Mulberry - pros and cons?

[Catalina]

Does anyone have mulberry trees?

So do you like them?
I want a quick-ish growing tree and I like the taste mulberry berries.

ETA: White or red? Which is better?

 

[beavis]

I love my eight white mulberry tree! The berries are awesome-tasting and we made jam last summer from many of them.

Only con I can think of is plant them away from patios, driveways etc, because the berries can leave a stain.

 

[beavis]

check this out....

http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=23632&p=11

 

[Rosalind]

Yes, we have a big purple mulberry.

Pros: You don't have to do a darn thing to them. No spraying, no mulching, minimal trimming for shape only. Completely unfussy. Makes nice jelly, pie, shortcakes, cereal berries, liquor. Many of the berries (though far from all) will be within arm's reach. Leaves are a treat for birds, reptiles, silkworms.

Cons: They go through cycles of bearing and resting, you're not going to get a fabulous crop every year no matter what you do. In the years when you do get a fabulous crop, there will be many berry spatters all over your yard. It helps if you don't have anything directly under them to get berry-covered, but birds will help ensure that your car does not escape the purple polka-dot paint job. If one happens to be too close to your patio, in a very good year your patio will be covered with fermenting mulberry slime just in time for your Labor Day guests to be grossed out.

I like the purple ones myself. They're the kind I grew up eating.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi there!

I have a red-fruited mulberry, they are fairly rare over here as most people don't have large enough gardens. Actually I'm not sure I do -- it is growing at quite a pace.......!! I have never tasted a white one but I love the red. Do they taste very different. I have to fight my chickens for the berries! The roos look particularly bizarre leaping straight up in the air to steal them; the hens just stand below ordering the roos to jump (talk about being hen-pecked, the poor boys never get a chance to try them)!

There is an old saying here that you can tell the last frost of the winter has passed when your mulberry starts leafing up. It seems to be true from my observations over the last 6 years. Has anyone else noticed that?

Hope you are all having a great weekend in your gardens :tools

:rose Hattie :rose

 

[The Poultry Peanut]

Hi there!

I have a red-fruited mulberry, they are fairly rare over here as most people don't have large enough gardens. Actually I'm not sure I do -- it is growing at quite a pace.......!! I have never tasted a white one but I love the red. Do they taste very different. I have to fight my chickens for the berries! The roos look particularly bizarre leaping straight up in the air to steal them; the hens just stand below ordering the roos to jump (talk about being hen-pecked, the poor boys never get a chance to tr them)!

There is an old saying here that you can tell the last frost of the winter has passed when your mulberry starts leafing up. It seems to be true from my observations over the last 6 years. Has anyone else noticed that?
Hope you are all having a great weekend in your gardens :tools

:rose Hattie :rose

Hahaha no not true where I live they will get leaf buds and then here comes a freeze or frost

 

[tryingtohaveitall]

We have mulberries and we've gotten quite a bit of fruit from them the four springs we've lived here. I haven't noticed the pattern of fruit one year, none the next. This year I'm going to try making jam from them. In the past, I've made desserts with them and they've been quite tasty.

 

[me&thegals]

We have both growing wild. As the mother of young kids, I'm not sure which is cooler--the maggot-looking white ones or the purple ones that leave purple bird poop everywhere

 

[big brown horse]

We had them everywhere in TX. Yummy! Watch out for bag worms tho.

 

[ninny]

i really like mine. We have both kinds. Can or should i prune them?