Corylus avellana Tonda Gentile Trilobata

Corylus avellana 'Tonda Gentile Trilobata' is a Hazel with large fruits native to Piedmont, Italy. Its hazelnuts are renowned as some of the best, with a creamy texture and an exceptional flavour, protected by a thin shell that is easy to crack. This relatively early variety is very productive and disease-resistant. It starts bearing fruit after 3 to 4 years. Its growth is moderate and can be trained as a single-trunk ornamental tree. The hazel tree grows in full sun or partial shade, in neutral or limestone soil, moist but not too dry.

Corylus avellana belongs to the Betulaceae family, just like Birch, Alder, or Hornbeam. It is native to temperate zones of the northern hemisphere. It is a small monoecious fruit tree, bearing separate male and female inflorescences on the same individual. It is naturally self-sterile and needs to be cross-pollinated, which is done by wind and bees that carry its pollen to other plants.

The 'Tonda Gentile Trilobata' cultivar is renowned for its hazelnut production and is used for commercial horticulture in the Lower Piedmont regions. This moderately suckering bush is particularly suitable for small gardens. It blooms with yellow-green catkins in February or March, adding an aesthetic touch to the garden. The deciduous foliage appears later. It is dense and gives the Corylus a bushy appearance. The leaves are round, strongly veined, and 6 to 10 cm long. The fruits that form on 3 to 4-year-old shoots are achenes called hazelnuts. In 'Tonda Gentile Trilobata', they are large with a thin shell. They are usually ready to harvest from August to September.
With a good yield and regular production over the years, this variety needs to be pollinated by another variety, such as the Hazelnut 'Merveille de Bollwiller'. This early ripening variety will allow you to extend the harvest season as it reaches maturity around mid-August. It is extremely hardy, well beyond -20 °C.
The lifespan of the common hazel is about 60 years.

To accompany 'Tonda Gentile Trilobata' in a fruit hedge or a country garden, plant a Blackthorn from which you can make jams with its blue-black fruits. In the same theme of a slightly wild hedge, also consider an Amelanchier, such as Amelanchier alnifolia Saskatoon Berry, with small spherical fruits resembling blueberries, which you can use in desserts, pastries, or jams. An original bush, the Crataegus pinnatifida Big Ball, a Chinese Hawthorn with a small size (3.50 m) but larger fruits than other species, suitable for compotes or jams, and rich in vitamin C, will also be a good companion.