Moving Volunteers and Tree / Shrub Starts 12.19.14

No photos - raining and didn't want to damage camera.

This week I found more suckers in the lilac hedge.  Dug them out for starts at the battleground place.  About 18 inches to 2 foot tall.

There was a hazelnut by the house, same size range.  Moved that, too.

Near the Vancouver house is a stand of Staghorn Sumac.  I found 2 clumps in the 2 foot tall range and moved them.

Free plants are good.  These are locally proven, locally adapted.  The seedlings increase genetic diversity.  They are organic.  Not fuel spent going to store to buy them.

Reading about sumac, some sources state they are deer food, other state deer don't browse them.  I have one sumac tree, different variety, that was partially tasted by deer, then apparently left alone.

Volunteer Fig and Hazelnut. 10.26.14

Volunteer Fig Tree.  10.26.14

Volunteer Hazelnut and Columbine.  10.26.14

No way to know which type of fig this is.  None of my fig trees should have any seeds, because there are no caprifigs and no Blastophaga wasps.  That leaves, a wayward cutting, or a seed from a dried fig.

I don't know which it is.  These are adjacent to the deck.  I've been nurturing fig cuttings there.  If one looked dead, it's possible I threw it there.  Or, a pruning.

I want to keep it and see how it does.  Not that I need more fig trees.

The hazelnut could go to the Battleground place to replace one that someone cut off.  Not saying who.  It looks pretty vigorous.  Could serve as pollinator for the others, or could be a good hazelnut. 

Hazelnut trees. Nine months later.

Hazelnut volunteer

 These are the Hazezlnut trees I moved last fall.  The 2 named varieties, larger trees, didn't grow much.  Ennis has a fair number of ripening hazelnuts.  Butler has one or two   The volunteer hazelnut tree grew like gangbusters, sturdy and fast.  It's over 6 foot tall.

Ripening Hazelnuts

Hazelnuts.  Butler and Ennis.

Filbert in bloom

Filberts are blooming. The long, pendulous catkins are the male flowers. The tiny female flowers can be seen by their rich red stigma and style. Filbert and Hazelnut are the same thing.  These are trees I moved last fall. Guess I didn't kill them.  They look quite healthy.  With a fall, winter, and early Spring to settle in and grow roots, I imagine they will be fully established this year.  Maybe some nuts.  Probably for the squirrels.

The Hazelnut

From La Belgique Horticole, 1850s.


Hazelnuts have been part of the human diet for 9,000 years. A large pit with thousands of hazelnut hulls was found in Scotland, radiocarbon dated to about 7,000 BCE. This was on the east coast of the small Hebridean island of Colonsay at Staosnaig. At that time, hazenuts were important in the diet, along with acorns and nettles (Archeology.about.com) Also "Based on the abundance of hazelnut shells found at Mesolithic sites in southern Scandinavia and Northern Germany it was proposed that these remains may testify to an important food supply rather than just the use as a supplement to animal protein."

After the last ice age, hazelnuts spread from Northern Turkey (Pontus to the Greeks) to other areas of Europe.

"The caduceus of Greek mythology and Hermes fame was made of hazel.... when Apollo was only a few hours old he escaped from his cradle and went out in search of adventure...stole two oxen from Apollo (the god of the sun) and hid them in a cave where he killed and eat them. When Apollo discovered what had happened, Hermes played to him on a lyre... Apollo was so charmed by his music he allowed him to go unpunished. In gratitude Hermes gave his lyre to Apollo, who in return gave him a magical Caduceus made of Hazel, said to bestowed wisdom, wealth and prosperity on its owner by turning everything it touched into gold."from Plant Folklore, on Helium.com.

The ancient Greeks referred to hazelnuts as "karyon Pontin" for their plentiful availability in the mountains of Pontus.

Romans are known to have cultivated Hazelnuts, including in Britain.

(By Redoute, botanical illustrator for Marie Antionette)


The world's top producer of Hazelnuts is Turkey. In the US, the top producer is Oregon, followed by Washington.

Beehives in hazelnut grove, Ordu Turkey.  I think Hazelnuts are wind pollinated, however, because they bloom in winter.

From wikipedia.

 In mythology, hazel wood is used for dowsing (finding water). Quoting from the blog Grannulus Grove, "The Celts believed hazelnuts gave one wisdom and inspiration. The Gaelic word for nuts are 'cno' pronounced 'knaw' and the word for wisdom, 'cnocach'...if a Hazel tree was unjustly cut down then the punishment was death." Glad I didn't cut down the hazel trees in my Vancouver yard, opting instead to move them to Battleground. Whew. From the same source, "Hazel trees were so abundant in Scotland that it was named Caledonia which was derived from Cal-Dun, meaning 'Hill of Hazel. In Norse mythology, the Hazel was known as the Tree of Knowledge and was sacred to the god Thor."

