North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Art Petrzelka <art@complum.com>]

On Thursday 10 July 2003 19:27, rob hamilton wrote:
> just try out a bunch of mullberries too see what I
> like. then I could ideally graft them on to a dwarf
> rootstock and grow it as a bush (assuming that the
> dwarfing influance will affect the new graft.

I have followed this discussion with some interest, and not a little 
amusement, mostly at myself.

Mulberries are good to eat. My grandmother made pies out of them, long before 
I was around.

But mostly, I just try to keep them chopped and pulled out of my fencelines. 
They do make a great hedge, though, which is important when you live on a 
gravel road. Maintenance is fairly easy. Just use the chainsaw to chop off 
the tops, or remove every third one each year.  I swear they would root and 
grow if you stuck a green wand in the ground.

Prune the heck out of them, and they get real vigorous. Cut some first year 
growth and trim the bark off the end, and you have the best wienie roast 
sticks that can be found. They are strong and moist enough that they don't 
burn up easily.

Dad always said to plant Montmorency cherries, because they didn't fruit 
until 
after the mulberries bore. That way the birds didn't eat up all your 
cherries. I plan on keeping some mulberries around my orchard to distract the 
birds long enough to get what I need.

We have the white and red mulberries (trees, not the fruit) around here. The 
white mulberry is nice and straight and tall, and won't last 2-3 years as a 
fencepost. The red is short, branches profusely after about 4 feet, and is 
one of the better woods for fenceposts.... if you have midget cattle!

But seriously, since mulberry sprouts suckers so easily, why not just do a 
mulberry bonsai to make it dwarfed ?  Just like I do for the hedges ?

Just goes to show you that fighting weeds is no good. You might as well try 
to 
find some good out of them!
-- 
Art Petrzelka
Amana, Iowa
Zone 5b (?)