Mulberry is it worth it?

[davholla]

I have a Mulberry tree which is in a pot and I am thinking of moving to my allotment as it has never fruited
A) Any advice on how to?
B) Are Mulberry's worth the effort?  What do they taste like?

[davholla]

[ACE]

Certainly worth it, lovely fruit,  you will have purple fingers and lips for ages if you ever get it to fruit. We had one in a pot for a few years at the nursery, left over from a garden show. Put it in the ground and it fruited away every year. It will get very big. If you do plant it make sure you really bash the root ball about to loosen it up and spread the roots as it is very likely to be pot bound.

[Beersmith]

Excellent advice from Ace.

But is it suitable for an allotment? A mature black mulberry can grow to a final height of 12 metres.

That would give me pause for thought.

[ACE]

Being that it is in a pot there is a likelihood of it being one of the dwarf/patio varieties, they still get big but not huge. There was a company doing a weeping mulberry, I saw one once but could never find the nursery that was selling them cheap enough. It would have made a nice focal point in the garden.

[Obelixx]

I have sown seed for these and had very good germination and now a dozen healthy babies to bring on.   I shall plant one to grow to full size but the birds will no doubt get those fruits so does anyone now if can I grow some as cordons in the fruit cage we plan to build?

There are cherries, plums and a fig in this garden and we never get any cos the birds swoop in so a fruit cage is a must.

[jennym]

I've got a mulberry tree which I put in near the end of my back garden. The mulberries taste good, a bit like sweet loganberries, I really enjoyed the first large crop we got this summer 2018.
They are no effort at all, and so far I've had no diseases, no problems. I don't spray or anything.

Mulberry trees do grow quickly - I put mine in in the winter of 2014 - it was about 4-5ft tall, now in November 2018 it's about 15 ft tall. The birds get the fruit at the top of the tree, but I've festooned the lower branches so netting can be draped over them to protect some fruit. The branches are very flexible when young, and fix into shape in about a year.

I'd say they aren't really suitable for cordon growing, being so vigorous.

But you don't have to let your mulberry get big - you can prune it to form a bush, much easier to control, net and pick from (remember the nursery rhyme "here we go round the mulberry bush...)

[Obelixx]

Thanks.  I have enough to experiment with a fan, if not a cordon, and still have one grow to full size.

[davholla]

I've got a mulberry tree which I put in near the end of my back garden. The mulberries taste good, a bit like sweet loganberries, I really enjoyed the first large crop we got this summer 2018.
They are no effort at all, and so far I've had no diseases, no problems. I don't spray or anything.

Mulberry trees do grow quickly - I put mine in in the winter of 2014 - it was about 4-5ft tall, now in November 2018 it's about 15 ft tall. The birds get the fruit at the top of the tree, but I've festooned the lower branches so netting can be draped over them to protect some fruit. The branches are very flexible when young, and fix into shape in about a year.

I'd say they aren't really suitable for cordon growing, being so vigorous.

But you don't have to let your mulberry get big - you can prune it to form a bush, much easier to control, net and pick from (remember the nursery rhyme "here we go round the mulberry bush...)

Thank you.  Mine has grown a bit.  I will have to photograph it to get some advice about how to prune it.  I would leave it in the pot but I don't think I can water it enough where it is.

[saddad]

I have one, they taste great and stain everything!

[Vinlander]

I made the mistake of picking some ripe ones (very) in Charterhouse Square while wearing a white shirt.

I got back to the office looking like an axe murderer.

Cheers.