Description and characteristics
Mulberry belongs to the deciduous fruit trees of the mulberry family. Received the name weeping due to the characteristics of the crown. There is no mistaking a tree with branches hanging almost to the ground with large leaves of a rich green color. It reaches a height of 3 m, which makes it indispensable in the landscape design of a personal plot or in a garden with a small area. The crown width is up to 2 m. The miniature size of the tree makes it easy to harvest, unlike ordinary mulberry, which grows up to 10-15 m.
The fruits of the weeping mulberry come in different shades - from white and pink to dark purple. Fleshy, juicy, without a stalk. The taste is sweet with mild sourness, aromatic. Size 2-4 cm. Blooms in May. Already at the end of June the harvest appears. In northern regions with a harsh climate, all processes are delayed by 2-4 weeks.
Mulberry is considered a long-lived plant - its age can reach 200-400 years. In autumn, the leaves turn yellow with a golden tint, making the tree a favorite among landscape designers. Mulberries are often combined with ornamental evergreens.
Attention! Some varieties of weeping mulberry tolerate frosts down to -30 ºС. This allows it to be grown as a garden crop in regions with harsh winters. As a rule, the fruits of frost-resistant varieties are white.
Preparing for winter
They begin to prepare for the winter cold in October. In the northern regions, young branches are pressed to the ground, wrapped in warm fiber, the roots are covered and mulched. As for the southern regions, additional preparation is not necessary. The mulberry will cope on its own without outside intervention.
Weeping mulberries can be found in parks and alleys. It is often used as a hedge. But there is a small nuance that should not be forgotten. Mulberry fruits can accidentally stain a white blouse or light-colored shoes if they are not collected in a timely manner.
Therefore, when planting a plant, you should decide on the goals of its breeding. If you do not plan to harvest the crop, you can plant ornamental trees that do not produce fruit. Otherwise, timely harvesting and care of the surrounding area is simply necessary.
Rules for planting weeping mulberries
Mulberry is not a fastidious crop. It does not require special care or skills, but when planting it is important to follow some rules. In order for a tree to bear fruit every year, it is necessary to choose the right area in the garden, determine the type of soil, and fertilize it.
Preparing the landing site
The choice of soil for mulberries is not important. Seedlings take root well on loamy, sandy loam and sandy soils. The only caveat is that the more sand in the soil, the more often you need to water the plant. The area should be well lit, so mulberries are not planted near tall trees or buildings.
The most suitable place is the south side or slope with protection from the north wind in the form of a fence or other trees that will not block the sun's rays. Close occurrence of groundwater is unacceptable. In this case, it is necessary to make an embankment 50-100 cm high. Acidified soil must be alkalized. For this, slaked lime is used at 400 g per 1 m².
In the prepared area, dig a hole 50 cm deep and 70-80 cm in diameter. It is better to do this in the fall before spring planting or 2-3 weeks before. Fill the third part of the hole with humus. Fill the remaining part with a mixture of fertile soil with 50 g of urea, 50 g of potassium, 100 g of superphosphate. In the winter, cover with moisture-proof material to avoid leaching of fertilizers.
Requirements and preparation of seedlings
When purchasing weeping mulberry planting material, you need to pay attention to the root system. Young specimens have very fragile and thin roots. They are easy to damage. You should refuse to purchase if there are dry or rotten roots in the container, they are poorly developed or there are signs of damage.
The day before planting, it is necessary to inspect the seedling again for damage. If the tree is healthy, soak the root system in water at room temperature overnight. Then for 3-4 hours in a solution with a root former (Kornevin).
Attention!
To make the cutting easier to take root, it must be planted at an angle of 45º. This will speed up root formation.
Landing
It is better to start planting in the spring - at the end of March, April. Then the plant will have time to strengthen and gain strength before the first winter. In regions with a mild climate, planting material can be planted in early autumn. Although the standard mulberry is unpretentious in care, it requires free space. The planting hole must be prepared at a minimum distance of 3-5 m from other trees.
Technology for planting weeping mulberry seedlings:
- In the prepared hole, dig a hole the size of the root system.
- Make a small mound at the bottom, on which you carefully place the seedling so that the roots spread freely along its slopes.
- Place a peg nearby, 50-70 cm high above the ground.
- Sprinkle with soil and compact in layers to prevent voids from forming.
