Illinois everbearing mulberry as a bush?

That is how I manage my figs, and I get exactly the productivity I want. But I do it so I can store them in my well-house. I’ve never really managed trees for fruit that way but I do manage my nursery trees in 25 gallon pots that way and get early yield from dwarfed trees- that is dwarfed by rootpruing and pot restriction.

Figs and mulberries are in the same family so it makes a lot of sense.
Here is one of four trees I have in containers. I am going to have to put this in a plastic pot. It will be 4th leaf this year. From bottom of pot to top of tree it is five feet tall. Russian rootstock with three different cultivars grated to it. I leave it outside all winter.

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Adam,
Here are two pics of my 25 year old IE. First pic: generally an open center pattern yet many central limbs still want to grow upward. Second pic: where I topped it about 8 years ago. Wounds really too large to heal over. I need to reseal the exposed cuts again. By topping your IE early you can avoid such large cuts. Yet last year we harvested probably 80-100 lb of delightful fruit.

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Thank you Dennis, I really appreciate it! This is great and it does look like its very possible to maintain a decent size with proper pruning.

Absolutely, if I had a new 1 year old IE, this is how I would train it: I would top it about 5-6’ trying to get at least 5 -6 buds within the remaining top 1-2’ of the trunk, as each bud and branch grows out tie them down to force a nearly horizontal growth pattern at equal angles around the perimeter. If you have bamboo canes you could use twist ties to tie each branch to keep them straight as the grow out and to easily control how they grow. You want to allow only about a 10-15 degree angle above horizontal as each branch grows. Do not tip any of the main branches the first year, or so, allowing as much growth as your space allows. Once the main branches have achieved growth to your desired outer perimeter, tip them to encourage side branching. Once you have the desired pattern, during dormant periods, just before spring bud break, tie down all secondary limbs to fill in the empty spaces around the wheel. Continue this process each year and prune off those branches that insist on going straight up, to force any growth to fill in your empty spaces to assure sunlight absorption is maximized. Prune only during the dormant seasons to either thin out the canopy to allow new fruiting branches or to remove vertical growth. If you bark chip your space below the canopy you summer watering during fruit production can be cut in half. I water mine as soon as the summer drought hits about mid July about 3 times each week.
Good luck, IE is a great variety, friends visit us each summer to enjoy the treats. Let me know how it goes.
Dennis
Kent, wa

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