White Mulberry

In the last few weeks I have been gathering photos for a video to be shown at our younger son’s wedding in October.   I had to look through boxes of bad photos taken with film but I got quite a few laughs during the process and it wasn’t all the pictures of the kids as they grew up.  I started to put aside all the pictures of the house through the years and the evolution of the Sandbox.  We bought this house in 1987 as a new build.   How things have changed over those years.  As I was out this morning cleaning up piles of White Mulberry berries from the drive way I had an idea to add this post today.


We purchased a weeping mulberry tree for the front garden bed in 1991.   I can see I was an adventurous gardener back then.   This garden in no bigger than a postage stamp.  What was I thinking?????   The Mulberry did okay for a couple of years and then one winter the top died and up from the grafted roots came the suckers of the original stock.   It would be the Morus alba from Eastern Asia or Russian Mulberry hardy to Zone 3 and grows to 10 meters tall and 8 meters wide.


My husband convinced me to leave it grow as the birds would enjoy the fruit.   This is a photo I took this morning.  This tree is massive and loaded this year with berries.  The branches are heavy with fruit.   Everyday I will have to go out and sweep up piles of berries that the birds did not get.  We have already had the robins, purple finches, goldfinches eating happily away.   Next will come the cedar waxwings to gorge on them.  

 






















































I think this tree is bigger than the description in the book.    Last year we did not have one berry on the tree but it made up for it this year.   Underneath the tree there are honeysuckle shrubs from bird deposits.   I keep trying to weed them out.   All in all it is getting to be a big mess and one day there will be a major prune for sure.   According to a book called “Trees and Shrubs for Northern Gardens” the Mulberry is used for wildlife plantings.   I can see why.




Here is a photo of the fruit.    I hope you enjoyed this little look back at the Sandbox.   

Valerie