Pruning Young Mulberry Trees

[@TheFatTheist]

I love your pruning videos. Pruning is my weakness, so I need lots of help.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Pruning can be really challenging. Even after the hundreds of trees we've pruned you still second guess some of the cuts.

[@classictechr]

Thank you! I found you in Sept right after I cut the lowest hanging branches on my 5-6yo mulberry tree. When it started bleeding, I was afraid I'd hurt it. So happy to know it will probably be ok!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Yeah, they bleed a bit more during the growing season, but unless there is some underlying problem with the tree it will still heal up just fine over time.

[@RichBurris2]

The tree's do look really good for less than a year of growth.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

They're moving along pretty good. Now to see how they react to this round of pruning this year!

[@sherinsavier5071]

Very helpful. Thank you from Australia.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hello down under!! We have a few Aussies that we've become friends with through KZbin. I hope you're staying cool down there!

[@marycampbell4160]

Awesome tips for pruning so excited about 2022 fruit season. Thanks for sharing

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Right there with you Mary. This is the time of year to get ready for that fruit!

[@Lapantouflemagic0]

thanks ! i'm growing a couple mulberry trees for fun, they are three years old and look like a mess 😅 now i know how to tidy them up

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

A little tidying up will do wonders for mulberry trees. They will respond well to it!

[@jettyeddie_m9130]

Great video guys a lot of goon info ! Glad your not one of the ones that think mulch up against the trunk is bad for all trees !

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Things are a bit different for us in dry climates like this. I can see where it would be a problem in damper climates where you have the chance for mold to build up against the trunk, but around here it's dry bones up there most of the time.

[@gardenofthegeeks8277]

Contorted, Shangri la La, & Illinois ever-bearing, The 3 types i need for collection Jealous here . Have Black Pakistani, And Oscar Love all mulberries can never have to many!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Agreed, they're all good trees! Especially for us here in AZ, because they do so well and require very little care.

[@billhurlbut7321]

very interesting and very informtive.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you found this one useful Bill.

[@danielfisch655]

Great job and thank you for sharing.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Thanks Daniel. How are your trees doing? Signs of life in any that are a surprise?

[@danielfisch655]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm our trees are doing great as far as we can tell, just waiting for most to break dormancy.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@danielfisch655 gotcha. Same here. It's funny, because we know they're going to come back, but seeing what appears to be a dead stick until that happens still gets to Lori.

[@biglou4452]

Awesome video 👍

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one Lou!

[@kylanve]

I love the trees! Thats anazing growth for one year!! 🤯 how tall will they get? If they get tall, do you top them to make harvest easier? Thanks for all the info!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Great question Kylan. The Shangri La on the old property is probably around 15-20 feet tall at this point. I don't know whether or not they top that one to keep it shorter, but they can get quite large without heavy pruning. We will probably let these get around that same height and width (15-20').

[@DucPham-ok5ko]

I had some Asian pear. Before I prune them. I'd like to ask you which way is the best ? 1. Modified leader 2. Open center 3. Central leader.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That is a great question and we did a video on pruning apples and pears a couple of weeks back and we're pruning our Asian Pears to Central Leader. They grow quite vertical, so we're thinking it will be the best option. Modified would bee good as well. Open center would work fine, but you'll have to train branches horizontal first to get the tree to open up.

[@biglou4452]

Conturded mulberry looks cool how big are the berries?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

They're pretty small. I would say they're about the size of the Illinois Everbearing, so maybe 1/2" long.

[@shaddaispencer6956]

I have a contorted mulberry that is in the first year and has three branches. It has one central trunk and has two lower branches. When should I take those off so that I can start getting branching on the central trunk

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Contorted mulberries are a little different, only because the branches don't support much weight and tend to snap easily. That being said, you can cut prune them in any way you'd like. They will easily sprout new shoots whether or not there is a bud/node near the cut, although the first few nodes/buds are usually where they break first. In this case, you could remove the lower branches and "head back" the central leader to a lower height to encourage new lateral growth around that cut.

[@bsaxey5856]

Thanks for another informative video. We planted a Pakistani Mulberry last month, but it lost all of its leaves in the storm last week. It is a very skinny tree and I never pruned it after planting. Is it too late to prune?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Great question. You can probably still prune it if you want to, but it might be worth letting it go through this growing season and get established at this point. If you were seeing new growth that's a good sign the tree is out of dormancy and ready to get on with growing.

[@bsaxey5856]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm okay thanks, I'll let it be.

