Where to plant a hazelnut - hazelnut nerd thread maybe

[AppleButter]

Where do your hazelnuts do best in the garden? I have fancy piedmontese hazelnut sapling on its way, and it says that full sun is needed for yield. However hazelnuts do not generally like hot, dry buts and prefer some slight shade. Which is correct?
I have a hazelnut (5years) , squirrel-planted, close to the house, east-facing, lots of sun during the day, soil dry but not parched, but it only produces a few nuts a year , and only a few catkins each winter. Catkin production actually starts in spring in the preceding year, so I will try and mulch and water enough now.
I have another tree, shop bought, (5 years), red-leaved hazelnut, which is planted in heavy shade, and very moist soil, but this produces many more nuts each year.
Would really appreciate tips on where best to plant the new arrival, and what has worked for you. Thanks.

I have a hazel tree and it’s planted in a sunny west facing garden. It’s a wild variety, not cultivated, but we get quite a good yield… so long as we get there before the birds do!

My understanding is that they are a sub storey small tree, in that they like the dappled shade of bigger trees. Having said that, in Kent we drove past field after field of hazelnuts where they grew in rows in the open.
I would hazard that your random hazel that isn't producing is from stock that doesn't produce well, a bit like a greengage that will shyly produce two fruits in a good year.
I love hazels; very attractive growth, super useful sticks, beautiful catkins and bark colour, bonus when the squirrels leave you some nuts!
Plant your fab new red one where you have a decent space for it to do its thing.

I had always thought that hazelnuts would naturally grow and produce a good yield in the wild, but that hasnt been the case so far.

Spots to choose between: dryish soil where I can water, and full sun
VS
Moister soil in part shade for part of the day, but onxe the hazelnut shrub reaches above 3 metres it will have bright sun.
VS dappled shade, next to a maple tree, dry soil, i can water
Less often. Thick leaf litter but several trees and shrubs sharing the space.

Thank you.
I share all nuts with squirrels and feed them and birds in cold winters and throughout the year. A title to nature, hazelnuts are a good part of that.

Did you see Marcus Wareing's programme yesterday? he was planting a cobnut, very similar to hazelnuts just a longer shaped nut. The expert said they don't like too much wet.

He also said they need 3 or 4 years before they produce many nuts! Tbh ours have only just started producing nuts in any number and we've been here 16 years! It was here when we arrived. Though they HIDE them! I will give it a trim next year to thin out the centre apparently they need that. I also believe in letting the birds have their fill!!

I have two cobnut trees that were free in a magazine. They are thirty five feet high now and are covered in massive nuts come October/November. I planted them in shade. They are the shade now. They are very very productive if I can get to them before the squirrels!

In 2014 and 2016 I planted 211 hazel trees much closer together than is recommended but I knew what sort of wood I wanted to create. They are doing really well. They are about six feet apart only so have made a small dense wood. I have seven pheasants that roost in the tops of them so I can't walk in there at night which was part of the plan. I have a trail cam in there and have seen foxes, badgers, cats, rats, squirrels, mink, stoats, weasels, field mice and birds of many variety's as well as my beloved phezzies.

Wow Ernie We have had a couple of pheasants come to our bird feeders. They walk around superciliously but don't nest here (though we have an unused field behind our house and I heard some calls) coming from there. There is a naturalised 'twisted' hazel tree there, I wonder if they're in it? i know nothing about the habits of pheasants only that I like them.

We' re in rural France I have created a mixed wood around the top of caves in our front garden just by allowing the trees there to grow. on.

I first fell in love with Corylus when I worked as a labourer for a thatcher as it's used to make the spars that hold on the straw. I love everything about it. The leaves, the fact that the barks goes from olive green through gold to silver and the fact that it grows arrow straight towards the light. I'm a bit obsessed obvs : )

What a beautiful description Ernie.

I have got my hands on a big book of trees called Sylva, and it confirms what you all have said: hazel doesn’t like waterlogged soil or heavy shade. So I think I will go for a sunnier spot and will just have to water well in the summer.