Hazelnut Keeps Throwing Up Suckers: What Should I Do?

Hazelnut is a naturally suckering shrub. In the wild it forms expanding thickets as suckers spread from the root system and colonise new ground. In a garden this vigorous suckering habit is either a nuisance or an asset depending on how you manage it. Left unchecked, suckers will eventually crowd out the productive stems and reduce yields; managed correctly, they can provide free plants or replacement stems.

What Are Hazelnut Suckers?

Suckers are new shoots that arise from buds on the root system or from the base of the main plant, growing up through the soil some distance from the central stool. They are genetically identical to the parent plant. Hazelnut suckers can emerge at any time during the growing season but are most conspicuous in spring and early summer. They look like miniature versions of the parent plant with the same leaf shape and texture. A single established hazelnut stool can produce dozens of suckers in a season if not managed.

Should You Remove Suckers?

For a fruiting hazelnut, the general answer is yes — remove suckers regularly. Each sucker draws energy from the root system at the expense of the productive framework above. A mass of suckers around the base of a hazelnut creates competition for water, nutrients, and light, reducing the vigour and yield of the main plant. It also makes the centre of the stool inaccessible for maintenance and harvest. Removing suckers promptly while they are young is far easier than cutting back large stems later.

How to Remove Suckers

The most effective removal is physical: pull the sucker downward and away from the root at its point of origin. When pulled rather than cut, the bud tissue that would regrow is removed with the sucker, reducing regrowth. If the sucker is too woody to pull, cut it as close to its point of origin as possible with clean secateurs. Leaving even a short stub allows rapid regrowth from dormant buds immediately below. Persistent suckering from the same root point may require carefully exposing and removing a section of the root producing the suckers.

Using Suckers for Propagation

Suckers can be used to propagate new hazelnut plants, though with one important limitation: suckers from a named variety are genetically identical to the parent. This means they cannot cross-pollinate each other or the parent plant. Using suckers to create a second plant for pollination purposes will not work — you need a genuinely different variety. That said, if you want more plants of the same variety to extend a hedge or fill space, suckers removed with roots attached in autumn can be replanted immediately and will often establish well.

Suckers as Replacement Stems

If a main framework stem has been removed or died, a selected sucker can be allowed to develop as a replacement. Choose the strongest, best-positioned sucker near the centre of the stool, tie it loosely to a cane for the first year to direct it upright, and remove all others. The selected shoot will mature into a productive new stem within two to three years.