corkscrew hazel

I have recently moved house and there is a corkscrew hazel in the garden which has produced some nuts. Can someone tell me when these nuts can be picked: do they go brown on the bush or after they are picked?

 

when the nuts are ripening the outer husk falls off, I believe the corkscrew variety to be edible but they are small nuts, the filbert was introduced here because of its larger fruits

 

Thanks, SteveW, for your advice; I shall await the ripening nuts. Can you also tell me when to prune this rather overgrown bush which looks spectacular in winter (when it snows) and in early spring with catkins.

 

If you want to enjoy the catkins I wouldn't prune now, you would be cutting off ripened wood that will be bearing fruit next year and also new growth may not have time to harden enough before frosts

best time would be after flowering then you can see which branches are best to leave on for a good crop also remove any that look diseased or overcrowded....hazels if you have the space don't really need any pruning other than tidying

 

SteveW: Thanks for further advice. The bad news is that all the nuts have been harvested by a squirrel - so much for waiting for them to ripen! Can you tell me how to prevent them from being pinched in future by these little blighters? Does a net over the bush help?

 

Squirrels ae renowned for problem solving to get to nuts so not sure a net would work unless it covered the whole tree and then tied around the trunk but it would need a massive strong net and would spoil the look of the tree

I would hang a bird feeder up and hope the treat of nuts not in shells would satisfy them enough to let them leave yours alone? anyone else solved this problem before?