Hazel Cuttings

[Karl]

A friend of mine gave me a bunch of newly cut corkscrew hazel, some of which I thought I'd try to grow as cuttings.
The rest of which will go on my wall as a decorative altar-ish device to hang things from.

I just wondered if anyone had tips for cuttings?

I was going to try a few lengths in soil, some in water and some in compost. I'll add a dash of asprin to some of the water as I've heard it can work like root hormone. If anyone has any suggestions on how I might get better success then I would be very grateful.

I'm enjoying a period of 'seeing what I can grow', taking bits of any old stuff, garlic, ginger, random leaves and clippings and seeing what grows and what doesn't.

[Jake]

Hi Karl,

You've got a big challenge ahead of you to grow Contorta from cuttings, especially at this time of year. They're really difficult (some claim impossible) to root straight from cuttings which is why most of the nurseries propagate them by grafting onto a Common Hazel.

The folks who successfully grow Contorta on their own roots are usually propagating by layering (see here: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8701.html ) but for that you'd usually want to use a shoot from summer or early fall, not winter.

But plants do the most surprising things so I say go for it and see what happens!

Best of luck and please let us know the results.

[mark the compost elf]

coryllus as a genus can be difficult to root from cuttings. I would suggest trying a light and open medium but one that is moisture retentive ( about 50:50 perlite and potting compost - peat free of course) for your best bet. Cutting the bottom of the cuttings at an angle to increase the surface are of living cambium exposed to the soil can increase the cahnce of rooting too.

Or try getting a young coryllus avallana or maxima seedling/ whip and try to graft your own. Contorta is quite a slow grower in comparison to most other hazels, so it tends to be grafted on to a more vigourous root stock - it means the nurserymen can sell them quicker and at a higher cost as the plants are also on a larger scale.

[Karl]

Cheers guys, thank you for the input.
If I can I might try layering from the original plant as well.

[skydove]

Hi
I once went for a walk in March/ April and came upon a whole willow contorta tree which had been felled, stems broken off rooted very easily in water and I grew them on and gave most away. I know willow roots easily and you may have more trouble with hazel. If you have the parent why not try water treatment a little more into the spring -only use a stem with a few leaves on though or remove most of them.

[Corwen]

Willow and hazel behave quite differently unfortunately- willow is amazing, it has such life force it will put out leaves after two years in the woodpile. Once my Dad made a gate post of willow, not a willow branch mind you, but a piece of 4x4 sawn from the middle of a trunk, no bark. It rooted and grew into a tree...

I'm afraid while the sap is down you have practically zero chance of getting hazel to root, and it isn't easy in the summer! Best make some other use of your prunings and try layering and grafting in the spring once the leaves are out.

[paikea]

If you have a willow nearby and you can cut of a brang take it home chop it into small pieces and add it to a jug of water. use this water to water your cutting. The willow gives of its rootinghormone into the water and this will help roots for your hazel. I've had applecuttings root from doing this

[skydove]

What a brilliant tip Palkea!