Growing Mulberries

Hi I'm Tricia an organic gardener. I grow organicallyfor healthy and safe food supply, for a clean and sustainable environmentfor an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Mulberries are a delicious fruit that are great for eating freshor making jams and wine and with a staggered ripening timetheir goodness lasts most of the summer. You probably won't find these fruits instores.

The fruit looks like long skinny blackberries and has a rich raspberry likeflavor. If you want these fruits, fortunately it's aneasy tree to grow. Mulberries are tropicaltrees related to figs. There are three types of Mulberry. White which is native to China, red which is native to North America,and black which is native to Iran. Red mulberries are very cold hardy andgrow well even in zone 3. White mulberries were brought here as a food for silkwormsand may be considered invasive in some areas, so check the species before youbuy. Black mulberries have the best tasting fruitand like warmer climates like zone 8. Mulberries like to grow in either bushor tree form, like their cousins the fig. And if it's tree form or bush formthey can grow to 35 feet tall. Black Mulberries are hardy to zone 6. If you want a real good cold weather star, plant a bush form ofthe Pakistan variety and it's cold hardy down to zone 4.

These beautiful trees are relatively pest and disease freeand are tolerant of several types of difficult soils. They're drought tolerant, they're okay with alkalineor salty soils. Ideally they like deep loam soil with good drainage. That said, if you want a Mulberry, think carefully about placement. The ripe fruit drops which can stain driveways or be a mess on cars andbuildings.

The number of birds they attract can also be an issue. Plant them in an area where the dropped fruit and bird droppings will not be a problem. As easy as Mulberries are to grow,they do require some special care when planting them from bare root. To avoid desiccation and frost damage, soak the bare root mulberry tree for at least12 hours before you plant. Check out our video on planting treesfor detailed information ongetting your trees off to a great start. Once the trees planted,cut back the lateral growth to prevent the young tree from getting dehydratedby supporting too much lateral growth. Mulberries don't need a lot of pruning,just a little bit in the beginning to create the shape and then afterwardsprune of any dead branchesand any crossover branches. If unpruned in the beginningmulberries tend to grow as a bush form. If you want it to be a tree form,make sure and train it early on. Mulberries fruit on 2nd year woodso if you're gonna prune them heavily, you're going to sacrifice some fruit. As I saidMulberries ripen over a long period of time. The best way to harvestit to lay down some tarps underneath the tree and just pick the droppings. Birds love it too but with this tree, there's plenty of fruit to go around. Plant a delicious and beautifulmulberry tree and grow organic for life!