A vase of contorted hazel provides decoration and interest for any house. The contrast between the hanging vertical yellow catkins and the sinuous branches is very good. If you flick the stem it will release a cloud of pollen so don’t bring it indoors if residents have allergies to tree pollen. If you examine the stems carefully you might see a few minute red female flowers which eventually swell to form the cobnuts.
Gardeners frequently raise two objections to contorted hazels. Most that are offered for sale have been grafted onto bog-standard hazel which eventually shoots from the base. These vertical uncontorted stems detract from the effect and, if left, would take over because they are more vigorous. Cutting them out gets more and more difficult over time because they regrow from a boss of stumps left from previous excisions. Buying plants that have been propagated without grafting is difficult. At the point of sale only an expert could tell by examining the base of the stem. However, plants propagated without grafting can be found and will never present a problem.
The other objection to contorted hazel concerns its summer foliage. It too is contorted. Normally the leaves are flat orbicular and hairy and not particularly interesting or indeed, uninteresting. Personally, the blob of green the mature bush presents is just that, whether contorted or not. I suppose what really matters is how closely observed the bush is in the garden – which is all about where it’s sited.
For good positive foliage effects I like Corylus avellana ‘Red Majestic’, which is a contorted red-leaved hazel with pink-flushed catkins. All of the ones that passed through my hands must have been propagated without grafting because none have developed straight shoots from their bases. Combining contortion (good in winter), red foliage (wonderful in summer behind fiery perennials) and propagation without grafting (I suspect tissue culture was used) is three steps forward in the March for Horticultural Progress. Go on, disagree!
