Cobnuts

[hellybore]

I am thinking about getting a couple of cobnut trees for my plot this winter. Has anyone got experience of growing them? I found an old post which said it is hard to get to them before the squirrels - anyone know of any ways around this?

[veggiechicken]

I have lots of hazel bushes in the garden - I rarely get a nut before the squirrels do. Probably you would have to net them and they may be quite large bushes by the time they're nut bearing.

[hellybore]

Hmm... as I feared! Thanks VC

[veggiechicken]

Some general advice here How to grow: Cobnuts - Telegraph

[hellybore]

That's funny, I have just been reading that very article!

[boundtothesoil]

anyone know of any ways around this?

There's some interesting reviews on Amazon regarding people's experiences with various squirrel traps - not that I'm suggesting this course of action.

[FB.]

Hazels are grown on their own roots, so they can get quite large quite quickly - my hazels can easily gain 2ft in size each year even in nasty soil where other plants can't grow. The growth rate and mature size of hazels will match that of a full size, seedling or "own root" fruit tree, which might cause problems.

Unsympathetic pruning can considerably reduce the crop with hazels, as with other fruit trees - how often do you see someone's hedge-trimmed garden hazel hedge producing nuts? They have to be "let go" to some extent for them to crop well.
I have to prune mine carefully most summers to remove the vigorous unwanted shoot growth to keep them to a managable size.
Hazels are supposed to be coppiced every seven years, which means little or no crop for two years out of every seven.

Varieties differ in their vigour, some are much better croppers than others and each variety has a different taste.
Cosford Cob is extremely strong-growing and only light cropping. It produces a lot more catkins than other varieties so is more decorative and likely to be a good pollinator of others.
Butler is also quite strong-growing.
Kent Cob is medium vigour but quite a light cropper; the nuts are arguably the best flavoured.
Gunslebert is medium vigour and a heavy cropper.
Gustav Zeller is slower-growing which makes it more suitable for keeping its size under control.

[veggiechicken]

The native hazels here on the boundary are tree height. Even though I don't get many nuts, they're a good source of beansticks

[FB.]

The native hazels here on the boundary are tree height.

When does a bush become a tree?

To some extent it depends on the soil on which it is being grown. Allotment soils are usually above average.
Apparently large "standard" fruit trees with 2m (7ft) trunks are rare here because the soil was too poor and the rainfall too little to make even seedlings into anything larger than a bush within a reasonable timeframe.

A "big" tree to those of us in the dry Eastern Counties is likely to be a small tree to those in the West country where plentiful rainfall allows plants to grow much faster and get much larger.

However, the mild climate and generous sunshine here make very high quality fruits though, for those varieties which don't mind the dry, infertile, often chalky soil.

[veggiechicken]

When does a bush become a tree?

When its taller than I can reach - about 6'