Layering Hazel

Hi

I have some Hazel growing on my little piece of land, and would like to get it to spread. I read an very well written article on t'internet about it that said all I had to do was break up the ground surrounding an establish tree, then take some of the young shoots and gently bend them down and peg them to the ground, without breaking them off the parent tree. Then it was just a case of lightly covering the shoot that was pinned down and waiting.

The article was excellent, but neglected to cover two points. Firstly, it didn't say how long it would be before anything happened, and more importantly, it didn't say what time of the year was best to do this.

Any ideas?

 

Well mostly native hazel is grown from seed but you can layer generally in autumn (some recommend cuttings but they hardly ever take:ywn another option if it's a mature specimen is to dig it up and hack it into a few good sized equally proportioned pieces and replant as to how long layering would take I personally don't know but someone on here will:gnthb:

 

Well I've not tried it with hazel but most layering can be done at any time taking 12 to 24 months before the shoot has made enough roots to be severed from the parent.

 

Thanks guys.

Aesculus, the trees I tried it on are mature, but perhaps a bit too mature to be easily dug out. I reckon I'd need a JCB, but thanks for the ideas. From what you say I reckon I've done it very wrong, because I tried it at the beginning of the summer.

Pete, thanks for the info, I reckon I have been impatient because I only did it earlier this summer, and have been painstakingly searching the ground where I did it for any signs of activity. Nothing yet.

 

Just a thought but its usual to wound the shoot, (ie s****e the bark off the under side), that you are pegging down.
It helps to stimulate root growth.

 

If your Hazel sets nuts use them to increase your stock.

I have a contorted Hazel that sets nuts, but the tree rat takes them and buries them and they grow without any problems.

Trevor