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Manchurian hazel is a low-growing shrub (height does not exceed 3,5 m) is a kind of Zimbold hazelnut. The variety has been known since the end of the XNUMXth century, imported from Japan. In Our Country, culture is grown in the Far East, in Manchuria, the middle lane. Manchurian hazel is often found in China on the edges of forests and mountain slopes. The plant is bred to produce fruits, it is practically not used for decorative purposes.
Description of the Manchurian hazel
This is a short (3-3,5 m), well-branched shrub, consisting of several trunks. The branches are thick, reaching 15 cm in diameter. Young shoots of Manchurian hazel are covered with a small, soft fluff. The trunk is gray-brown bark with small cracks.
The leaves are small, oblong, ovoid, with jagged edges, soft. There are large ones up to 12 cm long and 7 cm wide. Basically, the entire crown is strewn with foliage of medium size: 5 cm long and 3 cm wide. The leaves are dark green, in the middle there is a rusty, orange or burgundy spot. In autumn, their color turns dark orange.
In the spring, earrings appear on the shoots of the Manchurian hazel – male inflorescences, collected 5 pieces on one handle. Their length can reach 14 cm. The inflorescences are covered with light beige sharp scales. Manchurian hazel blooms late for its species – in the first decade of May.
Hazel bears fruit in September. There are few fruits on one bush. 2-4 nuts are attached to one handle.
The nuclei are oval, rounded, 1,5-2 cm long. The shell is thin, fragile, the fruits of the Manchurian hazel can be eaten, they have a good nutty taste.
Distribution
In nature, culture grows in the Far East of Our Country, in the Chita region, Khabarovsk, Primorsky Krai, in the central regions. Abroad, Manchurian hazel can be found in China, Japan, and Korea. The shrub grows on the edges of coniferous and deciduous forests, on the tops of mountain slopes, in open forest glades. In places of felling or burning, the forest forms dense growth.
Plant application
Manchurian hazel is used to produce fruits. Their collection is difficult due to the hard bristly pads. It is also planted for landscaping hills and ravines, plantings, deforestation sites. This fast-growing culture covers burnt forest edges and fields.
In cities, they are used for landscaping parks and alleys. Planted in gardens as hedges. Thanks to strong wide shoots and large leaves, hazel forms dense impenetrable thickets.
Planting and caring for Manchurian hazel
A crop is planted in early spring before the juices begin to move or in late autumn after harvest, a month before the onset of the first frost. Experts recommend autumn planting. It allows you to harden the Manchurian hazel in winter. The following spring, you can get a strong, well-rooted plant.
Site selection and preparation
Hazel is planted in the southern or western part of the site, protected from the winds. The place should be well lit or be in partial shade. The main thing is that groundwater does not lie closer than 2 m to the surface of the earth. It is good to plant a shrub near buildings that will protect it from drafts. You can not plant hazel in the lowlands, where meltwater accumulates in spring. Tall shrubs and trees should be 5 m from the hazel.
The soil is better to choose loose, fertilized, slightly acidic. Swampy or clayey soils are not suitable for planting hazel.
Selection and preparation of seedlings
For planting choose tall plants with strong shoots. The leaves on them should be as small as possible, the roots are long, well branched. Seedlings are good to buy in the nursery. A wild plant does not take root well and gives a poor harvest. The roots of a good seedling are about 0,5 m long, before planting I cut them in half.
Landing
3-4 weeks before planting, hazels dig a hole about 50 cm in diameter, allow the soil to sit down. After that, a fertile mixture is poured onto the bottom: soil, humus, manure in equal parts. 400 g of wood ash and a glass of superphosphate are added to the mixture.
The landing algorithm follows:
- In the center of the pit, it is necessary to form an earthen clod.
- Place the roots on top of it, straightening the processes.
- Next to the shrub, you need to drive in a peg, tie the stem of the plant to it.
- After the pit is covered with loose earth and rammed it.
At the end of planting under a bush, it is necessary to pour 2-3 buckets of water. The soil around the trunk within a radius of 1-2 m must be covered with sawdust or covered with a spruce forest.
Care
In summer, 2-3 times a month, hazel is watered with 10 liters of water. A few days after watering, the soil must be loosened to provide air access to the rhizome. After watering, the near-stem circle must be covered with mulch.
Winter hardiness
Hazel Manchurian is not afraid of cold weather, it can endure frost down to -45 ° C. It grows well in the northern regions, in Siberia. There it is used as a nut and ornamental crop. She, one of the few, easily endures the harsh local winters.
Harvest
Manchurian hazel fruits begin to be harvested in mid-September. If the ripening conditions were favorable, up to 3 kg of crop can be obtained from one bush. The collection is difficult due to the specific structure of the nut. People work with gloves because of the prickly bristly pad, which easily injures the skin. Therefore, Manchurian hazel is harvested in limited quantities. On an industrial scale, the species is not grown.
Reproduction
The characteristics of each variety of hazel can be preserved only through vegetative propagation.
In the agricultural technology of the Manchurian hazel, other types of reproduction are also used:
- seeds;
- layering;
- division of the bush.
The easiest way is to propagate with nuts, but it does not guarantee the preservation of the variety. Well-ripened kernels are used for sowing. They are planted in autumn in well-dug, fertilized soil to a depth of 5 cm. The distance between seedlings is 10 cm. Seeds are sprinkled with humus from above. After wintering under the snow, the first seedlings will sprout in the spring.
In autumn, after harvesting, part of the shrub is cut as close to the ground as possible. At this point, layering will begin to form. In the spring they are bent and laid in prepared shallow grooves, fixed with metal brackets. The place of the fold is carefully incised. The outer thin ends of the bush are attached vertically to the support. Their length should be at least 10 cm. Seedlings are grown by layering for about 2 years. After they are disconnected from the mother bush and rooted separately. This method is long and laborious, but allows you to save the species qualities of the plant.
When dividing, the mother bush is cut along the root so that each new plant has several shoots and a well-developed rhizome. Before planting, the root processes are shortened to 25 cm. Each new Manchurian hazel bush is rooted according to the planting algorithm.
Diseases and pests
The Manchurian hazel often suffers from the attacks of the walnut weevil. If the hazel plantations are old, the probability of the appearance of this pest increases several times. In this case, you can lose 80% of the crop. In the event of the appearance of a walnut weevil, 3-4 treatments of the garden with chemicals (insecticides) are carried out during the growing season.
Manchurian hazel is not susceptible to the main diseases of walnut crops. Rarely can suffer from fungal infections. When the first signs of the disease appear: white or rusty twisted leaves, their wilting and falling off for no apparent reason, it is necessary to spray the hazel overgrowth with fungicides.
It can be under the bark of a plant for a long time, without showing itself in any way. In this case, the shrub begins to slowly fade for no apparent reason. Looking closely, on the hazel bark, you can find small tubercles and furrows covered with a brown or rusty coating. At the first sign of damage, the shrub is treated with Bordeaux liquid or other fungicides.
Conclusion
Manchurian hazel is a frost-resistant unpretentious plant that is well suited for growing in the northern regions. Hazel well tolerates snowless winters and severe frosts. At the same time, a sharp decrease in temperature does not affect the crop yield. The main drawback of this type of hazel is the structure of the nut, which is difficult to extract from a strong prickly film.
