multiplying the Hazelnut Corkscrew

[ragman]

Hi all

I have a hazelnut corkscrew in my front yard and a couple years ago i noticed that one of the branches was partially covered with dirt for an extended period of time. After digging it up, we noticed that it had roots. We cut the branch and replanted it and it grew! I ended up giving it to a family member...

I would like to do Plant one or two hazelnut corkscrew trees in my back yard and was wondering if there is a method to get the branches to root again like it did before. I've tried burying one of the low lying branches but it seems it didn't take.

Maybe i could wrap a small bag filled with peatmoss around one of the bud areas on the branch and keep it moist?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Geary

[caliloo]

I did a google search on propagation via layering and found this....

Alexa

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Layering is another simple form of propagation that can be done at home without special equipment. Layering is a natural form of propagation that often takes place inadvertently. Layering usually is most effective with deciduous shrubs. However, I have seen broad leaf evergreens such as Rhododendrons, and Piers Japonica propagate themselves through inadvertent layering.

Inadvertent layering is something that happens both in the natural environment of a woods, or in a commercial nursery. In the woods, the lower branches of a plant get pulled to the ground from their own weight, or because of snow sticking to or laying on the branches. As the branches lay on the ground, all of the necessary conditions exist for the plant to develop roots at the point where the branch is resting on the ground.

In a commercial nursery many shrubs are planted in rows. The rows are cultivated on a regular basis to keep weed growth to a minimum. Through the cultivation process a few branches can be inadvertently, but partially covered with soil. When this happens the plants often develop roots at the point that they were covered with soil.

At home you can intentionally layer a plant. All you do is dig a small hole near the base of the shrub, pull down one of the lower branches, bending it in a U, and force the bottom of the U in the hole leaving the end of the branch sticking up out of the ground. Fill the hole with soil covering the branch. The portion of the stem that is covered with soil will develop roots.

Making a small wound on the portion of the stem that is to be buried will help to stimulate root development. To make this wound, using a knife, simply make an angled cut into the stem. Make the cut about 1/2" long, cutting into the stem not quite half way. As you bend the stem to force it into the hole, be careful not to break the stem at the cut. You can also wound the stem by simply scraping off about 1/2" of bark with a knife.

It is also beneficial to treat the wounded area with a powder root inducing compound, available at most garden centers.

Some branches are more rigid than others. It may be necessary to anchor the branch down using a piece of heavy wire bent in a U, or a fork shaped branch. Or you can hold the branch down by placing some form of weight on the soil covering the branch.

Layering is a propagation technique that can be done in the fall or spring. You should achieve great success with layering as late as the middle of May. Layering yields great success on many deciduous shrubs because you are not actually removing the branch from the plant at the time of the layering process. The new plant that you are attempting to propagate is still attached to, and being nurtured by the parent plant throughout the entire process.

Even though layering can be done until mid May, I would suggest that you do your layering as early as possible in the spring to give the plant ample time to establish an extensive root system.

If you layer a plant in the fall, you should not attempt to remove that layer from the parent plant until the following fall or spring. Do not disturb the layer while the plant is actively growing, wait until the plant is dormant.

If you layer a plant in the spring, you might be able to remove it from the parent in the fall after the growing season has ended, but I would leave it alone until spring. If you have a mild winter and the soil temperatures are fairly warm, further root development might take place over the winter months.

Liners planted out in the fall can often be forced out of the ground by the freezing and thawing process. (Small plants are often called "liners", short for lining out stock.) That’s why I prefer to do most of my planting of small plants in the spring.

Since the invention of intermittent misting equipment, not very many commercial nurseries use layering as a means of propagation. It is too labor intensive for the number of new layers a nursery can obtain. It also ties up valuable field space that could be used for more productive things. Keep in mind that wholesale nurseries produce plants by the tens of thousands. Nurseries have to keep a whole block of ‘stock’ plants that are to be used for nothing but layering. A good stock plant might yield 30 or 40 layers, where the same ‘stock’ plant could yield several hundred softwood cuttings. Understanding how the commercial nurserymen do layering will help you achieve better results at home.

Most deciduous shrubs have the ability to put on 18-36" of new growth each year. This new growth is the ideal wood for layering. If you prune the shrub heavily the year before you intend to use it for layering, it will produce a substantial amount of new growth that will be ideal for the layering process. I would actually cut the shrub to within six or seven inches from the ground. This will force the shrub to put out many new branches the following growing season. In the fall of the same season, this new growth would still be fairly pliable and could be easily pulled to the ground to be layered.

Once these new layers are rooted they can be removed by cutting the branch just below where the new roots have developed. At the same time, the parent plant should be cut back just like before, and it will produce more new growth for the next layering season.

Propagation Via
Serpentine Layering

You can also do what is known as Serpentine Layering. Serpentine layering is done exactly the same way as regular layering, with the exception that if the branch you are layering is long enough, you can loop it underground more than once.

In order to do serpentine layering, you must leave a few buds exposed to the air and sunlight after each loop that dips underground. Each one of these loops will develop into a new plant.

[ragman]

Wow... very interesting read.

Thank you so much

After reading that article i performed another search and found out that larger nurseries use grafting as opposed to layering to propagate the hazelnut corkscrew or "Contorted hazelnut".

I'm just curious how would you determine what rootstock to use and where would you get it? Could i simply use any small tree type stock that would be planted around my yard or does it have to have certain characteristics for the graft to work?

Thanks again, that article was exactly what i was looking for.

Cheers,
Geary

[Old earth dog]

The reason the nurseries graft is because it's much more ecinomical than layering. You can take a huge number of cuttings off of a properly grown mother plant, but only make a few layered plants. For the home gardener, layering is the easiest to use sucsesfully. The branch is still attached to the mother plant, and isn't as stressed as a cutting is.
I do most of my layering in the spring/early summer, right after the new growth is finished. I leave most plants layered till the following spring. Some can be cut free in the fall, but I still leave it there till spring. Another method of layering is to layer it directly into a pot that is buried in the ground. With this method, just make sure it has really good drainiage around the pot.
For grafting, the rootstock has to be in the same family, at the very least. Most, not all roses, are grafted for the same reasons. Getting the most plants to market in the shortest time.

[whis4ey]

You can multiply the contorted hazel by planting the nuts

[thy]

Sam to help them root, you can do a cut in the bark. If you use the peat moss wrapped in plastic metod, the moss have to be humid and you need the cut.

Here they are not at their own root, but I think it is a comercial way of growing them faster.

Pia

[DryGulch]

Geary,

I have rooted some of the harder to root shrubs and trees by scraping the bark on the underside until I get to the green layer. I don't usually use any hormones. I do it in the spring and check them and cut them free in the fall. I usually pin them into the top of a gallon pot using a landscape pin and try to use a branch that is smaller, newer growth (last 2 years).

This works particularly well with shrubs that are hard to propagate by softwood cutting (magnolias, smokebush, etc.).

Good luck with that! I would love to be so lucky to have a contorta in my yard (or even a friend's yard!

Rachelle

[kHT]

These are one of the harder to root trees and we have rooted now 6 in the past 15 years. We do them in the fall and allow them to do their thing by spring here in the PNW. Wishing you lots of luck as I have heard from some these are not to be played with, they are that hard.

[petal*pusher]

Whis4ey.......Loved your pic!!.....p

[ragman]

Thanks to all for the information

Spring is just about here and i'm looking forward to getting out and working in the yard

Geary
http://www.acmeit.com

[whis4ey]

Thanks Petalpusher
At least you seem to appreciate my sense of humour if no one else does