Bear nut (Tree hazel)

Tree hazel (Bear nut) belongs to the genus Hazel, Birch family. Because of the beautiful and durable wood, the hazel was massively cut down. In nature, it is found only in hard-to-reach places. The ability to grow at an altitude of more than 1700 m above sea level saved the bear nut from the final destruction of the variety. The tree is listed in the Red Book.

Description of the bear nut

Tree hazel is a type of hazel. The only representative of its kind that has a tree as a life form. Its height in the wild reaches 30 m, in latitudes the maximum growth of a tree is 8 m. Life expectancy is 200 years.

The crown of the bear nut is symmetrical, pyramidal, dense, dense. The trunk is covered with deeply fissured bark and separating plates of a light brown hue. Young shoots drooping, grey. The foliage is large, 12-13 cm long and 8 cm wide, broadly ovate, dark green in color. The base is heart-shaped, the edges are serrated. The length of the petiole is 3-5 cm. The buds are oblong, with a reddish omission, covered with small scales. The green color of the foliage of the tree-like hazel retains until late autumn. The root system of the bear nut is rod-shaped, deep. It allows the tree to hold firmly in the ground, so the plant is often used as forest protection plantings.

Tree-like hazel blooms early, in March or April. Male flowers have an oblong shape in the form of earrings, up to 12 cm long. Their color is light yellow. The female flowers are hidden in buds. The fruits are small, strong, oblong, flattened on the sides. The average size of the nuts is 2 cm. The shell is hard and thick. Inside the fruit is a seed. On top of the walnut is a velvety, wide-open cupule. Infructescences are collected from nuts in 48 pieces.

Advantages and disadvantages of the type

Seeing a photo of a tree-like hazel, you might think that the tree is devoid of all shortcomings.

However, this issue is worth looking into in more detail. Positive qualities of a bear nut:

• climatic endurance;
• annual abundant fruiting;
• fruits are a dietary food product;
• excellent decorative qualities;
• the best rootstock for hazelnuts;
• durability.

The disadvantages of a bear nut should be highlighted:

• small fruits and hard shells;
• the high height of the tree, there are difficulties with harvesting;
• fruiting occurs by 7-8 years.

The use of arboreal hazel

The fruits of the hazel tree are used in the food industry. Nuts have a high energy value. The consistency of the kernel is oily. The composition includes useful trace elements, vitamins.

The appearance of the bear nut is very attractive not only in the photo, but in reality. A slender tree with large carved leaves and a compact crown looks like a plane tree. Hazel tree-like from afar attracts the eye and easily decorates any landscape. It is used in landscape design, for decorating alleys, parks. Bearnuts are planted in groups or singly in botanical gardens.

Wood is valued in furniture production. It is dense, fine-layered, has a beautiful reddish tint. Suitable for finishing cabins, front rooms, furniture production.

Optimal Growing Conditions

The forest-steppe, broad-leaved and mountain forests, forest edges are considered to be the ideal growth zone in the wild for tree-like hazel. You can see the bear nut along the rivers, in the beams, in places where there is high humidity. Limey, deep soils are preferred for tree-like hazel. Does not tolerate saline, compacted lands.

The bear nut is a shade-tolerant tree that grows rapidly. Often forms thickets. It does not form pure stands, it is found in mixed forests. Grows together with beech, oak, hornbeam, maple. Able to withstand temperatures down to -30°C and below. Therefore, it is common on the territory of Ukraine, Belarus, Asia Minor, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, the Balkans. In Our Country, it is found in the North Caucasus, Transcaucasia.

Planting and caring for a bear nut

Hazel seedlings with a closed root system have a quick survival rate, which are planted in early autumn. Culture prefers only fertile, well-drained soils. On a site with poor and sandy soils, it is recommended to apply compost or organic humus. When choosing a place, it should be borne in mind that the distance to a neighboring tree should be at least 5 m.

