if i had anything planted at the edge of my property, it would look the same. im on heavy clay with the north side abutting a wet land. 
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@Barb … grafting is the key to easily getting all the varieties you want… and when you try something that just does not work out… you can graft over it and change the variety… easily and have a fruiting tree again quickly.
That gerardi mulberry graft above was my first graft… huge success.
I have like 9 varieties of persimmons now that I grafted to my own wild rootstock… I have added varieties of cherries, goumi, apple, plum, pear, etc…
Good luck to you !
TNHunter
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Thank you! I’ve never grafted and your picture makes it look a bit complicated with the black stuff and metal…Would I cut a piece of green wood from the Gerardi in the spring and insert it into a cut made with a knife into the base of the dwarf everbearing, or is that too simplified? Should I use rooting hormone? Wedge cut the inserted end? It looks like you inserted yours between the bark and the inner wood…I imagine that the black stuff is so that it doesn’t bleed so much and seal out infection. Maybe it also stops the growth of the white mulberry from sprouting up again? Thanks for any advice. I am more than willing to experiment on the dwarf everbearing trees! You’re a gem!
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I’ve had good luck with summer T-budding of mulberries (cutting off a single bud and inserting it into a T-shaped slit in the rootstock), and it’s a pretty easy process. Here’s one I did last year (click through to that thread for more photos after it’s wrapped up):
You would collect your gerardi scion wood when it is quite dormant (like in January)…
Scion wood is wood that grew last year.
Once collected… you can store it in the refrigerator crisper drawer for months…
I wrap mine with sullaphane and get most of the air out… which helps the scion wood retain the moisture it has in it.
Then in the spring… when your mulberry wakes up… has nice green buds … perhaps small leaves…
That is when you take your dormant scionwood out of the fridge and graft it to your actively growing mulberry.
That scion wood wakes up, buds swell, shoots and leaves … and over time the graft union fuses together (callousing).
Check out some of the spring grafting threads here on the board… lots of good info and examples. On youtube there are many people showing how to graft. Search youtube on cleft graft, modified cleft graft, whip and tounge graft, bark graft…
Skillcult has like a 9 part video series on youtube that covers all things grafting related.
You can learn all winter… and be ready by spring.
TNHunter
A few examples…
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And no seeds. I still grow blackberries, but mulberries seem superior.
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Okay, ya’ll have me determined to learn how to graft. I was already thinking strongly about it, but reading all of this information makes me realize I already have lots of perfectly good rootstock in the form of wild American persimmons, mulberry, and jujube, as well as callery pear and pawpaw.
I stupidly bought a “Russian mulberry”, definitely an alba, when I first moved here years ago. I had read that birds would pick mulberries over cherries and with a mulberry tree close by they might leave my cherries alone. I have not really found that to be the case, but now I am the proud owner of a big ole healthy mulberry with very small whitish pink fruit that tastes just a little sweet and nothing else. Sure would be nice to graft some good tasting mulberries with large fruit onto this tree. At the time I bought this tree, I did not do research into mulberries and I guess I did not even realize there were delicious mulberries out there that I could have planted instead. I was new to fruit trees and was focused on the common ones that everybody starts with: apples, pears, peaches and plums.
I also have what seems like thousands of wild American persimmons in my field across the road in all stages of growth. I guess it may be a clonal colony if that is the right term. Mostly I mow them down, but more keep coming up and I have let 6 or 7 grow up into larger trees. I can see there are many persimmons that are bigger and tastier possibly than these wild ones that I could graft to them.
I do have 3 pawpaws in that same field, unnamed, that I got from an old fella in Kentucky, in pots. They have grown well, although slowly, and have all set fruit for the past two years. I do believe, however that grafting better tasting and larger-fruited varieties to them might be a great idea. I did notice what I think is a sucker about 2-3 feet tall about two feet from one of the trees and I did not mow it down thinking maybe that would be good for a graft.
I think I will also graft some different varieties of pears to some of the many that come up everywhere around here. It will give me grafting practice and maybe turn some invasive trees into good pears.
I also planted a Tigertooth and an R4T3 jujube grafted onto Tigertooth rootstock this June. They are growing great and suckers are already coming up from the roots, and both are blooming quite a bit, but of course I am not expecting any fruit this year. 
