Common hazel is a deciduous shrub, reaching a height of 10 meters. Such shrub has medicinal properties... Therefore, the people called hazel hazel.
Description of common hazel
The plant belongs to the hazel family. Hazel leaves are large, with jagged edges, red in autumn... The bark of the shrub is brown with transverse stripes. There is a powerful root system that grows very quickly deep in the soil.
After planting, the shrub grows slowly, gradually increasing in growth. Flowering occurs before the leaves bloom, in early spring. Earrings are formed on trees about 5-7 cm long, are single and assembled several pieces together. The fruit is an oval nut located in a green cushion. The fruit ripens by the end of summer. Up to 20 nuts can form in the seed, but 2-5 nuts are more common... The bush begins to bear fruit in 8 years. This shrub is a long-liver, its age reaches 100 years, it is frost-resistant.
Hazel calmly tolerates shade, but it develops and grows better in illuminated areas.
In nature, hazel is found in Russia, the Caucasus, and the Crimea. There are more than 10 types.
- Common hazel
- Tree-like
- Large
- Manchu
- Variegated
- Horned
Tree hazel
Received the name bear nut. A tree up to 20 meters high, 8 meters wide... The bark of the bush is gray and flakes off in plates. It grows very slowly. In autumn, the leaves turn yellow. The fruits of the tree hazel are divided into sharp slices. The shrub is unpretentious, tolerates drought, and adapts to any climate.
Lombard nut
Shrub of large hazel (Lombard nut) has grayish branches up to 15 meters long. The leaves are large, serrated. Poorly tolerates frost. Often grown in the Balkans.
Manchurian hazel
It is a shrub with many trunks, has a barrel length from 3 to 7 meters... The bark of hazel is brown, the leaves are rounded, and have a dark green color. The fruits are oblong nuts. The shrub is shade-tolerant and frost-resistant. Found in Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories.
Variegated hazel
Very dense shrub up to 4 meters high... The leaves change color. Green in summer, red in spring, yellow in autumn. The shrub loves light, can tolerate shade, is frost-resistant, tolerates drought. Begins to bear fruit early. Grows in the Urals, the Far East and Siberia.
Horned hazel
Grows up to 3 meters in height. Has a lush crown and oval yellow leaves... It got its name from the fruit that resembles a horn. Grows in North America.
Composition and benefits of hazelnut
Hazelnuts, called hazelnuts, are the most common and favorite of the types of nuts. Hazelnuts are considered a valuable and tasty nut, several times more nutritious than bread and dairy products.
Hazelnuts have beneficial properties, high nutritional and energy value, and are enriched with vitamins and minerals.
The bulk of the fruit is formed by fats, one fifth of protein and amino acids. Nuts contain a huge amount of minerals:
- Potassium
- Phosphorus
- Magnesium
- Sodium
- Copper
- Iron
All of the listed medicinal and medicinal properties fill the body with energy. Hazelnut oil contains acids that can protect the heart and blood vessels. For the growth and development of the body, the nut is useful for children, and for the elderly to maintain strength and health... In addition, hazelnuts contain substances that can cleanse the body and remove toxins. Vitamins prevent the appearance of cancer cells. For medicinal purposes, fruits, leaves, bark, roots are used. Hazel is a laxative used for diarrhea. A decoction from the bark of a tree can serve as a medicine for varicose veins.
Widespread use of hazelnuts in cooking... The walnut is used in the preparation of various dishes and is also added to baked goods.
Hazel-based preparations are used in cosmetology. Oil and a decoction of walnut leaves are used against hair loss.
But, along with useful substances, there are contraindications... You need to eat a limited amount of nuts, otherwise it will cause headaches and allergic reactions.
Planting and caring for a tree
With the correct planting of hazel, you must choose a free, sunlit place. The tree grows well on any soil, does not like swampy and sandy areas... Before planting, it is necessary to prepare a place that will not flood the seedlings when spring comes.
