Tree Hazel

As an established tree, the Turkish hazel is fully hardy and needs no winter protection at all in the lowlands of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Only newly planted young trees benefit in the first years from a mulch layer over the root zone and light protection of the young bark from intense winter sun.

The most reliable way to propagate the Turkish hazel is by sowing. Collect the nuts in autumn as soon as they fall from their husks; they must not dry out. Soak the seeds for one to two days in lukewarm water and change the water daily. Then mix them with moist sand in a sealable bag and first store them for a few weeks warm at room temperature (warm phase), then for about four months cool at refrigerator temperature (cold phase). The most natural approach is autumn sowing directly into an outdoor bed: the seeds then often germinate only in the spring after next, but the germination rate outdoors is usually much higher than after artificial stratification. Sow singly into deep pots or straight into the final bed, because the Turkish hazel forms a strong taproot early and tolerates transplanting poorly. Young seedlings grow slowly and need one to two years until they are well established.

For named or grafted forms, for example as a rootstock for varieties of the common hazel (Corylus avellana), grafting is the only reliable way, because varieties do not come true from seed. The Turkish hazel is regarded as an ideal rootstock because it does not form root suckers. Grafting is done in late winter by whip-and-tongue grafting or cleft grafting onto two-year-old seedling rootstocks; the union takes best when warm at about 18 to 20 °C in a covered grafting box.

Cuttings and layering practically do not take with the Turkish hazel. The species roots extremely poorly vegetatively and hardly sprouts from the stool. This sets it clearly apart from the common hazel, which propagates well from cuttings and layering.