![]() Hazel trees can also be very useful for native hedgerow schemes. If you have a vegetable garden, you will no doubt be able to find plenty of ways to use coppiced hazel in supporting your plants. This tree can be coppiced and so can be great in carbon gardening and long-term, sustainable garden systems. The hazel is a wonderful, wildlife-friendly landscaping tree – attracting and supporting a wide range of native species. The non-drying oil derived from the seeds is also used in paints and cosmetics.Įven if you are not looking to produce nuts in your garden, hazel trees can still be a very good choice. Hazel nuts are edible, of course, but can also be used in other ways – for example, the nuts can be rubbed on wood to release the oil and polish it. Yields can vary, and wildlife can be a challenge – often getting to the nuts before you can, but if you want to grow nuts in the UK, hazels are one of the top trees to consider. If you are looking to branch out beyond traditional annual food cultivation and look into more sustainable, perennial food-producing options, then the hazel tree is an excellent option to consider. ![]() Hazelnuts are one of the very best perennial protein and oil crops for temperate climates. It is chosen for its ornamental twisting stems rather than its yield, but can be a good choice to consider if you are just looking for a small ornamental tree for your garden. Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’Ĭorylus avellana ‘Contorta’ (corkscrew hazel) is another interesting option for your garden. However, yields of both these edible nuts are usually better in more southern reaches of the British Isles than they are further north. If growing hazel for edible nuts, therefore, hybrid types C. avellana – but generally produces more sizable nuts. It is a Hazel species with much in common with C. Corylus maximaĬorylus maxima is another type of hazelnut tree that may be of interest. This is an extremely hardy tree that can cope well with a wide range of conditions here in the UK. It naturally grows in woods, especially on the slopes of hills, forming small trees up to around 6m high and 3m wide, though it can easily be kept much smaller when pruned and shaped as part of a wild hedgerow, or when used in a coppicing system. Once pollinated, by pollen carried on the wind from another hazel tree, the female flowers develop into the oval fruits or hazel nuts.Our native hazel tree is Corylus avellana the Common Hazel is native to all of Europe and even some of West Asia – stretching all the way to the Caucusus. Don’t forget to look out for the easily overlooked female flowers too – these are tiny and budlike with red tips known as styles. Dormice also eat the caterpillars which feed on the spring leaves.Īt this time of year Hazel trees are easy to recognise with their male yellow flowers hanging down in distinctive catkins. ![]() ![]() Their leaves provide food for many caterpillars and moths including the large emerald and the small white wave and their nuts of course, provide food for dormice, squirrels, woodpeckers, nuthatches, jays, tits and wood pigeons. Hazel trees are great for wildlife in other ways too. This is supports many butterfly species, particularly fritillaries and the coppice also provides shelter for ground-nesting birds, such as nightingales and willow warblers. Nowadays, the South of England Hedge Laying Society use the stems as uprights to weave branches between when they’re out laying hedges.Ī well-managed coppice opens the woodland floor up to more light, allowing spring flowers such as bluebells, wood anemones, dog violets and celandine to bloom. In times gone by, cut hazel stems would have been used for making hurdles to keep in sheep, thatching spars, net stakes and water divining rods. In a typical hazel coppice cycle, cutting is done every 7 to 15 years to prolong the lifespan of the trees. If a Hazel is left to grow naturally as a single-stemmed tree it can live for 80 years but with careful coppicing a multi-stemmed stool can live for centuries. It can look quite drastic as trees are cut right down to the ground in the winter leaving a ‘stool’ but in the spring the stool regrows a thicket of stems, which will be ready to harvest after a few years. If you're walking in Blunts Wood nature reserve this month you may come across local volunteers who are busy coppicing hazel trees in the area.Ĭoppicing is a sustainable and traditional woodland management technique.
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