Hazel can be pruned hard in winter , and will regrow. Hazel is a good plant for coppicing every two or three years, i.e. cutting right down to about a foot high, and it regrows. However, corkscrew hazels are usually grafted. You must make sure that you do not cut below the graft union, otherwise they will be all straight hazel rootstock. If it has lost the twist above a metre, I would leave it now while it is actively growing and give it a hard prune next December or January when all the leaves have fallen off.
Because the twisted hazel grows slowly it is often outgrown by faster growing suckers from below the graft.
Check the straight stems down their length and if they're coming from below the graft remove them at their bases. You should be left with just the curly stems.
In future check regularly and rub out any shoots from below the graft before they begin to grow.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I've got one of these and agree that the tall straight stems are growing from the rootstock. I keep an eye out for them and rub them off when they're small. You need to get your larger ones off right from the base. I never prune my curly bits, they are very slow growing .
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Hazel can be pruned hard in winter , and will regrow. Hazel is a good plant for coppicing every two or three years, i.e. cutting right down to about a foot high, and it regrows. However, corkscrew hazels are usually grafted. You must make sure that you do not cut below the graft union, otherwise they will be all straight hazel rootstock. If it has lost the twist above a metre, I would leave it now while it is actively growing and give it a hard prune next December or January when all the leaves have fallen off.
Because the twisted hazel grows slowly it is often outgrown by faster growing suckers from below the graft.
Check the straight stems down their length and if they're coming from below the graft remove them at their bases. You should be left with just the curly stems.
In future check regularly and rub out any shoots from below the graft before they begin to grow.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Do please check at soil level regularly.
Virtually all twisted hazels are grafted on to the normal one.
Do as Dove advises.
see link for what to look for.
http://statebystategardening.com/images/uploads/article_uploads/2015_Mar_news_4-B2.jpg
Straight stems are the suckers.
Last edited: 12 June 2017 09:13:00
I've got one of these and agree that the tall straight stems are growing from the rootstock. I keep an eye out for them and rub them off when they're small. You need to get your larger ones off right from the base. I never prune my curly bits, they are very slow growing
.