Every year I pull out multiple hazelnut seedlings. A few years ago one took off where nobody bothered it, and it got big enough to produce about pail of nuts - for the squirrels. But the squirrels were fun to watch out the window, and the point is, it produced nuts. Unfortunately, the neighbor cut it down before it got big enough to produce enough nuts for squirrels AND us :) So is there a difference between these volunteers and a hazelnut tree from a nursery? Thanks!
The self-sown ones will be unselected wild-type plants that may have smaller nuts than selected cultivars. But they're still perfectly good nuts for eating, they just won't win prizes at a show.
Can I ask are the suckers that come up around the base any good to get nuts. I have several old bushes/trees that bare very well and I would like to extend the patch as well as introduce a redish coloured one. Not sure about this one, if it has nuts but looks lovely. I have plenty of room along a fenced paddock boundary to keep the animals out. Goats love hazelnut leaves. Liz