Mulberry Tree Suggestion

General Fruit Growing
1

I planted an Oak tree for shade along the fence of my yard. Well the squirrel dug out the acorn and girdled the tree. So I’m now looking for a fast growing shade tree that gets to about 30 feet tall. What varieties would you suggest?

I already have a Pakistan Mulberry and like the fact that it grows fast, bears early in the season and the berries don’t stain.

2

Sounds like the squirrel did you a favor! :slight_smile: I’m always trying to remove things like Oaks which shade everything else…

I think most mulberries will fit the bill. Maybe just avoid things which are dwarfing or weeping. Giraldi, for example would barely provide enough shade for a family of squirrels.

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Maybe it did. It must love mulberries! :smile:

So what’s the tastiest of them all?

4

The Morus nigra seem to be the most popular flavor wise, but they are mostly smaller trees or bushes.

5

Where does the Pakistan mulberry fit in the alba/rubra/nigra hierarchy? Is it one of those or a fourth option?

And is it really hardy to zone 6? I may have to get one if that’s the case.

6

Be careful with what sellers call “Pakistan”. If it is the named cultivar from a reliable grower (e.g., Dave Wilson) then it is a Morus alba. These trees were brought to Pakistan (and elsewhere) from China millennia ago.

For folks who have the room (including 20’x20’ for invasive roots): White Fruiting Mulberry, specifically the cultivars ‘Tehama’ and ‘Hunza White Seedless’.

7

Thanks @Richard. I couldn’t find any sellers for them. Rolling River sells Tehama but is out of stock. :frowning:

What’s the best among these that are available now?

Beautiful Day
Sweet Lavender

8

Here’s my approach to finding cultivars.

  1. Go to the Growers site. For example: Dave Wilson Nursery, La Verne Nursery, Inc., L.E. Cooke Co.
  2. Find the type you are looking for. For example: Dave Wilson Nursery Mulberries.
  3. Click on the the line “Where To Buy” to obtain a list of resellers. For example: Dave Wilson - Where To Buy White Fruiting Mulberry.
  4. Start calling and hopefully find a place that has it in stock.
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I liked the few I had from Oscar last year. Hopefully I’ll have a bigger sample this year from a half dozen or so types.

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Ok, ordered Beautiful Day from Raintree. Tehama looks huge (see below) but I couldn’t find one source for it let alone if it is in stock.

6835750503_f43d8ea861_o.jpg800×600 213 KB

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11

I think you were impatient. :wink:

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Correction, Rolling River sells Tehama but it’s out of stock. Can’t wait for one more year while that part of the yard stays empty.

13

Is it ripe?

14

Not sure. Found the pic linked on GW.

15

LOL :laughing:

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to my taste, pakistani’s are at least as good as the best albas, so i’d say second only to nigras. Even if people might find it far behind in taste(which i doubt), it is still worth having because it seems to be the earliest of mulberries(apart from being huge), whereas nigras ripen quite later in the year.

It makes a nice ‘early’ appetizer for the main(but late) course of nigras.

as for hardiness to zone 6, i am not aware of anyone here who’s successfully grown it outdoors and unsheltered/unheated year round. But @Derby42 has just posted a pic of his pakistani bark-grafted onto an alba in zone 6, and am really curious if it will survive winter.
pakistani’s are a bit strange. It is often the last to shed its leaves in autumn/earlywinter, and the earliest to leaf out(and earliest to bear mature fruits) compared to other cold-hardy albas, and yet it seems to be the least cold-hardy among albas.

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17

True Pakistan is a Morus alba cultivar!

Perhaps you are referring to the fake pakistani’s sold by infamous online sellers?

@bleedingdirt is in zone 9B!

18

i thought i indicated that in my post

the fake pakistani’s are alba’s too

19

Richard, i was replying to @tjasko

20

Not so.