Hazelnut trees live about 50 years, but regenerate from the roots. So the large bush that results may have trunk or root hundreds of years old.  This regenerative ability may be why the small trees that I moved seemed to split into 2 or 3 trees.

From The Guide to Nut Cookery, 1898, by Almeda Lambert. " varieties which have long, fringed husks extending beyond the nut, are filberts; ...those whose husks are shorter than the nut, are hazels...derived from the Anglo-Saxon word haesel meaning a hood or bonnet."

Hazel Nut trees are more compact than most nut trees.  They tend to be bushy, so can be used for a hedge row.  Ultimate size about 10ft tall, 10ft across.... Hazelnuts spread by underground runners that develop roots. These runners can be cut away from the main plant using a sharp digging spade and planted in a new location. Also here.

Moving a Volunteer Hazelnut Tree

I didn't plan on moving this tree. While cleaning out compost bins, I looked over to it and decided to. This is a volunteer hazel nut tree.  It's in a corner by the house, with a fence on the South side, the house on the West side, and not much sun on the East side. It's been cut down once or twice. Maybe more. Probably about 6 or 8 years old.

Before digging.  Hard to see if this is one or several, and hard to see where the stem meets the roots.  I made my best guess, and dug under the tree with the shovel.  It came up very easily.  The soil is soft here, having had many years of bark mulch.

I imagine these are "squirrel planted".  Our friendly Sciurus arborists have planted a lot of nuts around the yard.  In addition to scarfing up every nut from the trees.

Clearly 2 trees.  Possibly one multi-stem, or more than one growing together.  I think it's one multistem.

Added potting soil to keep roots moist for transport.

Divided almost by accident.  I moved the stems around to see where they were joined, and they just broke apart.  Now I have a larger one with a lot of roots, and a smaller one with a few roots.  Plus 2 other smaller ones, one from this bunch and the other clearly separate.  The small ones are back into the potting soil while I decide what to do with them.  Maybe, by growing more, and larger, nut trees, there will be one or two nuts left for me to taste.

Planted. Now I have a row of 4 Hazelnut trees. Two of bearing age, one one-foot-tall seedling, and this 6 foot tall sapling.  I planted it as straight as I could.  I'll keep the top for a while to tie to a post and straighten it a bit more, then prune next summer for scaffold branches similar to the others.  This sapling is about 7 foot tall.  It did not look that big in the corner, due to laying on its side.

I gave it a good sprinkling of Plant Success Mycorrhiza, which I have no proof is helpful but am doing anyway.  Planted in the native topsoil, and mulched with compost.  Settled in for the winter.

Amazing to be planting trees in mid December.

Moving a pair of HazelNut Trees

Squirrels were getting all of the nuts. I misjudged how much room these 2 hazelnut trees would need. They are too big for the space. They get lots of nuts at that size.  But without a raptor perched in the branches to feast on squirrels, there is no chance of me getting nuts. I wanted to cut them down. With more room, I moved them to the Battleground place. Even if the squirrels still get the nuts, the trees will give some privacy from the road. Plus, there actually is a raptor in the nearby trees.

I like hazelnuts.  It would be great if I get to eat some!  Come on squirrels, leave me just one!  According to wikipedia, "The Celts believed hazelnuts gave one wisdom and inspiration." also "The Hazel Branch, from Grimm's Fairy Tales, claims that hazel branches offer the greatest protection from snakes and other things that creep on the earth."  

It's hard to tell here.  There are 2 trees.  Each is about 8 or 9 feet tall.  The trunks are about 2 inches diameter.  These are 2 varieties of grafted hazelnut tree.  There are many sub-trunks sprouted from below the graft.

First, I removed all of the sub-trunks.  They did not have catkins.  I don't know if they would have produced nuts in a few years.  I wanted to stick with the named varieties.  This removes about 10 or 20% of the growth.  Which makes up for much of the root that will be lost in digging.

The branches are tied up to make it easier to dig and manipulate the trees.  I find that trees are quite fearful of being dug up, and tend to lash out at me with their branches.  Firm but gentle tying keeps them calm, and keeps my face free of lacerations.

The usual circular trench, with a twist because these trees are one foot apart.  That was a Backyard Orchard Culture technique.  I was stretching the technique by applying to hazelnut trees.  But for the squirrel issue, however, I think it worked.

This is a bit like separating conjoined tree twins.  Rather than causing more root trauma individually unraveling intertwined roots, I sliced between them with the shovel.  They didn't have as much root mass as I suspected.  As bare-root trees, I think the roots were compact at the beginning, and had not extended as far as a seed-grown tree might have extended.

I slid them up a board, covered with a well-tied tarp for protection.

