What - No nuts !!!

[gata montes]

My Hazelnut bushes are nut-less !!!

Two years ago someone gave me 3 large Hazelnut bushes, not knowing much about them, I asked him, how I should care for them, which wasn't much help, as he explained to me that he had bought them, thinking that they were Currant and Raspberry bushes, and only after a year of caring for them for them, discovered, that they were not what he thought they were, which is why he was giving them to me !
After finding out as much as I could about raising and caring for Hazelnut bushes, I now have three very good sized, extremely healthy looking bushes and had expected to see some nuts this year, but no, they are all nut-less, well almost,
one bush has 3 nuts on it.
Am I expecting too much or is it normal for them not to have any nuts after this length of time ?

I know it is a bit late for this year, but any tips on what to do, to make sure that I have some nuts next year, would be gratefully received.

 

[zigs]

I wouldn't expect a huge crop off of a bush under 5 years old, but saying that, once they start cropping they'll go on a long time.

Hazel, if its Coppiced (pronounced Copsd) may live for hundreds of years.

 

[gata montes]

Ah, thank you Zigs, I was obviously being a bit too optimistic, in expecting to have nuts this year, but maybe I'll have a few more than three next year, as the bushes will be another year older !

I'm not quite understanding what you mean by Coppiced. Would I be right in thinking, that this is a type of pruning for multi stemmed shrubs and if so, is this something that I should have been doing ?

Up to now, as the Hazelnut bushes are still young and getting established, I have been pruning them once a year. Cutting them back by a third and keeping the top down, by the same amount to encourage lateral growth, which I hoped would provide me with strong healthy nut bearing bushes.

Should I have been pruning them differently and could that also have something to do with the lack of nuts - apart from the age of course ?

 

[zigs]

No, I only mentioned that out of interest, you're doing the right thing.

Coppicing is a way of managing the understory shrubs in woodland management. Every 20 years or so the Hazel bushes are cut right to the ground. They re grow with many more shoots which can be harvested for various woodland products, bean poles, handles etc. or used to produce charcoal.

The "stool" of Hazel gets wider each time its done, it prolongs the life of the Hazel as it re juvinates it every time.

 

[gata montes]

Many thanks, once again Zigs, I certainly feel better for knowing, that the lack of nuts is not due to something, that I have or have not been doing, but is more a case of the age of the Hazelnut bush. Hopefully next year, I'll be seeing a few more than 3 nuts on the bushes and my husband, who loves hazelnuts, won't be saying to me ' What, no nuts?'.

Now I understand why the word Coppicing was familiar, woodland management, had no idea that Hazelnut bushes had so many uses.

Don't think Coppicing is something that I shall be doing with my 3 bushes, much as I'd like to, because, even though my legs have been described as resembling bean poles, am never still, for long enough to have anything tied to them, which means, I always seem to need a good supply of bean poles and broom handles, but by the time my bushes were old enough to be harvested, think that I would be in no state, to tie things to bean poles or wield a broomstick.