Perhaps you recall as a kid singing the old “Pop Goes the Weasel” ditty. It opens with “All around the mulberry bush…”. Now I have to note that I’ve yet to see a mulberry bush – in my experience they become trees, and big ones at that. (Maybe there is some variety that does tend to remain bush-like.) Unfortunately for them, they’re generally lumped in company with box elders and buckthorns as “weedy” trees. And for good reason. If you have one on your property, you soon will have many many more, unless you’re a resolute weeder.
The trees themselves are rather handsome to my mind. You know how kids tend to draw trees with brown colored trunks? Most tree trunks actually are some shade of gray. But mulberry trees really do have brown trunks and branches. The limbs tend to crack lengthwise under the weight of winter ice storms, but in the spring the cracked branches prove to be still alive by leafing out. The guy from the tree service that cut off some cracked branches told me that it’s not that the wood is particularly brittle, but has to do with the direction of the grain. And as if trying to confuse us, mulberry trees have leaves of two different shapes – oval and lobed.
The sore spot for many people is the fruit that they produce, which, by the way, isn’t a true berry. They belong to the Moraceae family and are more closely related to figs. The black mulberries (Morus nigra) which grow wild are very sweet. Therein lies a problem. Birds and other animals love them. The critters poop out the seeds which soon sprout the weedy little devils that you end up pulling out of your garden beds. And our grandkids, who live across the road, used to descend on our clump of mulberry trees when they were little, ending up with purple stains on hands, faces, and clothing. Mulberries also like to be stepped on so as to leave their purple imprints wherever you walk. Caution: don’t let one grow near a sidewalk or driveway!
To some extent, there are redeeming features to the nuisance-causing fruit. The birds and animals seem to prefer the mulberries over whatever other fruits and vegetables one happens to be growing, so in a good fruiting year, they leave your other crops more or less alone. Also, the mulberries fall off the tree when fully ripe, thus making for easy access. If you were a chipmunk, that would be a plus. And to pick a quantity of mulberries for yourself, simply lay an old sheet under the tree, hit the branches with a long pole, and there will be a purple hailstorm of ripe fruit. I’ve had success with mulberry jam, which doesn’t require a lot of sugar due to the natural sweetness of the fruit. The short stems that cling to the fruit work as little handles when eating them out of hand.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has this love/hate relationship with mulberry trees. Yes they can be messy and are definitely prolific. But they get a bad rap for just doing their thing. Let us forgive their reputation and adjust to their presence.
Oh yes, I have a tall mulberry on my property and experience all of its ‘benefits’. It is like walking on jam when the ripe fruit falls to the lawn! Woe betide the driver who unwittingly parks underneath it for a day! But the birds & squirrels love it and abandon my serviceberry underneath it because mulberries are such easy picking. I always wear a hat when I’m walking under it in fruit/bird poop season!
My Labrador Retriever is obsessed with Mulberries! If we are walking and we come across a Mulberry tree with plenty of fruit on the ground, I can’t make him leave until he has had his fill, and for a Lab, that takes a very long time. I must admit it makes me happy to see him enjoying himself, and, so far, no negative repercussions with digestion.
A seedling keeps coming up in my yard despite my cutting it to the ground twice. This past year I’ve let it grow. Recently when I approached it with saw in hand and looked up, I stood in wonder at the berries hanging from the branches in neat rows.
Now, I need to make a decision!
My husband wants to make mulberry wine. There are several trees around, but there are several drawbacks: on other people’s property and he wants ME to ask them, birds get them first, and he would want me to pick them. The funny thing is neither of us are wine drinkers, He makes it to give away.
Our neighbors had one when I was small. Mom always hung sheets on the line. Purple bird droppings. She’d get so annoyed but we kids liked eating them.
I have a 100+ year old weeping mulberry which, I’m told, is the result of grafting a prostrate form on an upright trunk. Therein might lie the source of the nursery rhyme bush.
Thanks! I always learn something new from those who have more experience.
A shout out to the red mulberry, native to eastern North America. A naughty, self-seeder. Weedy and messy like its Asian cousins. I’ve got two, tiny seedlings. Wish me luck.
I’ve really been wanting to try making mulberry jam this year. I remember my father mentioning that he liked mulberry jam once, so I am assuming that my grandmother made it. While prolific, I’ve also noticed that the fruit doesn’t all mature at the same time, green fruit and black fruit will be on at the same time, thus lengthing the pain or good harvest.
My grandmother used to make mulberry/cherry pies that were fantastic. The sweetness of the mulberry was perfect with the tart cherries, and they ripen at the same time, so if the cherry crop was light (or eaten by birds) there were mulberries to fill in. My mother, however, hated the little stems that Grandma would leave on (“The stems are like little worms in the pie!” Mom would say). Mom would spend a ridiculous amount of time using a tiny scissors to cut the stems off the fruit, leaving her with purple hands for some time. I do agree with her though–it is a better pie texture without the stems. Hence the reason I haven’t made one myself in years–such a pain to snip the stems.
I hate, hate, hate mulberries! The only way to get rid of one is to cut it back to the ground, then douse the cut end with the strongest herbicide you can buy. On the other hand, if you are a hand-spinner and wish to “grow” your own silk, silk worms eat mulberry leaves.
Well, this does bring back memories! We had one when we moved into our house 30 years ago, right next to the driveway. Hubby parked his white convertible under it and behold-purple spots! An absolute mess. Our neighbor helped him remove the tree and thanked us as new owners, it was his curse for years from previous owners.
