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Help identifying a shrub/tree from the garden

matt_a_sampsonBq6g16pHmatt_a_sampsonBq6g16pH Posts: 19
in Plants
Hello, does anyone know what shrub/tree this is please? I am looking to identify it in order to establish when it can be pruned.


Posts

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I think it's a hazel (Corylus).
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    I would let it grow this year and coppice it in autumn after leaf fall - cut down to 6 inches high.
  • Cambridgerose12Cambridgerose12 Posts: 1,134
    edited April 2021
    I am not sure that it's a hazel but it's a bit hard to tell because your photo doesn't show the flowers in detail. If they look like this: 

    then it is a winterhazel, Corylopsis sinensis, and not a common hazel, Corylus avellana. The winterhazel will die if coppiced. Instead, to keep it within reasonable size, cut out one-third of the oldest growth after flowering, and feed and mulch well. Then repeat the following two years, taking out the oldest third each time. However, Corylopsis are very beautiful and flower on mature wood, so you might not want to be that harsh with it :smile:
  • Cambridgerose12Cambridgerose12 Posts: 1,134
    Ordinary hazel flowers look like this: 
    they are tighter catkins with a kind of granular appearance on the outside.
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,719
    edited April 2021
    Definitely Corylopsis. sp.
    Cannot tell which one from pics.
    Related to Hamamelis... in Hamamelidaceae
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • matt_a_sampsonBq6g16pHmatt_a_sampsonBq6g16pH Posts: 19
    Thanks for all the comments. I have taken a close up of the flowers, please see below.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Hi Matt, I've just looked it up in my RHS Plants and Flowers book and it looks like it is Corylopsis gabrescens - so well done Cambridge Rose and Silver Surfer. Not one I've seen in the flesh so to speak and it does look lovely from your photos. Lucky you!
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • matt_a_sampsonBq6g16pHmatt_a_sampsonBq6g16pH Posts: 19
    Thanks Lizzie. Yes, its a real beauty in our garden!
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,719
    Lizzie27 said:
    Hi Matt, I've just looked it up in my RHS Plants and Flowers book and it looks like it is Corylopsis gabrescens - so well done Cambridge Rose and Silver Surfer. Not one I've seen in the flesh so to speak and it does look lovely from your photos. Lucky you!
    Just a tiny correction.....Corylopsis glabrescens.

    Corylopsis are very underrated shrubs...in spring they are fab.
    In my humble opinion much nicer than Forsythia.
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
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