My "thing" at the moment is mycorrhizal innoculant.  This is "Mykos".  Sprinkled on the roots for promotion of better root mass and drought resistance. I don't know if that really works.  I sprinkled about a quarter cup, guessing, throughout the root mass.  I pruned broken or torn roots to a clean cut.

Planted.  Charlie was such a help.  I left branches with catkins in place.  Since I removed a fair amount of below-the-graft growth, I think the roots can support making some nuts next year.  Minimal touch-up pruning was needed.  A few broken twigs, a couple of crossed branches.  I tipped the highest branches to outward facing buds, to encourage spread.

I also moved a Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' Smoke tree from the house in Vancouver. I really misjudged. I thought it would be a bush, at most 5 feet tall. It was 8 foot this year. So I pruned it back to help move it, and moved it to this location too. I don't know why I didn't look it up when I bought it - they can be 15 or 20 feet tall. This will be a better spot.  I'll keep it as multi-trunk.  It will be nice to look out the window at this tree.

The root mass was small.  It's about 3 years old.  It was very easy to dig up and move.  I read that deer don't like them.  The deer will let me know if that's true.

My other helper. He mostly helps by running off and barking at falling leaves. When siting here, he looks so noble.

This bush has maroon leaves through the summer and brilliant leaves in the fall. This photo was Oct 10.

A few garden chores / Progress report.

Planted the rest of the ginkgo seeds in the iris raised bed.  That's about 20 seedlings if they grow.  Lots to give away then.  By planting outside now, they get the winter cold for stratification.

Moved one grape vine from the house in Vancouver to the Battleground place.  I don't know the variety; green when ripe, with seeds.  I recall them as excellent flavor, but it was in a shady spot under an old cherry tree, next to a fence.  About 9 years old.  The vine would grow to the top of the tree, 25 feet in a year.  I pulled off lots of leaves for the chickens.  I cut it back to about 4 feet tall, with a couple of recent canes.  I shortened those canes to 3 or 4 nodes.  Digging it up, it wasn't possible to get a big root mass.  I think grape roots are long and rangy, like the vines.  Even so, since it's easy to grow grapes from cuttings, I think the severely pruned-back vine should grow.  It will be a head start over starting a new cutting.  In its new location, I can prune more formally as a 4-arm Kniffen, which is sort of like espalier for grapes.  Much easier to take care of that way.

The soil is moist down to at least 2 feet now.  That's how deep I dug for the grape vine.

35 of the 40 Inchelium Red garlic plantings have germinated.  So they were just a bit slower than the German Porcelain Garlic.

None of the Safeway shallots has germinated.  100% (only 10 plants) of the Holland Shallots have germinated.  So there must be germination inhibitor on the Safeway shallots.  I planted a row of ginkgo seeds in the safeway shallot row, so as not to waste the space.

Very few leaves remaining on the trees.  Buds look fat and happy.  No freeze yet.

To do list for moving trees and shrubs:

2 hazelnut trees.  These are about 2-inch diameter trunks, about 8 feet tall.  Squirrels have taken every nut - not leaving even one for me.  Damn squirrels.  The top and roots will need a lot of pruning - too much for me to dig fully intact.

Brunswick fig.  Similar size to the Hazel nut trees.  Not very productive.  It's time to either move it or cut it down.  Maybe it will produce better in a more open setting.  Sever top and root pruning will be needed to get it out of the current location.

A large camelia.  2 smalll trees, one a Japanese maple and one a weeping birch.

I planted a dozen lily bulbs in the location where I dug out one of the cherry trees last month.  Late, but they should do OK.

Status Report: my Backyard Orchard Culture

Here's Liberty apple. Doesn't require much by way of pruning - the apples keep the growth to a minimum. Unclear if the 'socks' made a difference, we'll see when they ripen.

I was surprised to see that some hazelnuts did set. I thought they passed that stage with no nuts forming. We'll get a few. I pruned the branches back a little to encourage branching at small size.

The sweet cherries were growing out of control! They had 2 to 3 feet of lush growth. I don't fertilize them at all, but they must like the clay soil. Plus, last year I mulched with compost, which is as good as fertilizing. I'll avoid using so much compost in the future.

The same cherries, after pruning. I cut all of the new branches back, to 4 to 6 nodes, which is about 4 to 6 inches. I chopped the pieces and threw them under the trees for mulch, but the area was so weedy, I mowed with the lawnmower. Now the choppings are mulch for the cucumbers. I think I'll plant grass seed this fall. Then I can just mow, and don't need to worry about weeding.

What's growing? What's blooming?

Lycoris radiata leaves remain alive. I thought the freeze might kill them. So far, so good. A small amount of slug damage - need to get out some slug bait.



Hazelnut trees are blooming - I think. The catkins on one are long and green, and the others are shorter and grey. They are supposed to pollenate each other . One is Ennis and other is Butler - I'll have to go out and check the tags next weekend.