If you want to plant a hazelnut in your own garden, you should take a look at the wide range of hazelnut varieties. The range seems almost endless - so it's important to keep an overview and find the right variety for yourself.
Which hazelnut varieties are suitable for the garden?
The popular hazelnut varieties for the garden include the cellar nut (Corylus avellana) and the lambert's nut (Corylus maxima) and their variants. Examples are the red-leaved cellar nut, Berger's cellar nut, Roman cellar nut, blood hazel, Fertile de Nottingham and Hallesche Riesenuss.
The two main known species and unknown ones
The two best-known types of hazelnut include the Zeller nut and the Lambert's nut. There are also a few other types, but they are less important. These include the tree hazel (Corylus colurna), which has extremely hard-shelled nuts, and the Japanese hazelnut, which is characterized by a bush-like growth and thick trunks.
The cellar nut/Corylus avellana
Cell nuts go back to the original forest hazel. They are generally smaller and less aromatic in taste than lambert nuts. But one of their most powerful advantages is their weak growth. In contrast to lambert nuts, cellar nuts grow more slowly and develop fewer runners. This makes them perfect for smaller gardens.
The most popular and proven varieties of cellar nuts on the market include the following:
- 'Red-leaved cellar nut': dark red shoots, red-brown summer leaves, high yield, thin-shelled
- 'Berger's Zellernuss': he althy, high-yielding, large fruits
- 'Roman Zellernuss': old variety with high and regular yields
The Lambert's Nut/Corylus maxima
Lambert nuts originally come from Turkey, which is now one of the main hazelnut growing regions. They represent hazelnuts, which are increasingly found in stores. Compared to cellar nuts, lambert nuts are more lush in growth and taste sweeter. A major disadvantage: They are more difficult to harvest because the nuts are difficult to separate from the fruit shell.
The lambert nuts, which can be grown both as a hazelnut bush and as a hazelnut tree, include the following recommended varieties:
- Blood hazel: red-leaved variety
- 'Fertile de Nottingham': extremely high yields
- ‘Webbs Prize Nut’: high-yielding, large-fruited
- ‘Cosford’: early ripening
- 'Hallesche Riesennut': high-yielding, large-fruited
- ‘Wunder aus Bollweiler’: very productive, late ripening
Tips & Tricks
Do you want unusual hazelnut varieties in your garden? How about the weeping hazel with its picturesque overhanging shoots, the corkscrew hazel with its corkscrew-like branches or the golden hazel 'Aurea' with its yellow-green foliage and its orange-yellow shoots?
