Seasonal Care

Spring

Details Flowering and pollination should be completed now and your trees will be producing young tender growth. It is at this time of year that wind protection is most important as young leaves are easily windburnt.

Keep up with orchard mowing and weed control as it can otherwise become a very big job!

Check your irrigation system thoroughly before you need it in the summer. Blockages can easily go unnoticed and cause problems later.

Many orchards will benefit from an application of a balanced fertilizer around the drip line of the tree base at this time. In addition we suggest the use of Kumulus sulphur spray at two week intervals starting prior to bud burst for a six week period (3 applications) at a rate of 4 kg/100 ml.

Summer

Details You should notice small nutlets forming on your trees, at this stage they are green and camouflaged by surrounding leaves. Irrigation through summer will be required if you want your trees to develop strong growth and good sized nuts.

Sucker control either by clipping or a contact herbicide will be required once through the season. Leaf and soil analysis can be done around February 2-3 yearly through a reputable horticultural advisor and laboratory who will provide you with fertiliser recommendations for your property.

Autumn

Details Nuts will ripen and drop to the ground when ready over a six week period. They will need to be collected either by hand, a vacuum system or a roller system.

After harvest is a good time to apply another application of fertiliser.

Continue irrigation into autumn if you are in an area which has experienced a dry summer.

Harvesting

Winter

Details With May almost over and winter fast approaching we are entering our busy season in the nursery and orchard, with this years tree orders preparing to leave and next years stock being propagated as well as our orchard maintenance to see to.

By this stage nuts are safely off the ground and autumn fertilisers are down, leaves are turning and catkins/flowers partly developed.

If you are planning to plant a new orchard or extend an existing one this is the time to begin preparation. Hopefully you will have already ordered your trees for this season and will be marking and ripping your rows ready for hole digging and planting when your new trees are delivered.

Winter tasks for existing orchards should include a visual check for enlarged buds that may indicate big bud mite, one of the few insect pests hazels are prone to in New Zealand at the moment. Infected buds are easily removed and burned as a means of control. A winter spray with either Kocide and horticultural oil or Mancocide will help control insect pests, bacterial and fungal diseases.

Pruning and sucker control as well as a general tidy up to remove any remaining husks should be done over the next few months as well. Shaping your orchard trees to a single stem and vase shaped branches in the first few years of growth will aid management later on. Side trimming wind break trees will keep them in shape and encourage bushy growth without encroaching on your orchard space.

The work that you do now will prepare your trees for the next seasons growth and a regular maintenance programme will make future management much easier and more productive.

Nutty Facts

Details Hazelnut Flour is a by product of oil pressing and is a tasty gluten free alternative to wheat flour.

FAQs