[@longtrinh1001]

Not sure size matter if you mass gather the fruit. Shaking an everbearing will get good result.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That's a very good point. They're small, but 100's of them still make a lot of mulberry jam....or wine!

[@nathanz6827]

Hi Dwayne, learned a lot from your pruning technique. are you still use your electric SunJo wood chipper? Any consideration of a larger capacity one? Any thought on any brand and model?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Great question Nathan and we actually broke the Sun Joe a few months back. Somehow the package with the replacement blades must have been placed on top of the hopper and when we fired it up for the first time the blades destroyed the machine. Fortunately it was just the machine. We actually bought a PTO driven, 4" chipper that we still need to assemble and get onto the tractor. Once we get around to it we'll do a review on it. Miss that Sun Joe, it would have been fine for this year's small trees!

[@nathanz6827]

Sorry to hear your Sun Joe is broken. Looking forwards to your review on the new chipper.

[@michaelagibbs9695]

I have a black Pakistan mulberry that I grew from a cutting and am going to try to keep it under 6ft tall. It still hasn't lost all of its leaves, should I remove them? I have knocked off any yellow leaves but the ones left are healthy and green.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Michaela! You can leave them on or take them off. It wouldn't hurt either way at this point, unless you're starting to see the buds swell. If that's the case you may want to just leave the old ones on there so you don't damage the new buds coming in behind them.

[@michaelagibbs9695]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks, it is definitely out of dormancy. It has about 6 inches of new growth.

[@tavyfavorite1149]

I have a dwarf manderine fruit tree, planted 15 year ago at 7 feet tall, I never fertilize this tree for 15 years but it has produce amazing abundance of fruits. year 2020 I decided to prune all those cross branches, get rid of all those thickness branches and it quit producing fruits. No flowers and no fruits. Now it is 2021 no blossom, no fruits What went wrong? All my other citrus tree produce lots of fruits ( I never prune them for 15 years). Do you think the manderine citrus tree decided to get a brake after 15 years or it's bc I prune them.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey there! It's hard to say for sure what's going on with your tree, but citrus trees generally don't need a lot of pruning. We only prune them to remove dead/dying branches and to keep them from touching the ground. It could be that you took a bit too much from the tree at once which will cause them to go into a bit of shock. If the tree is still putting on new branching and leaves you should be ok long term. Is it still green?

[@tiffanyparker4316]

I live here in buckeye az and have been on the hunt for a shangrila mullberry with no success. I was just wondering if it would be possible to purchase a cutting from one of your trees??? I would be eternally grateful!! No pressure. If not, do you know anyone who would possibly sell me one of these elusive mullberry trees? Any help would be welcomed. Thanks. Love your channel by the way. It has inspired me to try and grow things I never thought could be grown here in the hot arizona sun

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey there Tiffany. I just answered your question on the other post, but wanted to make sure you knew we were not ignoring you!

[@yoopermann7942]

do you have plans to let your chickens clean up/ harvest the fruit for you? it seems all birds love/like to eat the fruit and spread the seeds for you to have a future forest

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That's a great question/suggestion and I'm not sure how/if we'll incorporate the chickens in the berries. They have a tendency to tear up mulch pretty bad looking for bugs and other high protein snacks, so they end up disturbing the soil life we're trying to build around the trees. We will do some chop and feed for them during the growing season for greens. The everbearing mulberries would be perfect for this and they're right there adjacent to the run.

[@yoopermann7942]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm you could spread tarps/sheets under the trees and shake the branches to get the fruit, then feed it to the chickens in their pen,, that is the easiest way i know of to harvest mulberries wether to eat my self or feed the chickens/other birds if you dont want them to tear up you orchards,, thank you for these great videos!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@yoopermann7942 that definitely beats trying to harvest tiny mulberries during the growing season!

[@yoopermann7942]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm that is how i harvest the wild mulberries, i take what i need, then the rest is for the chickens and wild life

[@marschlosser4540]

Mulberries are bleeders. Do you think Vitamin K would help? :) They look good after pruning. Hey, cool Mama Lori lets you play with sharp objects. I can, too, as long as no-buddy catches me! :) Mulberry leaf salad? the leaves are salad and for cooking in Asian food. I had them in lime jello and salads, of course. Farms always planted them around chicken yards and hog pens to help feed the animals as well as shade. The Pakistani is leafing out and the Flame grape vine broke bud.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Wow, I'm surprised to hear about the flame grapes. That's a bit early, even for those early birds! We're trying to figure out the fodder trees we want to use for the back acreage. These everbearing will wind up being snacks for the chickens, but we still have goats, pigs, sheep and cattle on the back 40 that need some of the green stuff also!

