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mulberry trees?
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Posted by leslie_c 7, harrisonburg (My Page) on Sat, Jun 9, 07 at 9:13
| Does anyone have any mulberriy trees? I have one in my back yard and I know nothing about them? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: mulberry trees?
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| Yes, they are a PITA. We had 1 now we have many trees. They grow fairly quickly and are almost pretty when they're young, but it's not long before they start popping up everywhere. Birds eat the mulberrys and poop them out around the property then you're constantly cutting them down. Do yourself a favor and cut it down now, hopefully it's still small. Also, as they get older (~7 years) they start dropping small dead branches everywhere. |
RE: mulberry trees?
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| I have one thats about 20 years old. If you like birds, it is great to have. I love all the birds that frequent it. However, if you have children or pets, as I also do, You will find little red tracks everywhere. It also becomes a very dense tree, and nothing grows under it or near it very well. All in all I like it only because I am a bird watcher, but if I weren't I would never keep it in the yard. |
RE: mulberry trees?
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Ahhh...the dreaded "M" word! If you ask me, I'd chop that thing down before the next sunset. My wife and I bought a house a year ago that had one huge mulberry in the backyard, and two smaller ones along the side of the house. As Spring progressed, we noticed hundreds of little offspring coming up EVERYWHERE. Well, since the big one had already heaved the foundation on part of the house, we took it down, along with the other two. I spent the rest of the summer and fall battling those monsters. And, I thought I had things under control...that is, until about two months ago, when hundreds of mulberrys began making a return appearance! Put it this way, I spend about an hour every weekend spraying the devils, and still I barely have put a dent into my problem. (and they have migrated into my neighbor's yard, as well as across the street) So, to make a long story short, if you ask me, take it down. Use a bottle of the concentrate Round-up or brush killer, douse the stump a few times. Then repeat. And, have fun!
Cheers and Fairwinds,
Brett Silver |
RE: mulberry trees?
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I'll step in in defense of mulberries. To a degree.
While I'll be the first to admit that a trashy, weedy invasive M.alba is not something I'd want planted overhanging my patio or close to the sidewalk entrance to my home, there are some named varieties - "Illinois Everbearing", to name one - that have nice form, without the branch dieback attendant to so many volunteer M.albas, and fruit quality is GREAT!!! It makes a nice, relatively fast-growing shade tree, and a great one for kids to climb in! My wife has fond childhood memories of her summer days spent up in the canopy of a big old mulberry tree, eating the berries and talking to the birds.
I can't get enough mulberries! |
RE: mulberry trees?
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| If you like cobblers, mulberries make the best! But that and the birds they attract are about the only good things about them. My dad had one but he was smart enough to plant it on the far edge of a large lawn area where it could be left to it's own except for a couple of clean-up times a year. |
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