A question about mulberries

[simy1]

My neighbor (several houses away) has four mulberry trees and countless little mulberry trees growing along the fences. I have a weeping mulberry as well, but the berries are not nearly as good (or as big) as hers. Briefly, this fall i would like to go there, relieve her of some of the bigger weed mulberries, and plant them in my backyard. That would save me several years over starting from cuttings (the biggest ones are 8 ft tall and bushy). The weed mulberries are certainly the descendant of the trees she has, I see no other mulberry nearby and the birds swarm them in june and july.

Now, my question: of the four trees, two fruit profusely, one fruits little, and the best looking tree nearly does not fruit at all. I googled it, but I wonder if there is something I need to be aware of when I select my future trees this fall. They are not male-female, so is there anything else that affects fruit production.

[Pat Kiewicz]

Mulberry trees can be monoecious or diecious. They can even change sex! (Or, as the scientists have it, "Mulberry bears different sex types, i.e., male, female and bisexual flowers on the same plant (monoecious) or on different plants (dioecious), with expression of sex often depending on several physiological and biochemical factors.")

'rooster' tree will be larger and healthier looking because it only produces pollinate catkins and isn't stressed by fruit production. Typically, the mature male trees have leaves that are mostly not lobed, while female trees have a full range of leaf shapes.

The neighbor cut down the large 'rooster' tree in his yard spring 2004 and there was much rejoicing, as the mulberry crop was smaller. This year two young trees in another neighbor's yard went male and the rotting berries slicked the ground once again.

White mulberries are extremelly variable in taste and color when ripe. (Some actually ripen white, some red, most purple or nearly black.) If you really want to grow quality mulberries, wild seedlings would not be the best route. Better to graft a known quality scion to a wild rootstock, or buy a tree that's a named cultivar.

Everything I've read says the black mulberry (Morus nigra) is the mulberry with the best flavor, but it's not hardy in Michigan.

Mulberries can make a nice jelly, even nicer when blended with some raspberries or currants. Sometimes finicky to gel in the pure juice.

See also California Rare Fruit Growers article on mulberries:

[simy1]

Thanks to both of you. All things considered, it is probably best if I plant a dozen in a row, and then remove all but three females and one male (I have plenty of space, and deer chomping in the winter will also play a role). Such is the luxury of living on sandy soil, if it was clay I would not even think of digging 12 holes. Removal will be based on sex and berry taste and productivity.

I noted the warnings about staining mulberries and the chance of tracking them into the house, but this will be 200 ft from the house, away from the beaten paths. All I want is to be able to spread a tarp, shake a tree, and get into the house with a bowl of fresh berries. If they can provide that for 6-8 weeks, and deflect bird attention from the raspberries, that is a great deal.