Corylus Avellana - pest issues

Hi,

I have recently bought a Harry Lauder's Walking Stick (about 3 feet high) from a local nursery. It's now growing in a sizable pot with good soil and drainage. The bugs which cling to the underside of leaves (greenfly? whitefly?) seem uncontrollable, even after using several sprayings of insecticidal soap. The plant seems to be surviving all of this, but the leaves are now getting a crinkled look, with a few spots.

The plant is on a SE corner balcony of a highrise, in the Vancouver area.

Is this a normal condition of this species? Has it been the strange weather this season? Has anyone had any experiences with pest control? The various articles on the web seem to refer to various pests that this tree is host to...

Any help will be appreciated....

 

Corylus avellana contorta is an interesting tree in winter when you can see all the twists and bends in the twigs.

I love it in the spring when full of catkins.

But....!
In summer it always manages to look so ugly. The leaves too have a distorted curl to them and look as if it has a disease. However, this is just the nature of the beast.

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=Co...&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:18,s:0&biw=1270&bih=501

Never had trouble with insects on it. But do have constant trouble with suckers.
Usually they are grafted onto the ordinary Corylus avellana, so suckers are easy to id. They will be tall and straight. Remove asap whenever you see any. See...

http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/PPDL/images/contortedfilbert.jpg

Make sure you give it plenty of space. They do get quite large, but slowly.

Quote
" Lord Ducie had the contorted hazel layered and cultivated in his arboretum at Tortworth Court. All true corkscrew hazels are descendants of that original hedgerow plant."

http://www.gloucestershireorchardgroup.org.uk/varieties/nuts/

 

Thanks for your reply. We seem to be going through a bad insect spell because our last 2 winters haven't been cold enough. We'll keep applying the soap/water!

How old are you hazel(s)?

I am also wondering why the red maroon color isn't coming through, as expected. The tree is in a large pot and is getting about 6 hrs of sun per day. Should I fertilize?

 

We have 3. One is maybe over 25 years old. A tall gnarled specimen. Sadly in an area that has got shadier since it was planted, so it has only a few catkins. Hence a second planted in a sunnier spot.

I do not know what you mean by the red maroon colour. The leaves are always just a sort of matt green. Unless you mean one of the others we have Corylus avellana contorta "Red Majestic"

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=Co...ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:36&biw=1270&bih=501

Hmmm! I am not sure that it will ever be happy kept in a pot on a highrise balcony. I do not feel it is the right shrub for that situation. Do you have a friend with a big garden that you could donate it too and replace it with a more suitable container shrub?

 

Yes, it is the Red Majestic.

Thanks for your advice. Will think on the situation.

 

I have over 50 hazel nut trees in my mixed orchard. I find unless they were planted in very good soil, they need supplemental feeding monthly during the growing season. Your potting soil likely has no nutrients and the plant should be fertilized monthly.

With most trees you don't fertilize past July 1, which helps new growth harden off before winter sets in. With hazelnuts on the west coast, you can fertilize monthly well into August. If you don't the leaves look dried out and wrinkled instead of glossy and smooth.

My experience has been that there is no tip kill on my plants, and my area sees -16C every winter. In fact I just fertilized mine earlier this week, as my flood plain sandy soil has few nutrients (even though i improve my soil annually). I also get huge hazelnuts...