What is a Nuttery?

A simple definition would be to call it an orchard where nuts are grown instead of, or as well as, fruit trees.

But there is, or can be, a lot more to a nutteries than that short description. Which is a good thing, as not that many gardeners have sufficient garden space for a separate nuttery and orchard with full size trees. And nut trees are, for the most part, large trees when full grown.

How are Nuts different to Fruit? (A weeny bit of Botany)

The difference between fruits and nuts is sometimes a bit blurred, and its not untrue to say that they are similar. They both have an outer casing containing a seed or seeds.

However, for humans animals and birds, the real difference is in the eating. With fruit we consume a sweet, juicy treat which is the fleshy outer casing. In terms of energy this is economical for the plant to produce and the likelihood is that the animals and birds will distribute the seeds for the tree. (Generally in a nutritious coating 😉)

These days it is more rare for humans to distribute the seeds that way. But we do propagate and grow fruit trees as we enjoy eating the fruit, so it is still a positive result for the plant.

Nuts offer us something different. We rarely eat the outer shell, although we may use it for other things. What we’re after – just like squirrels – is the vitamin and protein rich seed inside: ie the nut. Producing these rich seeds is an energy expensive business for the tree, and the gain is less sure than with fruit. Some animals, squirrels for example, are good propagators as they bury many nuts but don’t eat them all. But as with fruit trees, humans do propagate and grow nut trees, although not to the same extent in a garden context.

What is a Nuttery? A little bit of history

Humans have gathered nuts from the wild, in particular hazelnuts, for the last 15,000 years or so.

Domestic nutteries were a regular feature from at least the sixteenth century, with cultivated varieties of hazel as well as the native species. Although they were a means of adding extra food to the table at a time when many households were largely self-sufficient, they could also be decorative. Hazel was the most commonly grown nut tree, but Sweet Chestnut and Walnut were also grown. Almonds were only grown in sheltered and more southerly gardens. They’d been brought in by the Romans but their cultivation has been a bit hit and miss in Britain.

Historic examples show that there were a selection of ways to include nut trees within a garden or walled garden. The nuttery could be a part of the orchard, often with the nut trees grown to one side rather than scattered throughout. Or there might be an avenue of nut trees, possibly sweet chestnut or walnut, leading to the orchard. Hazel was also grown as a tunnel, keeping the nuts within easy reach for harvesting, and hopefully with less depravation by squirrels.

Commercial nut growing has also been part of the food production for a few hundred years, especially in Kent, Nottingham, Gloucestershire, Sussex and Suffolk. Although we think of these as nutteries, the term plat or nut plat is more commonly used in southern England.

More recent domestic nutteries, from the nineteenth century onwards, were often underplanted with wild flowers, to make a pretty spring display. Those planted within walled kitchen gardens seem to have been grown for nuts, as were those grown in orchards. Several nut walks can be found in historic gardens. For example, Girton College, Cambridge, and the one that delighted Vita Sackville-West when she first saw Sissinghurst.

Planning Your Own Nuttery

I will come back to planning, setting up and growing your own nuttery in a later blog, where we can explore these different elements in more detail. But briefly, you could: –

grow a mixed native species edible hedge – for example, hazel, hawthorn, sloe
add in a few nut trees among your fruit trees
have a predominantly ornamental selection of nut trees, any that you get to eat being a bonus
create a wildlife garden which incorporates some nut trees
if you have room, grow one of the larger nut trees as a specimen tree – and of course it will provide shade, food for wildlife as well as a harvest for you

But if you’re keen to get started, these are the main points to consider: –

Choose your nuts
Look at their needs – soil, aspect, etc
Check what, if any, trained forms are available
Look at the area you want your nuttery in
Amend your list if needed
Prepare the area
Order your bare root or container grown trees
Plant your trees
Look after them – water, feed, prune, pest control
Enjoy eating your harvest!

Gardening Teacher Tip

Almonds are pollinated by insects; hazel, walnut and sweet chestnut are wind pollinated. If you have a windy garden, and are growing the nuts together in a nuttery setting, then providing shelter such as a windbreak is important to ensure a good harvest.

What is a Nuttery – Which Nuts could you Grow?

There are many different nuts, some easier to grow in the UK than others. Here, we’ll have a little look at the four which are going to be the easiest to grow outside in your garden. Although which ones you choose will depend upon where you live, the size of your garden and whether you have , for example, a heated greenhouse.

Hazel

There are 17 or so Hazel species growing across Europe, parts of North Africa, Western Asia and North America. The British native hazel is Corylus avellana, usually called the cob. But Corylus maxima, native to southern Europe, is also easily found for sale, and is generally referred to as the filbert.

However, there is often confusion between different species and cultivars, not least due to the cross fertilization between them. The length of the involucre, which is the husk or bract surrounding the nut is one way for the layperson to tell the difference. Corylus avellana has a short involucre, whereas Corylus maxima has an involucre that extends well beyond the nut. This long involucre is also called a beard, hence the name “full beard” or filbert.