[@marschlosser4540]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Train them on mesquite! pastures.com Cathy Voss, an agronomist south of Tucson, did that in the last drought and saved the family herd. She got them to eat the leaves, something animals not trained to it won't do. Mesquite is equal to clover in feed value. Fruit is very good for livestock. Farmers liked easy storage red delicious for winter feed, which is why some folks call then horse apples :)

[@marschlosser4540]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm BTW, the brown turkey fig started to break bud, too. Now, that worries me. We already had one screwy year, erk.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@marschlosser4540 good call on the mesquite. We had it planned for hog feed (pods), but didn't consider it for cattle.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@marschlosser4540 yeah, that is a bit early for the BT. Any of the figs really.

[@MohsinRaza-ii6fm]

I have mulberry tree but all branches are hanging from sides no one going up. Even i wired them but new side benches started hanging. What to do?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Mohsin. This time of year I would leave the branches where they are until you get into the dormant season. If you're trying to get more upward growth you make your pruning cuts just in front of an upward facing bud. This generally encourages new branching to form at that location and usually the branch will head that way. I have seen fig trees before that have a weeping type habit and no matter what you do they will start growing to the ground. However, these are usually pretty rare in my experience. If it's a very young tree (less than a year old) it may also just be that the branches are not mature enough to support weight vertically. This eventually changes over time as the tree starts to form a trunk(s) and push larger branches that are easier to train with staking. That is another option at this point (staking), but it sounds like you're already tried that.

[@MohsinRaza-ii6fm]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm i already wired the branches but when i loosen the wires it comes down again. Its almost 2 years old and 8 feet in height. I also tried pinching 2 branches with top facing bud but when new shoot came from bud it also started hanging also the others small branches from old branches start hanging after growing 6 to 8 inches. So just let it be and keep wires until next year maybe it's not much mature yet to hold weight because i keep pruning side shoots to reach fast 6 feet in first year. Trunk is like 2 inch thick now. Its like more than a thumb in comparison.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@MohsinRaza-ii6fm hmm, you may need to leave them staked for a full season to see if you can get them to hold upright. A 2 year old tree is usually old enough to have a solid trunk, but you may need to give it more time to thicken those branches.

[@MohsinRaza-ii6fm]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm problem is i don't have any soil here i just added 1 square feet of soil the rest is brick dust. The bricks used for construction made of red clay. That's why its not growing that much. Now i started giving npk 20. Thank you for your time.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@MohsinRaza-ii6fm that would definitely be a big challenge. Have you tried using wood chip or similar material and see if you can build some additional soil around your property? Mixing it with manure will allow it to break down very quickly with regular water and turning.

[@judithstorck5195]

Our Everbearing Mulberries have already broken out with leaves. Is it too late to prune? Judi

[@judithstorck5195]

Oh, we are in Tonopah, Arizona.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Judi. You should be fine to still get your pruning done. The general rule of thumb is to prune during dormancy to lessen the chance of infection from the open wounds, but here in AZ we're so dry the cuts dry up within a few hours. You will get more sap running from the cuts, but again it's probably not going to cause any issues for you.

[@judithstorck5195]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you for the reply, I do have Iv Organics that I use to paint wounds and also coat trunks of young trees for protection from the Sun. I will also try to root those cuttings. Love what you have done with your new property - wish we were young like you two. We are in our 70s but have done a lot since we moved in here in Jan. 2000 - not as strategic as what you have done, but we have fruit trees, shade trees and vines. Again, thank you. Judi

[@judithstorck5195]

Oh, we have (3) Everbearing and (1) Pakistani - all doing well.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@judithstorck5195 that's great to hear you guys are still going strong in your 70's. We haven't spoken about it much here, but this farm is our retirement plan. Our goal is to have the farm produce enough income for us to be able to retire and stay active just like you guys are doing. Hats off to you!

[@jesen84]

How small can you keep a Shangri La?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That's a great question and I would say it's realistically going to be around 8-10' tall regardless of how hard you prune it. That's assuming you don't do any summer pruning. You can easily pollard this tree at 1-2' and with the 6-7' of growth we're seeing in these trees you'd wind up with a tree that's about that size in the Fall.

[@davidhazen2394]

I don't know why you want to take the sagging branches off , it seems to me they would easier to harvest.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey David. The low hanging branches are taken off mainly to keep the harvest off the ground and also allow us to see critters that might be hanging under the tree. We also want to encourage outward and upward growth as opposed to any downward growth.