Watering the hazelnut tree

• Hazelnut tree origin
• Hazelnut tree care and location
• Pruning hazelnut trees
• Fertilizing hazelnut trees
• Watering the hazelnut tree

Hazelnut tree origin

The hazelnut tree (Corylus avellana) belongs to the birch family and is originally from Europe and Western Asia. It has been used as a food source for millennia. In antiquity, it spread through Greece and Italy and is now found worldwide.

The Celts dedicated the hazelnut to the White Goddess, who is a symbol of fertility and love, and for the Romans the hazelnut branch symbolized peace.

The hazelnut is a deciduous tree that also occurs as a shrub. There are around 15 species worldwide; in Europe, *C. avellana* and *C. maxima* are particularly common. The hazelnut tree's blossoms appear as early as February, before it leafs out. The hazelnut is monoecious, with separate male and female flowers on the same plant. The male flowers develop in the autumn of the previous year and appear first. They are greenish-yellow and 8 to 10 cm long. They always occur in pairs or groups of four and hang from the shoots. The red female flowers are bud-like, small, and inconspicuous. 
The light to medium green leaves of the hazelnut are round to egg-shaped. They have serrated leaf edges and are covered with small hairs. They are 7 to 13 cm long and 6 to 10 cm wide.
In naturopathy, the leaves were formerly used as a tea for many ailments and are rich in nutrients. 

The trees bear fruit three to five years after planting. The fruit is initially yellowish and turns brown as it ripens.

The nuts are ripe in September to October and are surrounded by a hard nutshell. They contain a lot of protein, valuable oils and numerous aromatic substances.

Hazelnut tree care and location

Hazelnuts are very undemanding but prefer a bright and sunny location. They particularly like deep, humus-rich, and moderately moist soil. Hazelnut trees are shallow-rooted; their root system is highly branched and lies close to the surface. The root system is densest at a depth of 30 to 40 cm and reaches a maximum depth of 1-2 m.

Pruning hazelnut trees

Hazelnut trees can be pruned, but it's not strictly necessary. To ensure good yields, hazelnut trees are pruned in the autumn after the harvest. This involves primarily removing old and overly dense shoots. 

Fertilizing hazelnut trees

When planting hazelnuts, it is advisable to add compost. Otherwise, they are undemanding and it is sufficient to add compost every two years. fertilizeApplying a layer of mulch in the spring helps to retain moisture in the soil and reduce weed growth.

Watering the hazelnut tree

Rising temperatures and increasing drought are having a serious impact on the environment and putting trees under stress. Depending on the specific location and the climate-related conditions, more frequent watering may be necessary than in previous years. Trees should be watered regularly during dry periods and on sunny days to ensure the soil never dries out completely. Otherwise, there is a risk that the fine roots will die. The rule here is the same as for most trees: it's better to water a larger amount once than several times with small amounts. When watering with a garden hose, much of the water seeps away or evaporates before it reaches the roots. 
Watering with baumbad Premium watering bagsTwo holes in the lower part of the bags release water evenly to the tree over several hours. This drip irrigation allows the roots near the ground to absorb the water. The soil remains consistently moist, and the increasingly vital resource of water is conserved, as it doesn't unnecessarily seep into the ground without reaching the tree's roots.
Filling a watering bag provides young trees with sufficient water. For existing trees with a larger trunk diameter, two or three watering bags can be zipped together to water them.