- The root collar cannot be buried in the ground. It is important that it remains on the border with the surface of the earth. Only in northern regions with harsh winters is it sprinkled with 3-5 cm of soil.
- Use a soft cloth or rope to tie the trunk to the peg.
- Form a small circle near the trunk, making a mound.
- Water the seedling with 2 buckets of water.
- The soil around it must be mulched to avoid excess moisture evaporation or freezing - with peat, straw, rotted sawdust.
Mulberry care
Mulberry is an unpretentious garden crop that takes root well in all types of soil and does not require special attention. Nevertheless, caring for mulberries consists of timely, sufficient watering, fertilizing, and preparing for winter.
A moisture-loving tree needs to be watered often and a lot. On the first day after planting, the seedling is well filled with water, then every week, subject to sunny, warm weather. If the spring turns out to be rainy, watering is reduced or stopped altogether. At the beginning of summer, it is recommended to increase the interval between irrigation to two weeks, and in August to stop completely.
Feeding is needed starting from the third year after planting the seedling. If the preparation of the planting pit has been met with all the requirements, then the young tree has enough fertilizer for the first years of its life. Next, the addition of organic and mineral compounds is required.
The first feeding must be done in March, before the snow has completely melted. Sprinkle dry urea 50 g per m² on top of the ice. At the beginning of August, it is necessary to fertilize with phosphorus and potassium so that the tree can safely survive the winter.
To prevent excess moisture from evaporating from the root system, it is necessary to destroy grass and weeds around the tree, mulch with straw and sawdust. In early spring, before sap flow begins, it is recommended to inspect for frostbitten shoots. They need to be cut with a sharp knife or well-sharpened pruning shears.
At the end of September or beginning of October, it is recommended to pour 3-5 buckets of water under the tree to prepare for wintering. Thin, hanging shoots can easily break or be damaged under the weight of snow or wind. They must be carefully wrapped in agrofibre or burlap and tied.
To prevent common diseases and pests, mulberries must be treated with insecticides and fungicides in early April (before the buds swell). At the end of April, the tree is sprayed with Bordeaux mixture
History of crop cultivation
The mulberry tree originally grew in China, India and Japan, but was processed only in China. The culture was valued for its fibers, from which the famous Chinese silk was subsequently created.
According to legend, a certain Xi Lungchi, a Chinese empress, was the first to see the silk fibers that entangled the silkworm caterpillars. Having unwound them, the royal lady made an outfit for herself.
The homeland of the mulberry is the broad-leaved forests of China.
In Russia, the first mulberry plantation appeared under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the father of Peter I. The initiative was continued by his son: Peter I banned the cutting down of the mulberry tree and purposefully created mulberry plantations. Currently, the mulberry tree is also grown for the silk industry, but in summer cottages it is planted for its tasty medicinal berries.
Mulberries are not only tasty, but also healthy berries.
Formative pruning
To get a decorative mulberry on a trunk, you need to carry out the first pruning on a young tree no older than 2 years. Later, it will be difficult to form a beautiful crown in the shape of an umbrella or a ball. When pruning, you need to remember that the harvest appears on last year's shoots, so they cannot be completely removed.
Crown formation technique:
- During the first pruning, the main task is to obtain a standard of the desired height - 1.5-2 m. To do this, all the side branches need to be cut off.
- For 3-4 years it is necessary to shorten annual shoots to 30-40 cm or to the fourth bud from the trunk.
- In subsequent years, annual branches are reduced to half the height of the trunk.
- It is necessary to ensure that the shoots do not thicken the crown. There should be a distance of about 15 cm between them. Otherwise, the inner branches will be in the shade of the foliage, begin to dry out, and will not be able to overwinter.
Attention!
Pruning can be done in early spring, when sap flow has not yet begun, but the temperature remains stable at least -10 C.
Methods for forming mulberries
Mulberry trees need to be trimmed to create a beautiful crown, eliminate low-quality shoots and rejuvenate the plant. For pruning you will need:
- pruner;
- hacksaw.
To form it, you need to remove all shoots on a meter-long stem. The event must be carried out before the buds bloom.
Attention!
The temperature should remain at least –10°C.
The plant is distinguished by shoots of the same size. The central one is not isolated. Branches need to be cut to the lower and side buds. Through this, the summer resident creates the necessary bend.
Reproduction
Weeping mulberry is a self-fertile variety. It simultaneously contains female and male flowers. The photo clearly shows the difference between them. Women's are denser, short, wide, men's are loose, long.
