Growing Beaked Hazelnut in the Air-Pruned Beds

Air-pruned beds are versatile ways to grow bareroot plants across many sites. Imagine a raised, raised garden bed. A raised garden bed is installed on top of beams that lay on the ground. They are elevated off the ground leaving an air gap between the top of the soil and the bottom of the bed. This air column prunes the taproot which prevents it from burrowing deeper into the soil, and root pruning encourages more lateral root growth. The beds are 5.5’ wide x 15.5’ long, and they are filled with 8-10 inches of soil. I grew Beaked Hazelnut in them this year. I found it to be a great way to get thousands of plants out of a small growing area. A discussion of the results, benefits and drawbacks follow.

Air-prune Bed

Undercarriage of Air-prune Bed

Results

Growing Area Pounds of Seed Yield (trees) Estimated # of Trees Yield per Square Foot % of Seeds Germinated

170 square ft. 60 4,475 5,000 26 15

Benefits and Drawbacks

Benefits Drawbacks

Buildable Across Many Flat Sites Needs a Soil Source

Easy to Prevent Bird Predation Soil Sanitation is Tough

Easy Weed Management Disease can Spread Fast

Harvest by Hand Tools Dries Out Fast

Growth observations

The beds were seeded in late April. Full emergence happened in late May. Shoot growth stalled around September 1.

May 31, 2025

July 15, 2025

Irrigation

Irrigation starts low in the spring, increases during the summer, and tapers off in the fall. Drought stressing the plants starts in September to condition them for harvest. The beds were irrigated 1-2 times per week for one hour by an oscillating sprinkler.

Pest control

Pest control is achieved through cultural practices and weeding out diseased plants. Try to achieve good airflow through the canopy, avoid prolonged periods. Leaf spots were present around August 1. Control was weeding out most diseased plants, and there was no chemical control.

Crows are formidable opponents in hazelnut establishment. Bird netting draped over arched wires was installed to deter crows from eating the nuts. The bird netting was stapled to the sides of the bed to secure it, and it worked very well.

Weed control

There were two methods to achieve weed control. Flame weeding and hand weeding. One bed was flame weeded prior to hazelnut emergence in mid-May. This was to compare the amount of time that each weeding would take. I found that flame weeding in combination with hand weeding saved 2.75 hours compared to only hand weeding. I would flame weed in the future for all beds to keep the initial weeding to a minimum.

Harvest

Size Distribution

The plants were harvested in January when they were dormant. I used a pitchfork to loosen the soil, lift the plants, and prevent root damage. The majority of the plants were hand pulled. They were placed into a container and covered with damp burlap to keep the roots moist. Harvest took about an hour for all plants.  

4,475 plants were harvested. The harvested plants fall into the following size classes:

12”+) 1,900           6-12”) 2,200       3-6”)  375

Conclusion

Beaked hazelnut grown in air-pruned beds works well. Over 4,000 trees were harvested in 170 square feet of growing space. More plants would have been harvested if all the nuts were seeded at the correct depth. It is low maintenance and can built with basic construction skills. Some areas of improvement are to increase the percentage of seeds germinated and mitigate any negative effects of disease. It would be worthwhile investigating different species, especially surface and spring sown items like alder, aspen, and mock orange.