The Wonders of the Mulberry Tree

Mulberry Trees evoke a love-hate response from their owners. They are great shade trees with beautiful shape, but their berries can either be a messy disaster for their owners or a wonderful delight.

The Mulberry or Morus is a genus of 10-16 species of deciduous trees native to warm subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Mulberries grow quickly when young and then slow down once they achieve maturity. A mulberry rarely exceeds 33 to 49 feet in height.

The mulberry has been known to mankind since thousands of years. The use of the tree has also been important throughout history, whether it is in China where the leaves are used to feed the silkworms in order to enhance silk production or for the Romans who used the leaves to treat various diseases. The mulberry is also acknowledged in mythology and folklore. According to a German folklore, the fruits of mulberry trees are associated with evil, as it was believed that the devil uses the roots of this tree to polish his boots.


The fruit of a mulberry is edible and has been used in pies, tarts, and even wines or cordials. There are three types of fruit, the black mulberry, white mulberry and red. The white mulberry is an east Asian species and its leaves are the preferred feedstock for silkworms, making them popular in Asia. In traditional Chinese medicine, the fruit is used to treat prematurely grey hair, to "tonify" the blood, and treat constipation and diabetes. The bark of the mulberry is used to treat cough, wheezing, edema, and to promote urination.

A mature mulberry plant contains significant amounts of resveratrol, particularly in stem bark. The fruit and leaves are sold in various forms as nutritional supplements. Raw fruit and green parts of the plant have a white sap that is intoxicating and mildly hallucinogenic.

The mulberry is also known for its Anthocyanins or pigments which are used as natural food colorants. Anthocyanin content depends on climate, area of cultivation, and is particularly higher in sunny climates.

If growing your own mulberries, place your tree where there is full sun and adequate space. Leave close to 15 feet between trees and don't plant them near sidewalks, as the fallen fruit is quite messy. Mulberries like a warm, well-drained soil. Although they are somewhat drought-resistant, mulberries need to be watered in dry seasons. If the roots become too dry, the fruit will drop before ripe.

As for pruning your mulberry, there are no special techniques required after the branches have been trained to a sturdy framework, except to remove dead or overcrowded wood. You can keep your mulberry tree in tidy form by developing a set of main branches, and then pruning laterals to 6 leaves in July in order to develop spurs near the main branches. It is not advisable to prune the trees heavily since the plant is inclined to bleed at the cuts. Cuts of more than two inches in diameter generally do not heal and should be avoided at all cost. The bleeding will be less severe if the tree is pruned while it is dormant.

If you are planting your mulberry just for the sake of shade and are not interested in the fruit, you can plant the 'male' mulberry. Whether you are picking out a mulberry for ornamental value or for its fruit, it is most likely you will enjoy the mulberry tree as thousands of others have over the years.