Hazel (Corylus avellana)

Our range of Hazel bare root plants (Corylus avellana)

We have Hazel bare root hedging plants in several specifications and heights.  The 1+0 specification plants are seedlings (often called whips) which were grown from seed sown in the spring and are sold during the following November to April months ie they are 1 year old.  We have Hazel whips in several heights all grown by us in Herefordshire.

We also have Hazel transplants (1+1) which began as a one year old whip (grown from seed in one growing season) and are then planted back out for one more growing season in a different area of our fields at lower density to give each plant more space, nutrients and water. Again these are all grown by us in Herefordshire.

Hazel is one of our most important species so we always have several batches of seed including UK provenance and some of the highest quality imported seed, so if it is particularly important to you to have UK seed provenance (see blog on seed provenance) please give us a call.

In addition, we have cell grown Hazel which are grown by one of the UK's best specialist growers and these can be planted all year round.

You can read more about the specifications we offer on the tab just below the pricing table to the right of this product description.

Hazel (Corylus avellana) Summary

Dripping with yellow “lambs’ tails” catkins in spring (before the leaves appear) and then covered in green hazel nuts in autumn (until the squirrels and dormice strip the tree before you can get to them!), Hazel is an excellent native plant for hedging or as an understorey woodland shrub although it needs open, light conditions to flower and produce its very nutritious nuts.  It grows to about 10m but is often coppiced (to harvest the stems), has large green leaves which provide good shade and wildlife protection. 

As a wood, Hazel's contribution lies in it's ability to self-coppice, regularly sending up new straight shoots from the base of the trunk so much so that sometimes it is difficult to tell if it has been coppiced by humans or not.  Hazel's value lies in it's pliabilityand the ease with which the rods split.  In a managed setting hazel is normally coppiced every 7 or 8 years and fresh shoots can grow over a metre in the first year.  In the last century, the area under coppice in Britain has fallen from 500,000 acres to less than 100,000 acres.

Soil and Situation

Hazel is a very commonly found shrubby plant grown all across the UK, Europe and even into Africa – so it is suitable for all but the highest, coldest, wettest situations, with a preference for moisture-retentive, acid to neutral soil, grown in full sun, partial shade or even full shade.

Leaves, flowers and fruit

The leaves of Hazel are green in spring and summer, turning yellow in autumn.  Leaves are relatively large and rounded/oval with a pointed tip, and a hairy surface on the underside which makes them feel soft to the touch.

The bark is smooth, grey/brown, can peel and is flexible thus Hazel is often coppiced for it’s long straight flexible stems which can be put to many uses – in a “dead hedge”, for hazel (called “hurdles”) or plant supports, thatching or making furniture.

Although Hazel has both male and female flowers on the same plant, it must be pollinated by pollen from other trees.  The male catkins are long and yellow and absolutely swathe the tree/bush in late winter (sometimes as early as January) before the leaves appear.   The pollen and nectar are needed by early flyng insects.  Pollen is shed onto little red female tasels and those pollinated will produce nuts.

The fruits are edible hazelnuts (though there are specialist varieties like Kent Cob if you are looking for a nut to grow as a food – we don’t sell it but try www.ornamental-trees.co.uk)  but you’ll be lucky to get to eat any of them because squirrels, dormice, woodpeckers, wood pigeons, and jays will harvest them the instant they are ripe  They are held in small clusters of 2 or 3 nuts, partially enclosed in leafy husk like bracts.

The bark is smooth and shiny, pale grey-brown to greenish brown with horizontal lenticels (pores through which the shrub breathes) up the stems.

Eventual height and growth rate

If left to grow, Hazel will get to about 10m as a multi-stem bush but it is often coppiced when it reaches about 4m.  Growth rate is above average – about 50cm pa.   It responds really well to hard pruning and hedge laying.  As a hedging plant, it is best kept at 2-4m height.   It makes a bulky shrub so the proportion of Hazel in a mixed hedge can be quite low – 10% or even 5%.

Coppicing (felling the tree stump near ground level and allowing shoots to regrow) can extend the life of a hazel tree from about 80 years to several hundred years.

This section gives definitions on the specifications of plants that we sell.  We are specialists in field grown (or bare root) plants which are grown in two ways.  The majority are grown from seed, some are ready within one growing season (seedlings or 1+0's) and some species require two growing seasons (1u1's).  In addition to growing from seed we also grow from small plants or cuttings (transplants) which are much more widely spaced (taking more land, more irrigation water, fertilisers and labour).  There are only a handful of bare root wholesale nurseries in the UK and of those even fewer grow transplants but Ray Jenkins has many years' experience of transplanting so we grow these in large volumes.  Ray has written this blog about the benefits of bare root plants and how they are grown and another blog which gives further detail on bare root specifications.

The detailed specifications are shown below.  If you are in doubt about what specification to use please email us on enquiries@rjtreesandhedging.co.uk with a description of the project (and photos if appropriate) and we will advise you.

1+0 - field grown in one season from seed, known as a seedling (sometimes called a whip), generally a slender single stem plant.   These are the cheapest specification and are particularly suitable for planting where weed competition will be less intense, soil is shallow or on exposed windy sites.  Gives a high root to shoot ratio and minimal plant "check".

2+0 - a 2 year seedling, field grown from seed in the same seed bed in two growing seasons where the species cannot be grown to a saleable plant from seed in one season

1U1 - 2 year old plant called an undercut, field grown for two seasons in the same seed bed and undercut by machine (a sharp blade cutting the roots under the soil level) after the first year to develop the root structure. We do this with several species which take 2 years to develop (eg oak, beech, hornbeam)

1+1 - 2 year old plant (transplant) grown from seed in the first year and then transplanted into a different area of the field and spaced out for the second growing season - a robust plant with a larger and more robust root system than seedling or undercut plant which will enable it to better withstand drought and weed competition. Often the best choice and the staple norm for farm hedging and this specification is a requirement of the Countryside Stewardship Grant

1+2- a 3 year old plant, two years field growing in the seedbed and then transplanted (and spaced out) for a further two growing seasons giving a tall, stocky, bushy plant

2+1- a 3 year old plant, two years field growing in the seedbed and then transplanted (and spaced out) for a further growing season, giving a strong bushy plant

3+1 - as above but field grown for a further growing season for more height and a very bushy plant

1+3- 4 year old, one year field growing in the seed beds and then transplanted (and spaced out) for three years, giving a very strong, bushy plant

2+2- 4 year old, two years field growing in the seed beds and then transplanted (and spaced out) for a further two years - a very mature plant suited to certain species like beech and hornbeam where we can offer almost instant hedging

and some that are a bit different.....

P9 - a plant grown in a greenhouse or polytunnel in a 9cm pot (for holly which germinates poorly in the field)

Cell grown - a plant grown in small deep cells (like a small yogurt pot) and then lifted out of those for transportation. Commonly used in forestry and large hedging projects.  Very high quality plants with excellent success rate.  See our blog on the benefits of cell grown plants.

C+1 or C+2 - a 3 or 4 year old plant initally started as hardwood cuttings grown on for a year as cell grown plants and then lined out in fields to grow on for a further 1 or 2 years (a technique used for Cherry Laurel)

0/1 - a hardwood cutting, then field grown for one season (for example for white willow, black poplar and osier)