A common method of propagation is cuttings. To do this, in September, after the foliage has completely fallen from young shoots 1 year old, you need to cut 15 cm branches. Bury them in sand for the winter, and in the spring, when the buds begin to bloom, plant them in boxes with fertile soil. Deepen almost the entire cutting so that only 2 cm remains on the surface. For the winter, cover with burlap, top with spruce branches or fallen leaves, and cover with snow. They are planted in a permanent location in April, when there is no threat of return frosts.
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It is extremely rarely propagated by seeds. In this case, germination is very poor, the harvest is not earlier than 7-8 years of life, the gender of the tree is unknown in advance. Generally, seed propagation is not done at home.
Another way is vaccination. A male non-fruiting mulberry tree is suitable as a rootstock. At the end of February or beginning of March, it is necessary to prepare scion cuttings. They are cut at an acute angle on young annual shoots with well-formed buds. Place in the cellar or refrigerator before it gets warm.
During flowering or two weeks before it, make the same sharp cut on the rootstock to accurately align it with the scion. Coat the joint with softened garden varnish, wrap it with burlap on top, and reinforce it with wire. After a month it will be clear whether the vaccination has taken root or not. It is better to make 4-5 cuttings at the same time.
Application in landscape design
Weeping mulberries are often used for decorative purposes. They use it to landscape alleys, squares, and garden plots. Thanks to the long branches hanging to the ground, it looks original even in winter. You can shape and trim the crown shorter - in the shape of an umbrella.
In small areas of private houses it looks good in a composition with evergreen thujas of different heights and shapes. In order not to stain the asphalt or the ground under the tree, special varieties have been bred that practically do not bear fruit.
Variety of varieties
Today, original mulberry varieties grow on Russian territory, created specifically for our country. The first among them - white honey - is white berries up to 3 cm or more in size and has an extraordinary taste. Soft berries wrinkle easily during transportation, which is their only drawback.
Smolenskaya pink variety, growing in central Russia, is frost-resistant. The medium-sized pink fruits have a pleasant taste. A photo of Smolensk pink mulberry allows you to verify this.
Variety Fruit 1 White berries have a pleasant taste and dense consistency. During transportation they do not lose their presentation for a long time.
Among others, it is worth noting such varieties as: Merezhevo, Fruit 4, Black Baroness, Black Prince, Shelly and many others.
Reviews
Valery, 47 years old,
planted a weeping mulberry on the plot 8 years ago. During this time, it formed a beautiful trunk 1.8 m high. In the first years, I cut off annual shoots, leaving a third, but noticed that the yield decreased because of this. I began to trim only 1/3 of the height of the trunk, and the number of berries increased. Now the tree stands beautiful with shoots reaching the ground and there is enough harvest.
Ivan, 39 years old
I love mulberry, but I never wanted a huge tree to grow on the plot, so I planted a small weeping one. Although the harvest is not so rich, it does not take up much space and looks beautiful, even in winter. You don’t need much care - remove the grass around it, water it a couple of times a month, if it rains, then you don’t need it at all, and fertilize it in spring and late summer.
For those who have little space on their site. And I really want to eat delicious mulberry, the weeping mulberry is suitable. It grows up to 3-4 m in height and 2 m in width. Sweet fruits appear already in the 5th year of life. Even a person who is not particularly versed in gardening can handle the unpretentious care. The tree will be able to please more than one generation with its decorative appearance - on average its lifespan is 200 years.
Color classification of mulberries
Mulberry fruits have a pleasant taste and are indispensable in the food industry; even wine is made from them. The beneficial properties of mulberry do not end there. The berries contain a large amount of vitamins, in particular vitamin C, more than 10 percent, microelements and other useful substances. All the variety of subspecies of this plant is combined into three main types: white, red and black mulberry.
It must be said that the color classification of mulberry occurs not by the color of its fruit, as is the case with most fruit-bearing trees, but by the color of its bark. However, the color of their bark corresponds only approximately to their names. Where they really differ from each other is their habitat.
The most thermophilic, red mulberry grows only in tropical climates. Black - much less picky about the ambient temperature and is often found in the south of Russia in our subtropics, in the North Caucasus, Kuban, and Crimea.
The most unpretentious is the white mulberry. Today, these trees have spread so far to the north that in our time, growing mulberries is possible even in the temperate climate zone: in the Moscow region, in the Urals and in southern Siberia.
