuts have nutritive and diaphoretic properties and can be used in herbal preparations. The most common preparations are tea (infusions for the leaves and buds, decoctions for the bark and nuts) and lotions.
There are no known safety concerns associated with ingesting hazelnut nuts, leaves, buds, or inner bark.
Further Reading
This article is intended as a quick-reference guide for gardeners. Consult your seed packet or seed catalog for variety-specific information.
When you have a bumper crop of hazelnuts rolling in, you may not have enough time for long, complicated recipes or many-step preservation procedures. Check out my article on quick, simple uses for hazelnuts here!
Hazelnuts are featured in these Plant to Plate articles: