I’ve seen wild Alba mulberries range in size from 7 feet to over 30 full grown. There appears to be quite a bit of variability in the genetics.
Growing up we had 20 foot (mulberry) trees in my back yard. I know of a 7-8 foot tree on the side of the highway nearby that hasn’t grown so long as I’ve witnessed it.
I wonder why dwarf mulberries are not more common.
Scott
I’ve seen Alba mulberries in Europe which were bushes about 4-5 ft high and planted as a hedge. They could be top-trimmed, I’m not sure. They produced white-colored fruit, pretty nice taste. And some Albas can be huge trees, I have one in my backyard, which is at lest 40 ft high (it’s a male, and this year I grafted Pakistan on its suckers at the base of the tree, the grafts already grew more than a foot each and are going to fruit). So there is a lot of variability indeed.
Graft what to what?
On to this established tree, graft any compatible variety of mulberry whose fruit might be more desirable than what this tree produces…or graft other varieties that you may want to sample or © all of the above. 
Members here have discussed exotic-sounding varieties that sound fun to grow…haha, the possibilities are endless.
Oh. That makes sense.
But I don’t think I want any mature mulberry of any variety right next to a mature cherry tree.
Then again, if the berries are incredible I could be convinced otherwise.
After all, the birds eat the cherries before I get any so why not supplement their diet for them?
Right. I found that the ‘trick’ is to control the form of the tree so that it suits your purposes. For my purposes, I first ‘define the fruiting space’, that is, where I want it to fruit so I can (1) see it, (2) spray/tend to it, (3) protect it from predators. That space, for me, becomes a rectangular box about 3-4’ wide, ~6-7’ high, and a convenient length that fits other constraints. The ‘open vase’ shape is for the birds - literally. The good news is that open vase captures the most sun; the bad news, it allows easy access to most predators. The rectangular box I describe is easy to prune to, and, drape netting over. I posted some pics here.
Here in my locale I’ve found more food for birds results in more birds. I thought once I planted blackberries here at the house, the birds would slow down pecking peaches. But bird pecks increased.
As the blackerries started to produce, the birds ate them all. I thought once the berries ramped up production, the birds wouldn’t be able to eat them all, but they called more in to help with the task.
I’ve found, if I net everything early on, the birds figure out there isn’t any food and aren’t as much of a problem as the season progresses.
Wild mulberries are a mixed bag for fresh eating. Some can be sweet, others are pretty bland. They all tend to be pretty small.
Pretty snappy setup Anne.
You have an easy way into those (I’m gonna call them) cages?
I have something similar for the blueberries. It has 2 gates, a removable top, annual weeds, and not enough room inside to move around to pick berries or pull weeds. A mixed bag.
Some things like the grapes, and blueberries are in cages so they’re safe. The blackberries are open but never had bird problems, (I should not have said that)
But the trees … no hope whatsoever for decent protection. Too big for netting. I use those balloons (the kids call them voodoo balloons - the neighbors probably have a different name for them and me), shiny tape, and those fake crows but I suspect I’m only kidding myself.
The birds always get the red cherries … and they have left the yellow ones alone.
Last year the crows damn near wiped out the pears. That’s why I started using the fake crows.
I’m curious about the strange mulberries. I can’t imagine they’d be my cherry savior and they might turn out to be white anyway.
We’ll see.
Some recommend using mulberries as a sacrifice to the birds, on the theory that they prefer mulberries to what you’re growing (and if you’re growing cherries, birds will definitely be a problem). I’m not sure how well the theory works in practice; birds certainly love mulberries, but there are always more birds.
And in my case this mulberry is just past the drip line of the cherry tree … way too close.
The chicken wire only goes up 2’ and stays year 'round - easy for me to step over for grafting, etc. No netting on these at this time. Bird netting is draped over top support line only as needed and reaches down to chicken wire. Bird netting easily moved for harvest and taken down after harvest. It is only needed, say 2 months of the year.
Weeds stiffled by leaves held in by chicken wire. Need occasional maintenance - not bad at all.
Yep. Backyard sounds like a bird sanctuary.
Doesn’t. It’s an internet legend promoted by theoriticians in ivory towers that don’t grow squat.
Definition of mulberries.
heh heh … do I sense that you’ve had some personal unpleasant experiences with mulberries?
They have insipid flavor, the robins plant them everywhere, they can’t be pulled by the root after 8 weeks, the stinkin’ robins try to plant them on my car and deck. Did I mention I don’t like robins either?
maypoo ，or passion fruit
Edible?
Not sure it is ripe
