mulberry tree, need advice

I have what I belive to be mulberry trees near my back patio area. I did not know what kind of plant/tree it was so I have let them grow. I think the birds dropped them off as a present

so the question is should I keep them or cut down? I have 4 growing. they are growing in pairs on each side of my back patio. I believe male and female if mulberry trees have male and female. One trees leaves is more rounded and the other leave fingered like. sorry if bad explanation. one pair is near my house maybe 2 feet away, will this cause problems in the long run? it is already taller than my house. If I cut them down then I could put in a nice bed there. This year there was a few berries but never became ripe.

Should I keep them or cut down? Anyone have a mulberry tree?

I also had a volunteer mulberry tree. The berries made a good cobbler, but the purple bird droppings were a mess and my tree was away from my driveway and patio area. Had to remember to check the bottom of my shoes after walking in the grass under the tree.



Kay

walshevak

I am wondering how big was your tree? I have read that some type can get very tall and have lots of branches. I think the pair that is close to my house I will have to cut down this spring. I do not want the roots to mess up my house foundation or the branches to break a window during

a storm

Tree was about 15ft tall and spread out all over the fence line and into both mine and my neighbor's yards when I moved. I don't know how old the tree was as I had rented the house out from 92-98. I moved permanently in 99, but that summer had some messy berries.

Kay

Thanks Kay, my tree now is over the roof line. so close to 15 feet aldready and around 3 years old. its a pretty tree but I think I ll take the pair closest to the house out. since its only 2 feet away from the house my other pair are a good 10 feet away. hmm what to do lol. well if I take the closet trees out it will give me some more space for a nice garden area:lol:

newstart wrote: well if I take the closet trees out it will give me some more space for a nice garden area:lol:

Well, there's your answer!

I don't think it's ever a good idea to keep any tree that is only 2 feet from the foundation. As the tree grows, you are inviting the roots to play around under your house and cause all sorts of damage that looks like "settling cracks" in your interior walls and even damage the foundation walls of your house.

Mulberry trees, can grow quite large, too. From the trees I see in St. Louis, they can have some really shallow running roots that continue to swell. Trees are constantly the cause of sidewalks heaved and cracked as the slabs are lifted by the roots....driveways, too. I have to constantly keep an eye out for these guys as I mow people's yards. Maple trees are notorious, too.

If it were me, I would take the thing down. If I still loved Mulberry trees, or any other fruiting ornamental, I would design a plan and place the tree where I wanted it. At least 20 feet away from the house and a ways away from the garden area I wanted, too. Those roots will find your beautiful soil super quick, too.

Here are a couple pics of some rather invasive Mulberries.....if you imagine them only 2 feet from your house.







Here is a nice diagram showing the influence a tree's roots can have..

well out they go. The second picture loos like my tree well they will come up this spring and in thier place a nice potatoe or herd bed will go I will not feel too bad since the birds gave me these trees. Next time I will tell the birds to plant them somewhere else:x

thanks everyone

we have one but its way out back along a fence line. the other half likes them so i tied a tarp to the fence and hammered a couple of 2x2's for the other corners and used a 10 foot peice of 3/4 inch pvc pipe to tap the branchs to drop the fruit on the tarp. she likes to make smoothes with them.

boog

Oh... you have a BIG problem if you want to get rid of them. I have a few on my fence line that we have cut down... they grow back from the roots just like a weed. You will have to watch it like a hawk to make sure it stays dead.

I have read about drilling a hole into the freshly cut stump putting a funnel in the hole it and filling it with weed killer... so the stump feeds the weed killer to the roots. But I haven't tried it (yet) and I'm not sure how that would work with a section of land you want to use to grow something on.

I found this page that has a girl that seems to know her stuff... something to try to avoid chemicals.

(I'm to new to post a link)

here is a copy & paste of the advice column ... written by Carol at a website called allexperts.

"Some tree anatomy background may help: Trees have three main anatomical parts--the bark, the cambian, and xylem, or true wood. The cambian is a narrow band of cells in the area between the bark and the xylem, and it is where the growth actually occurs. The mechanism to naturally kill weedy trees involves girdling the tree, or cutting off a strip of the bark and the cambian layer all the way around the tree's trunk. Cut a strip of bark off from around the tree, and then make sure to scrape the cambian layer. This will result in fewer sprouts than if you simply cut the tree down with a chainsaw, though by fall you will be able to do just that.

Now, during the summer, go out every two to three weeks with a set of good garden clippers and clip back all the sprouts. Also, if you missed any area of cambium in your girdling, the bark will begin growing back, so remove it and re-peal the cambium layer in any spot you missed.

In the fall, you can cut the trees down above the girdled line. Then next year, check for sprouts again, though usually they will be few and far between, as you have reduced the root's energy by keeping the sprouts regularly clipped off this year.

One option that may help reduce sprouting (it does with other weedy species that I know of) is to soak the wounds where you have clipped back sprouts each time you do it with some cheap white vinegar from the grocery store. Pouring it on the wounds of many weeds weakens the roots faster, thus reducing resprouting. I have never had the occassion to try it on Mulberry, but at a few dollars per gallon, its worth a shot, and it did help us control both thistle and ironwood tree sprouts."

well thanks. I was just going to cut down and try to dig up the trunk and roots. I will start doing this. Then spring or summer dig up



just need to tell my wild birds to plant their seeds away from the house lol

Definitely need to control the stump. I didn't mention that, but it's important. I had a mulberry tree in a former backyard that was very old and already gone when we bought the house 12 years ago. About 2 years into the house, it decided to come back. It's now 25 feet tall and producing berries. It wasn't in a place to do any harm, so I intentionally let it come back. I was inspired by it's determination to be honest.

In my newer house, I have one I severely cut back last spring that is actually growing IN the chain link fence. It's going to be a much bigger challenge to control for me.

If you are afraid of chemicals, for about $50 a lot of tree companies will grind the stump for you if they are already in the neighborhood. If you aren't afraid of chemicals, drilling holes and RoundUp or stump killer will eventually do the trick. However, you won't get grass to grow in that spot for years, either.

One method I wouldn't recommend, but know works very well, is to drill holes and fill with lighter fluid. Drop match......burn baby burn. End of tree. Obviously, I can't recommend anyone try that method. But, what you do on your own time.....

I wish you luck in whichever decision you make.

One method I wouldn't recommend, but know works very well, is to drill holes and fill with lighter fluid. Drop match......burn baby burn. End of tree. Obviously, I can't recommend anyone try that method. But, what you do on your own time.....

been there got the scars to prove it my f-i-l hada couple of stumps he keeped hiting with his rider so me, dumbazz me got the idea ta drill a couple of holes on the top of the trunk an poured GAS in it. went ta light it an not only did the trail of gas to the stump catch on fire so did my hand. but alas theres no more stumps.

Well since its sooooo close to the house I think Ill pass on setting the tree on fire I don't think I could explain to my husband how I burnt down the house buy trying to get rid of a tree

newstart wrote:Well since its sooooo close to the house I think Ill pass on setting the tree on fire I don't think I could explain to my husband how I burnt down the house buy trying to get rid of a tree

I think that would be something Hubby has learned to expect from me!
GG