White Mulberry

A first-class shade tree that manages to look cool, even on the hottest days providing fruit for your table and leaves for your silk worms! This heirloom fruit tree graced the gardens of early settlers where it was used for its fruit, often transformed into mulberry wine, as well as its valuable shade.

It reaches heights of 8 m and a width of 8 m and is deciduous providing shade in summer and letting the heat in through winter. It flowers in August to September and fruits October to January.

Plant seeds in early Spring. Germination rates can be improved by cold stratifying the seed prior to sowing. To do this mix equal parts of seed and damp sand in a container and store in the refrigerator (not freezer) for 6 weeks.

Do not use sand that is dripping wet otherwise your seeds may rot. Remove the container from your refrigerator and sit the container in lukewarm water overnight before sowing out the seeds. This process tricks the seeds into thinking they’ve experienced a cold Winter and the warm soak afterwards helps to speed up germination.

It is tolerant of a range of soils, although it performs best in a soil enriched with compost and decomposed manure. Prune if required to control growth, or let it go and enjoy the shade. Mulberries fruit on new season growth so prune after harvest to ensure optimal new shoots for next year’s crop.