However, I would like to graft a Honey Jar to the Tigertooth as I do not think it will ripen its fruit here before our first frosts around mid-October.
Anyway, I have strayed from the topic of mulberries. So I will end this post by stating that I bought a dwarf everbearing mulberry on a whim at Lowe’s late spring, just because it looked so healthy and beautiful, Once again, I did not take time to research or I probably would not have bought it. I thought about returning it after I got it home, but decided it would be more trouble to return than to just plant it out in the yard somewhere as I have plenty of space to fill. The deer promptly ate it to the ground, so now I have a good fence around it and it has sprung back and is growing very nicely. I think this will be the perfect tree to graft a Girardi to and maybe I can keep it a little shorter to make harvesting and netting easier.
So, thank you all for the inspiration to get going on learning to graft. I have some time before early spring to read and watch videos and learn all I can. I am pretty excited about it all. Here’s to hoping this old dog can learn some new tricks!
Sandra
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This is so helpful. I really appreciate all the work you’ve put in on educating me! I don’t know why grafting is so scary for people, but it is. I think it will be one of those things that once I do, I’ll be like, “Why was I so scared; that was easy!” I’ve gotten over my fear of pruning…to the point where I usually do the “Grow a little fruit tree” method, chopping trees newly planted to knee-high. If I can do that, surely I can graft!
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Grafting is scary because it is risky, the risk being graft failure and the loss of rootstock and scion. But like everything, practice makes perfect, and the odds of success improve over time. One who risks nothing gets nothing…
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Yes! Definitely one of those things that once you’re done you will wonder why you were so apprehensive about it in the first place. It also opens you up to basically all varieties that are available, assuming you can get the scions. Some trees are easy to propagate rootstock from cuttings so you can have free trees once your established 
.
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Once you start grafting there is no going back!
You seem to be blessed with a lot of great rootstock options. I can help you out with some scion, and you may want to consider joining Indiana Nut and Fruit Growers INFGA. We have 4 meetings a year and our winter meeting is a huge scion swap. Great chance to see what’s been working for folks in the area, network, and get good scionwood.
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The biggest risk is that you are too successful. I wanted ~20 apple trees, a mix of dwarf and semi-standard. Figuring on failure, I grafted 50 – scions on bare root rootstock. One failed. One was later ruined by mechanical damage – I put it under a gutter and water broke the graft. It turns out that apples take quite easily. So I was left to figure out what to do with ~28 extra trees. To a lesser extent, I’ve had the same problem with pears and persimmons.
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I’ve had issues too. But deadline has been my friend. I only use it early in the season though.
Also one of my mulberries I think has eaten by a chipmunk and they’re starting in on branches up to about a quarter inch in diameter. Ridiculous.
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There are a couple of volunteer mulberries from my Mom’s house that root easily, as in drop a branch on the ground in a moist area and watch the roots sprout from it. One in particular provide great vigor. I have a Pakistani mulberry on own root, growing and healthy - but, grafted onto a vigorous rootstock, shows 2-3 time the growth in same season.
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@Barb … we work out trades for scionwood, seeds, rooted plants… all winter long.
It is amazing what all you can get and give right here on growingfruit.org.
There are also many nurseries that sell scionwood… and rootstocks.
Late this spring someone I had provided scions too… had some kip parker and lawson dawson scionwood left over… and he sent them to me.
I bought 4 mulberry rootstock from burnt ridge… for 5 bucks each (it was a late sale).
I now have kip parker and lawson dawson mulberry trees planted in my orchard. My daughter has one too.
Grafting really opens up some options for you on varieties and on saving some money.
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Treefrogtim,
Yes, I am really looking forward to learning the art/science of grafting. I just ordered some grafting tools, parafilm, etc. Once I watch a few videos, read some articles, and try a couple of grafts, I will know what else I might need to buy. Just got the very basics for now.
I really appreciate the offer of help with scion wood. I might just take you up on that and message you to see what you have available in winter, if that would be okay. Of course I would be more than happy to pay for it. Not sure that I have anything of value to trade at this point.
Thanks for the tip about the Indiana Nut and Fruit Growers Association. I will look into it.
Sandra
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Get a pair of chef knife gloves…they are cheap and you won’t get wounded
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That sounds like a very good idea. I will do that. Thanks!
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Looking good, did you just stick it directly into the ground?