Purple hazel is a truly ornamental shrub fruit tree.
Purple Hazel facts, a summary
Name – Corylus maxima purpurea
Family – Betulaceae
Type – fruit shrub
Height – 13 to 20 feet (4 to 6 meters)
Exposure – full sun
Soil – ordinary, rather light
Foliage – deciduous
Flowering – February to April
Harvest – Fall
Growing is easy: care, pruning and harvesting must follow good practices if you want to have nice hazelnuts.
Planting purple hazel
Preferably in fall to promote root development before winter.
But you can also plant it in any other season of the year, as long as you avoid high temperatures in summer and frost spells in winter.
It is critical that you plant 2 different varieties together to ensure fertilization and fruit-bearing.
- This is an important step, so diligently follow our advice on planting shrubs.
Pruning and caring for purple hazel
No pruning is needed, except for the first years to speed growth up.
- Eliminate dead wood and branches over a decade old.
If you wish to reduce the branches or even out the hazel tree’s bearing, wait for the blooming to end.
Harvesting the hazelnuts
The hazelnuts are ready to be harvested when the fruit detaches from the branch and falls to the ground.
Learn more about purple hazel
Hazelnuts are harvested in fall but even if the ornamental value of this tree is what stands out, its fruits still are edible.
Smart tip about purple hazel, purple filbert
Remove suckers that grow from the base often.