Autumn is a good time for planting, but you can plant seedlings in spring, before the end of April. Take into account the distance between trees as they grow at least five meters. For harvesting, it is necessary to plant three or more, inter-pollinated shrubs.
It is very important to know that the shrub alone does not bear fruit.
Before planting, you need to purchase a young seedling, you can dig it up in the forest. Prepare a hole by digging with a shovel, 80 x 80 cm in size and 80 cm deep... Humus, fertilizer black soil is introduced into each pit, and mixed with the ground. Form a hole around the seedlings and pour with water. After that, mulching with sawdust or grass is performed.
After planting, the young shrub must be watered, weeded, fed with fertilizers, and treated against pests. After planting a young shrub, it is necessary to loosen the soil and water, especially in summer in hot weather. An adult tree does not require much care, it is necessary to prune for good fruiting. When buying, you need to beware of seedlings, seedlings, they bear fruit several years later, the nut is smaller in size... Hazel grows in mixed and coniferous forests, in the steppe, along rivers. Hazel is widespread in Russia, the Caucasus, Europe, and the Primorsky Territory.
Reproduction and cultivation rules
The methods of reproduction are vegetative and seed. The seed method is used when growing seedlings. For sowing, ripe nuts are taken, sown immediately after harvest in September.
Varietal shrubs are propagated vegetatively:
- Layers
- Rhizomes
- Vaccinations
- By dividing the bushes
- Cuttings
When propagating by layering young shoots are bent and rooted to the ground, without tearing from the bush. Everything should be done with caution so as not to harm the buds, which will give young shoots.
Rhizome growth the plant appears in the third year after planting seedlings. One shrub has more than a hundred shoots, and they are used for reproduction. Separate three summer rhizomes at the edges of the bush using a hatchet, shovel or hacksaw. Shoots have weak roots, they are planted in one hole, 3 pieces each. And in nurseries, they grow for about 2 years to strengthen the root system.
Hazel is propagated by dividing the bush... The uprooted shrub is divided into several parts so that each stump has roots. After planting, abundant watering follows, for good survival of the bush. Already in the third year, such seedlings begin to bear fruit.
To propagate by grafting, cuttings are harvested in the fall, and stored in a cool place. The grafting is done in the spring in the butt, in the cleft or behind the bark. The bark grafting takes root better. Vaccinations are spread with garden varnish and covered with foil. After budding, the film is removed.
Hazel cuttings are rooted indoors at high humidity... It is necessary to cut seedlings 10 centimeters long, remove the lower leaves. After that, prepare a composition of sand, peat, earth and humus. Cuttings are planted in boxes with moistened earth under the film. After 3 weeks, after the roots appear, the film is removed.
Harvesting
Harvesting of hazel occurs in the third year, when the bush begins to bear fruit in September.
The maturity of the fruit is determined by the acquisition of a yellow shell and shedding.
When shaking the tree, the nuts that have not fallen should be given time to ripen. Once ripe, nuts are not suitable for human consumption. They need to dry for a while in a dry and ventilated area. It is recommended to store nuts in bags through which air passes.... When harvesting, the earth is trampled under the bushes, it must be loosened, watered and fertilized afterwards.
Exposure to diseases and pests
Exposure to diseases and pests and diseases of hazel is extremely rare. There are many bush pests:
- Aphid
- Shield
- Weevil beetle
The damaged fruits are showered with caterpillars in huge quantities. A dangerous pest is the weevil beetle... When spring comes, he eats the leaves, after which they lay eggs. A larva appears inside the nut, which gnaws out all the contents. In the fight against pests, it is necessary to spray the bushes after flowering with a solution of chlorophos or other drugs. Steps are being taken to remove foliage and damaged nuts near the tree.
In garden plots, a lush and beautiful hazel tree is still rare, although the shrub is popular. The shrub has many values in medicine, and wood is of particular value in furniture and industrial production... In addition, the shrub is an object of beauty in any garden, especially during flowering.