Hazelnut Growing Guide
Growing Hazelnut is easier than you think. This guide walks you through everything you need — from planting your first seed to harvesting.
At a Glance
Difficulty
Easy
Category
Nut
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Frost Tolerance
Frost Hardy
Cold Hardiness
Survives to -29°C
Plant Family
Betulaceae
Growing Season
Warm Season
Plant Lifecycle
Perennial
Also grows well as
How to Start It
★ Recommended for beginners
Plant two compatible varieties within ~15m so the winter catkins can cross-pollinate. A naturally small shrub — ideal for tight spaces.
The home grower's nut: a hardy, easy SHRUB (not a big tree), so it fits small spaces and even large pots. KEY: hazelnuts are wind-pollinated by winter catkins and can't fertilise themselves — you need at least TWO different varieties for nuts. They sucker and take coppicing well, so they're easy to keep to size and to propagate by layering.
When To Start
First Chance to Plant
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Last Chance to Plant
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When should you plant Hazelnut?
Your planting dates depend on your local climate. Sign up and add your location to unlock personalized dates.
Your Hazelnut Planting Window
Start planting
May 15, 2026
Last chance
Sep 10, 2026
The Journey Ahead
Hazelnut's Lifecycle
Seedling
Mature Plant
Seed Production
Step 1
Prepare Your Space
400 cm
Plant Spacing
600 cm
Row Spacing
Vertical Growing
No.
Succession Planting
No.
Good Companions
Bad Companions
Step 2
Planting & Sprouting
Growing Tips
- 1Hazelnuts are genuinely easy — hardy, shade-tolerant, and happy in most soils.
- 2Just remember the two-variety rule for pollination.
- 3Keep them shrubby by removing suckers and, every few years, cutting a few old stems to the base (coppicing) to renew the plant.
- 4The biggest battle is beating the squirrels to the crop.
Seedling Phase
Step 3
Growth & Maturity
400 cm
Mature Height
400 cm
Mature Width
Pests to Watch For
Diseases to Watch For
Mature Plant
Step 4
Harvesting
Harvest Window
30 days
When to Pick
Pick in early autumn when the husks turn papery-brown and nuts loosen
How to Harvest
- 1Harvest in early autumn when the leafy husks brown and the nuts twist out easily — or gather the windfalls.
- 2Dry them in their shells for a couple of weeks.
- 3Pick promptly: squirrels strip a hazel fast, often while the nuts are still green.
Step 5
Saving Seeds
Seed Production
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