How to Grow Hazelnuts

At a Glance

Quick Facts

Factor	Value
Drainage	Light, sandy, well-drained soil; ideal for chalky soils; excessive fertility reduces cropping (RHS).
Lifecycle	Deciduous, monoecious shrub or small tree bearing separate male catkins and female flowers on the same plant. RHS gives flowering as January to March over 4-6 weeks. Self-pollination is only sporadic -- cross-pollination from a different, compatible cultivar is essential, so at least two different cultivars should be planted (RHS). Grows on its own roots -- no rootstock choice needed -- and is usually bought as a one-year-old, unbranched whip (RHS).
Edible parts	nuts

Growth Stages

Stage	BBCH	Notes
Planting and establishment	0	Plant while dormant, November to March, on their own roots -- no rootstock choice needed, usually bought as one-year-old, unbranched whips. Space around 5m apart in a square-formation group to aid pollination; unpruned bushes reach 6m by 5m (RHS).
Flowering and pollination	6	Monoecious and wind-pollinated, flowering January to March over 4-6 weeks. Self-pollination is only sporadic, so cross-pollination from a different, compatible cultivar is essential -- plant at least two cultivars and check compatibility with the supplier; wild hazel growing nearby can pollinate most varieties (RHS).
Training and summer pruning (brutting)	3	Train as a goblet-shaped bush for fruit production, keeping a 60cm radius of clear soil around the trunk (RHS). In August, break the longer side-shoots of the season's growth by bending them in half, leaving the broken section hanging rather than removing it -- a traditional technique called brutting that opens the bush to light, encourages more female flowers, and reduces vigour (RHS).
Fruiting and harvest	8	First crops after three or four years. Harvest as the husks begin turning yellow, in late September; store in a dry, airy room or shed in slatted boxes in shallow layers, turning regularly, then remove the husks once dried and continue storing the same way (RHS).

Harvest & Storage

When to pick: First crops after three or four years (RHS). Harvest when the husks begin to turn yellow, in late September (RHS).

Storage

Store in a dry, airy room or shed in slatted boxes in shallow layers, turning regularly; once dried, remove the husks and continue storing the same way (RHS).

Diseases

Eastern filbert blight

high

Anisogramma anomala

Named by Wisconsin Horticulture Extension, not RHS: Eastern filbert blight (Anisogramma anomala) is highly destructive on the commonly grown European hazelnut in the United States, typically killing most of an…

Powdery mildew

low

Named directly by RHS: powdery mildew, worse in overcrowded bushes -- another reason brutting/pruning to open the canopy matters.

Pests

Nut weevil

moderate

Curculio nucum

Named directly by RHS (Curculio nucum): creates holes in developing nuts; cultivating the soil in winter destroys overwintering grubs.

Squirrels

high

Sciurus spp.

Named directly by RHS as damaging crops.

Mice

low

Muridae (mice, various spp.)

Named directly by RHS as a threat to stored nuts.

What the research guides add

The cold-climate hazelnut story is about two problems the plant has outside Europe and the Pacific Northwest: winter cold and a fungal disease. Three agencies describe it consistently.

• Hazelnuts are wind-pollinated and self-incompatible, so an orchard needs at least two or three compatible varieties close enough to pass pollen on. Oregon State states the same rule for home growers: every hazelnut variety needs another variety for pollination. (OMAFRA, Oregon State Extension)
• In Ontario the female flowers open first, in early March, and the male catkins about ten days later; the catkins stay dormant through winter and shed their pollen the following March. (OMAFRA)
• A sudden warm spell in February or March can bring the flower tissues on too early, making them vulnerable to freeze injury. (OMAFRA)
• The European hazelnut, which gives large thin-shelled nuts, is not cold hardy and is highly vulnerable to eastern filbert blight, a fungal disease native to eastern North America (OMAFRA). Wisconsin says the Oregon-bred cultivars growers tried in the Upper Midwest were not winter hardy, regularly showing dieback from cold injury, and not resistant enough to the blight, so growers there plant hybrids of American and European hazelnuts instead. (OMAFRA, Wisconsin Extension)
• Oregon State says eastern filbert blight is killing many trees in the Willamette Valley and advises against planting susceptible varieties in western Oregon. (Oregon State Extension)
• Do not expect much from a single tree: Oregon State says one mature hazelnut occupying 20 feet or more of space produces only about 15 to 20 pounds (7 to 9 kg) of dried nuts, and jays and squirrels may take half of them. (Oregon State Extension)
• Hazelnut and peach trees need more fertiliser than other fruits and nuts. (Oregon State Extension)

Sources for this section

• Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA): Guide to Hazelnut Production in Ontario (Publication 863)
• Oregon State University Extension Service: Growing tree fruits and nuts at home (EC 819)
• University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension: Hazelnuts (Crops and Soils)

Section researched and checked on 24 October 2026 by the SoilCommander Editorial Team. How we check facts: editorial policy.

Sources

The full list of 2 sources behind this guide (Royal Horticultural Society, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension (Wisconsin Horticulture)) is in the references of our UK guide to hazelnuts; they describe the plant itself, which is the same wherever it grows.