Jack,
We until a few years ago had the most amazing male mulberry tree shading our garden.
It was easily over a hundred years old.
The only minor draw back was wooly caterpillar like pollen buds in the spring.
It was huge, arborists told us the biggest they had seen, it started developing a hollow in the middle of the trunk and my wife wanted it gone, afraid it would blow over as it was close to the house and neighbors.
We tried to save it even had resistograph testing.
Results were on the border, I argued to keep reducing the foliage, make it look like an old olive tree. Plant more trees around it I argued.
But, it went, a sad day. They had to use a crane to take it down.
We went from shade to sun garden overnight.
Later I learned, none of the experts we hired brought this up, mulberry trees have buttress roots, not so much a taproot, as they get old the rot in the center but still have support.
So we are transitioning from shade to sun, need some hostas?
No one mentioned the white mulberries- there are a couple bushes we know of in our area (Louisville Kentucky). The fruit is white or rather cream colored, and way sweeter the purple variety! Our Labrador also loves the berries, and we wait while he eats as many as he can!
Not mentioned is that mulberries can be male or female. We had a male mulberry in the back yard that was a great shade tree. No messy fruit. It finally started to die of old age and we became concerned about dropped branches (my hammock was right under it). Had it cut down and it was very hollow. There was a raccoon living in one hollow and a snake in another, Now it’s wood chips are ready to go into the chicken coop pen. My garden grew a lot more with greater sunshine and the stump was left tall for squash to grow up. Still, I miss lying back in the hammock in it’s shade and watching dragonflies land on it to take a rest. Also the hawk, who used to perch up there trying to figure out how to get a chicken dinner.
True. One of our mulberry trees is a male – no fruit on this one.
Have heard that they are excellent for keeping birds away from your other larger fruit trees.
But I have lived long enough to know that we will never intentionally own any kind of mulberry tree, crab apple tree or flowering pear tree ever again. Happy without the mess.
Love the mulberry’s beautiful lobed leaves, but now I know what they foretell.
Prefer flowering cherry trees. The seedlings pull easily.
Prefer growing figs on small trees and netting them.
Delicious.
Did you mean this nursery rhyme??
Here we go ’round the mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush.
Here we go ’round the mulberry bush,
On a cold and frosty morning.
Haven’t heard that one. The rhyme I referred to is:
All around the mulberry bush
the monkey chased the weasel
The monkey thought it was all in fun
Pop goes the weasel
Forgive me – I find this fascinating. The reason I didn’t recognise your mulberry bush was apparently that there are different versions =
British version of the song:
Half a pound of tuppenny rice,
Half a pound of treacle.
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel.
Up and down the City road,
In and out the Eagle,
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel.
“Pop Goes the Weasel” American version
All around the Mulberry Bush,
The monkey chased the weasel.
The monkey stopped to pull up his sock,
Pop! goes the weasel.
Half a pound of tuppenny rice,
Half a pound of treacle.
Mix it up and make it nice,
Pop! goes the weasel.
I remember this as “All around the cobbler’s bench, the monkey chased the weasel . . . ” I now have a friend who keeps rescue-ferrets, and they do in fact “pop” into and out of boots, etc., in a most entertaining fashion!
Did they have mulberry trees in Texas? Just curious.
Yes they do – both red and white mulberries grow in Texas. I don’t think there’s as many now as there once was, though.
There used to be a female red mulberry in the playground at the church we went to in North Texas when our kids were young. It never failed to bear fruit during Easter time, and there were many Easter dresses, suits, and young faces stained by the berries each Easter.
I just finished wwoofing on a farm on Naxos Island and I would pick black mulberries every morning for breakfast (the first time I’ve ever eaten them). We went to a nearby monastery which had its own stand of mulberry trees- there was one variety which had black berries with blood-red juice that tasted unlike anything I’ve ever had. They were sweet and tangy and devine. I vowed to return one day to take cuttings.
Where is Naxos Island?
I used to take my kids foraging for mulberries, from trees that overgrow public sidwalks and in nearby parks. The fruit was ripe exactly the week after school got out for summer, so it was our celebration of summer starting. I made pie. It tastes kind of like grapes and has an interesting texture. I don’t think I want a mulberry tree in my yard, though- they do make a mess!
mulberries are a great illustration of people so far removed from nature that they find a wonderful source of tasty fruit to be less important than to the obsession with spotless cars and sidewalks. get your hands in the dirt, get your face purple and remember what childhood outdoors fun was.
Love my Persian mulberry. She gives my fruit for the entire month of July. I have a ladder at the base and once around gives me breakfast! FYI, hydrogen peroxide removes stains. It might take a few drops for several days, but the stains are always removed.
I ordered and planted several types known to be good “fruiters” because of the birdwatching benefits. I’ve seenall the “usuals” but also the not so common tanagers, orchard orioles, and even pileated woodpeckers up close because they can’t resist the fruit. Bluebirds love them and they taught me something one year. I lived in a rental house with a fabulous mulberry tree in the back that unfortunately snapped in a windstorm. The landlord cut the ragged stump and hauled away the mangled tree, but a few days layer, I saw an entire family of eastern bluebirds grouped on the stump where they busied themselves for several minutes. Once they took wing, I went to see what had drawn them there and saw a congealed ring of sap at the margins of the cut stump. The beak marks were clearly visible. Note to self. When in survival mode, chew mulberry bark.