North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[dwoodard@becon.org]

If it was my tree I would

1. brace the big branch and bind the split to keep it from getting bigger.
Make sure the tree is well fertilized and watered from for the next few
years.

2. wait till the tree sheds its leaves and goes dormant.

3. possibly take some cuttings and try to root them - I don't know whetehr
this will work with mulberry.

4. cut the trunk below the split at a slight angle, and seal the surface.

5. expect some sprouts next year, select one and nurture it carefully.
This is taking a chance but I think it might be better than trying to work
around a split trunk

I am assuming that that split is at the lowest branch. If you have a
branch below the split I might try to work with that, depending on its
location and shape.

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada



> Well, I did it again. This is really dumb, but I suppose I'd better
> 'fess up. I planted an Illinois Everbearing Mulberry this past spring,
> and it has grown like a weed. It was just a twig when I planted it, but
> now it's about twelve feet tall with a trunk maybe three inches in
> diameter at the base. OK, it's raining, so I'm just guessing, but the
> point is that it's really grown surprisingly big in just a few short
> months, even though I tried to do a little summer pruning (not much,
> since I'd just planted it).
>
> It doesn't have too many branches, and those it does have tend to be
> very long - even summer pruning didn't seem to stop them from extending
> further. But one branch (the only one it had when I planted it) is
> really huge. In fact, it's bigger in diameter than the main trunk that
> rises above it. And it has a narrow crotch angle, though I've been
> trying to gently correct that. Yup, you guessed it,... except that I
> didn't snap the branch off (it was too big for that), I ended up
> splitting the main trunk of the tree in half (for about three or four
> inches below this branch).
>
> Have I killed the tree completely? I tied it up again right away -
> cursing my stupidity all the while - but I doubt this will work. Since
> the split is from the top down, I suppose it's almost certain to get
> moisture in it this winter, which will then freeze and pry it open. (We
> usually have fairly dry winters, but not completely so.) Whatever
> happens, I imagine that this branch will have to go, right? But should I
> cut it off now, or wait until my normal late-winter pruning?
>
> This is going to make a horrible mess of the tree, whatever I do. But
> maybe it will still survive. And actually, I'd like the tree to stay
> small and bushy,... which is definitely NOT what it wants to do. I'd
> appreciate some suggestions. Do I let it go until spring or prune now?
> And how much? Do I cut off the whole branch, or maybe remove the split
> side of the trunk, too? Since the trunk is fairly small ABOVE this
> branch, the lower trunk is really split in half. It's just disgusting.
>
> I hadn't planned to keep most of the other branches on the tree. One is
> too low, and most of the others are higher than I'd like (next spring, I
> plan to prune the trunk below them to encourage more branching). But
> this branch was perfect, except for the narrow crotch angle,... and
> being so big it nearly overwhelms the tree.
>
> Incidentally, there are a half-dozen green mulberries on the tree, which
> I thought was kind of funny for October. I've left them alone, since I
> figured they wouldn't take much energy from such a huge tree. Now,
> though, might be a different story.
>
> Bill
> Lincoln, NE (zone 5)