In the UK hazel can be found growing in hedgerows; woodland and field edges; on scrubby upland and as an understorey plant where there is oak, ash or birch woodland. Which gives us a good idea that Corylus avellana is happy in a range of soils and situations. Tolerant of pH 5 – 8, but its less keen on heavy clay, so improve the drainage if that’s what you have.

Some easily available hazels for a nuttery include –

Butler
Kent Cob
Red Filbert
Webb’s Prize Cob
White Filbert

Hazels are not self-pollinating, so you’ll need a compatible pollination partner for a nut harvest.

Almond

Although the most tender of these four nut trees, Almond, Prunus dulcis, should still provide you with a crop even in an ‘average’ summer. Give them a sunny sheltered spot and frost protection. Their pretty pale pink blossom flowers on bare stems, and a late frost can be highly detrimental! Encourage insect pollinators with plenty of winter and early spring flowering shrubs.

Almonds are pretty much self-fertile so you could have just one. And, like hazel, they will grow in a large container for some years. They like a fairly neutral pH and a well-drained nutritious soil.

Peach leaf curl is another problem, due to the close relationship, so be sure not to plant almonds and peaches near each other.

Some easily available almonds for a nuttery include these two which are hardier and more resistant to leaf curl –

Ingrid
Robijn

Gardening Teacher Tip

Be sure to buy Prunus dulcis dulcis, the sweet almond, and not Prunus dulcis amara, the bitter almond. This latter is the one used for flavourings and is not one you’d want to eat from the tree!

Walnut

Walnut, Juglans regia, probably introduced into Britain in the sixteenth century. The taste difference between a fresh or green walnut and the dried ones most of us are familiar with, is vast. But you will need a large garden – some get up to 150 foot tall, although this will take a good few years. Or find the variety ‘Rita’ which makes about 30 foot tall. Remember that Walnut trees are wide so allow room for spread.

Most walnuts can take up to 10 years to produce, but try these cultivars for a crop at a younger age –

Broadview
Franquette

You will generally need more than one walnut tree to ensure pollination, although some grafted trees should produce within 3 – 4 years.

The black walnut, Juglans nigra, a late 17^th century introduction is an even bigger tree. The wood is more highly prized for furniture than that of Juglans regia.

Sweet Chestnut

Castanea sativa, sweet chestnuts, are the nuts referred to in the song “Roasting chestnuts on an open fire”. Conkers, on the other hand, are from the Horse chestnut, Aesculus hippocastanum, and are not for eating.

They make an even bigger tree than the walnut and are not reliably self-fertile so a pollinating partner is generally needed. However, if you only have room for one tree, Marigoule is the most reliable partially self-fertile variety. Most sweet chestnut trees sold are the species or an ornamental cultivar, the latter being no good for nut production.

Look out for these two as providing a crop within four years rather than eight –

Bouche de Bétizac
Marigoule

Another tree that likes warm climates, sweet chestnuts were possibly introduced to Britain by the Romans.

How many Nut trees do you need in a Nuttery?

Which brings us back to the question what is a nuttery, how many trees and do you need different types of nut trees?

Strictly speaking, the nut trees need to form a cohesive group to be classed as nuttery. As we’ve seen in examples above, this still gives scope. But, as we are discussing a garden situation, there’s no reason why we can’t be even more flexible. For example, you may not have space to plant three walnut trees together but you do have room by spreading them out. Add in a sweet chestnut to give you a shady seating area, a couple of almond trees near your olive and a row of hazel as boundary for the kitchen garden and I think we could safely say you have a decent sized nuttery in your garden.

How many trees do you need? Well, I don’t think you could claim that one tree makes a nuttery, so I would go with at least five. Which is the number I’ve suggested you’d need for a mini orchard (see blog link below). You wouldn’t need a huge garden to fit in five hazelnut trees, but if space is tight, perhaps we could say three hazel or two hazel and an almond makes a mini nuttery.

What is a nuttery – some combinations

Some examples of nutteries and mini orchards including nut trees that I’ve created over the years for clients and myself include the following tree types and numbers –

3 hazel, 1 almond, 1 bullace, 2 plum, 5 apple, 1 cherry, 1 crab apple
5 hazel, 2 walnut, 1 sweet chestnut
2 hazel, 6 apple, 1 cherry, 1 crab apple, 1 elder
2 hazel, 1 almond, 1 olive, 5 apple
3 almond, 1 olive, 3 citrus – all in large containers
1 walnut, 5 hazel, 1 bullace, 2 plum, 1 medlar, 5 apple

Also one short nuttery tunnel, with 3 hazel on each side, although this wasn’t installed specifically for nuts for human consumption as it was part of a wildlife orientated design.

And finally

If you have questions relating to what is a nuttery and your own garden, do get in touch to ask. We can help with many gardening related matters, whether its designing a nuttery or mini garden orchard in your garden, or have queries regarding your existing nut trees, check out our design and consultancy services. You might also find our gardening lessons useful (and they make good birthday presents too).

For further gardening advice and inspiration, check out Plews Potting Shed blogs, including the selection below and our monthly Tipsheet – You could come and find us on Instagram Pinterest and Facebook too.