Preparatory work for planting a tree hazel consists of the following steps:

• preparation of a hole 60×60 cm and a depth of 50 cm;
• application of 0,5 kg of mineral fertilizers and 10 kg of humus;
• moistening the pit with water.

Immediately before planting, the roots of the bear nut are cut and dipped in a clay mash. This contributes to better survival. After the tree is watered abundantly, and the near-stem circle is mulched.

Tree hazel care is simple. The main thing is to regularly remove weeds and loosen the soil, for unhindered air access to the roots, as well as water, fertilize, and cut.

1. The first watering is carried out a week after planting the bear nut. In the future, 1 time in 30 days is enough. Thus, during the growing season, the frequency of irrigation is 6-7 times.
2. The norm of one tree hazel is 30-50 liters. In dry summers, you need to moisturize more often.
3. In the first year, the ground under the seedling should not dry out.
4. It is recommended to feed the bear nut in the spring. During the swelling of the kidneys, 50 g of ammonium nitrate are added under the tree.
5. The second time nitrogenous fertilizers are required in July, which stimulates the ripening of fruits at the same time.
6. In autumn, it is necessary to feed tree hazelnuts with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers. The procedure is repeated every 3 years.
7. Pruning of a bear nut is carried out annually in the spring, before the start of the growing season. The tree needs only sanitary pruning.
8. The near-stem circle must be regularly loosened to a depth of 5-7 cm.
9. Weed grass must be removed, so it will be easier to cut the basal offspring.

Reproduction

In the wild, bearnut reproduces through seeds and root shoots. In garden farms, the culture is bred by cuttings, grafting, dividing the bush, layering.

1. Arc layers. In the spring, the lateral annual shoot is bent down, laid in a trench 15 cm deep. The stem is fixed with pegs, and the top remains above the surface. Sprinkle with earth and water periodically. By autumn, roots will appear. The site should be detached from the mother plant and transplanted to another location.
2. offspring. Approximately 1 m from the tree-like hazel, young shoots sprout from the roots. After 2-3 years they are used as a fully developed planting material. The peripheral offspring of the bear nut are dug up and separated from the roots with an ax. These seedlings can be planted in a hole in several pieces at once.
3. Bush division and grafting. For grafting, it is recommended to use wild tree-like hazel, as it does not produce offspring. Cuttings are carried out in the spring, and budding in the fall. For cuttings, the upper parts of the bush are suitable. They are cut in winter and stored until warm under the snow.

It is important that each half has roots 25-30 cm long. Sections are disinfected with crushed activated carbon.

Diseases and pests

Despite the fact that the tree-like hazel is considered a stable culture with good immunity, it is still susceptible to diseases and attacks of harmful insects.

1. Mučnistaâ rosa. Symptoms: white coating on leaves, stem, fruits. After time, it darkens, acquires a dense structure. The affected areas die. The bear nut becomes more susceptible to cold weather.
2. White rot. A fungal disease from which the tree suffers greatly. If measures are not taken in time, the tree-like hazel may die.
3. fungal rust. Symptoms: the appearance of orange spots on the leaf plate, the edges are fascinated up, dry.
4. aphid. It feeds on the juice of the plant, which later leads to death. The fruits of the diseased bear nut do not ripen.
5. The Mite. A small insect that spends the winter hiding in the buds of a nut. There he lays his eggs. And in the spring, the affected buds dry up.
6. nut weevil. The bug is 10 mm in size. Its females lay larvae in unripe fruits. If measures are not taken in time, up to 50% of the crop is lost.
7. Nut leaf beetle. A pest that eats hazel leaves.

Fungal diseases are fought with fungicides: Falcon, Topsin, blue vitriol, Bordeaux mixture. And insect pests are destroyed by insecticides: Fufanon, Kemifos, Karbofos.

Conclusion

Tree hazel is a beautiful tree. However, using it solely for decorative purposes is wasteful. There are not many varieties of nuts in the human diet. In addition, the high content of proteins and microelements makes it a dietary, medicinal product.