Mulberry Tree Prunning

Len B

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I've been growing mulberry trees for 12 years for my tortoises. A few years ago I cut one back during the winter while it was dormant and noticed that it produced more leaves and they were bigger than the leaves on the trees that were not pruned. This first pic was taken late April this year.mulberry April 23.jpg The new growth is just starting to come out. .These pics were taken today.mulberry Picture 3514.jpgThe branch running from bottom right to upper left is one of the first new branches, At the base of each leaf another new limb starts growingmulberry Picture 3519.jpg mulberry Picture 3514 copy 2.jpgThis is the size of the leaves on the first new growth limbsmulberry Picture 3521.jpgNot only will you get more and bigger leaves you wont get any berries on the new growth Also the new limbs stay flexible enough to bend them down to get the leaves that are out of reach. In the fall when the growing season ends I start trimming the limbs back and strip the all the leaves off for food or dry for winter food.
 

wellington

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I have wondered about trimming mine. I have 3 fruitless dwarfs. They get filled with leaves and full with branches but have not grown very tall yet. They are so full and branches hang to the ground that you can't see under them at all. I'm just afraid of damaging it some how. Maybe I will try one this fall and see what happens next year then go from there. Would love to get leaves that big.
 

Marianna

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Here in Greece we have millions of mulberrie trees. We prune them right back to the trunk at the end of the summer. Shepherds and farmers then feed the leaves to the sheep and goats. The trees need pruning. This way they will get more dense and grow faster. I have 1 tree that I don't prune and it looks pathetic compared with the other ones that have leafs up to 25 cm.
 
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daniellenc

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I just discovered I have a mulberry tree lol and it’s growing out of a bush at that. I know I know how did I miss this? I’m an avid non gardener and have killed everything I’ve tried to grow up until this year. How does one prune a tree? And my RF likes the fruit so I’d like some berry productivity.
 

Maro2Bear

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Take a pix of your mulberry tree that needs pruning. I prune and trim almost everything around here... my fig trees, rose of sharon, hybrid poplar, red maple, dogwoods.... good luck. Get pruning.

I might have to make a run down to the Northern Neck of Va when Len starts cutting! Good posting.
 
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daniellenc

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Lol my rose of Sharon you’ll really laugh at. I’ll get pics of both.
 

daniellenc

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Ok first two pics rose of Sharon and second two my mulberry tree that grew out of a bush.
EC53E858-F5B8-4CE7-91A3-13383E0F8C8A.jpeg E930302D-2E57-479D-8FB1-EABE4AD08979.jpeg 0792EB69-B29B-426B-9430-3FA276BCC837.jpeg 76C5A3BD-E549-419F-8AE9-3F59A4406D1B.jpeg
 

daniellenc

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Well, there is plenty of 1. Tortoise food and 2. Opportunity to Prune!
Lol it’s embarrassing I know. I didn’t show the plantain, dandelion, lambs ear, and other weeds taking over but my tort won’t starve at least. I’m growing testudo mix as well and have no clue how to trim it! I need gardening 101 badly.
 

Maro2Bear

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Lol it’s embarrassing I know. I didn’t show the plantain, dandelion, lambs ear, and other weeds taking over but my tort won’t starve at least. I’m growing testudo mix as well and have no clue how to trim it! I need gardening 101 badly.

I’ll snap a pix of our Rose of Sharon, now tightly pruned, since all the new growth on upper branches were pruned during a feeding yesterday. The more you prune, as @Turtulas-Len notes, the thicker and denser the growth comes back.

Same with hibiscus... prune, let grow, prune and feed, etc.

What part of Md are you in...I’m just west of Bowie, near NASA Goddard and Beltsville Ag Research Center.
 

daniellenc

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I’ll snap a pix of our Rose of Sharon, now tightly pruned, since all the new growth on upper branches were pruned during a feeding yesterday. The more you prune, as @Turtulas-Len notes, the thicker and denser the growth comes back.

Same with hibiscus... prune, let grow, prune and feed, etc.

What part of Md are you in...I’m just west of Bowie, near NASA Goddard and Beltsville Ag Research Center.
I’m in Rockville about 45 minutes away from you. I don’t know what pruning really is. Yes cut it back but how much? With one red foot who’s a year old he isn’t eating enough to naturally prune much. Even when I clip his testudo mix I question where to clip so I’m probably doing it wrong. FYI single Mom of two teens who’s never gardened until having a tortoise. Testudo mix, marigolds, and campanula are the only thing I’m intentionally growing. Everything else growing is there because I don’t know what to do with it. I actually just ID my mulberry tree to be honest so how to prune and where to clip plants to feed would be awesome knowledge.
 

Maro2Bear

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Ok....for the past few days I have been cutting back about a foot of new growth with nice new fresh leaves for our Sully. Just yesterday, I trimmed off the scraggly ends and had a nice bunch of new growth for our Sully.

Pix of the pruned back ROS:

59EC2B5E-C1FA-4F03-A4DB-4B86F0F56645.jpeg


Sully tucking into fresh ROS cuttings

4A4E18D7-8E62-49F7-A99E-6A51474CB513.jpeg
 

leoturt

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I've been growing mulberry trees for 12 years for my tortoises. A few years ago I cut one back during the winter while it was dormant and noticed that it produced more leaves and they were bigger than the leaves on the trees that were not pruned. This first pic was taken late April this year.View attachment 242052 The new growth is just starting to come out. .These pics were taken today.View attachment 242053The branch running from bottom right to upper left is one of the first new branches, At the base of each leaf another new limb starts growingView attachment 242057 View attachment 242058This is the size of the leaves on the first new growth limbsView attachment 242060Not only will you get more and bigger leaves you wont get any berries on the new growth Also the new limbs stay flexible enough to bend them down to get the leaves that are out of reach. In the fall when the growing season ends I start trimming the limbs back and strip the all the leaves off for food or dry for winter food.
I dont get it, how quickly does the tree grow back after cutting it so much? Does it grow back to its orginal size by the end of the next season but with bigger and more leaves?
 
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Canadian Mojo

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Google pollarding (mulberry trees) there's lots of info on it that explains the process.

--Pollarding is the cutting everything back pruning technique people are talking about here. It's got a millennia long history so there is lots of good advice out there. I'm familiar with it, but never actually done myself so I can't give you any practical tips.
 

Yvonne G

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@Turtulas-Len - I know this is an old thread, but i wanted to add my experience with the size of the leaves after severe pruning.

I had a purple empress tree in my leopard yard. After blooming, hard walnut-sized seed pods develop and I was worried a tortoise may try to eat one and end up choking to death, so the next time my tortoise partner visited I asked him to cut the tree down as close to the ground as he could. He was able to cut it an inch away from the ground. I expected the tree to be dead. But no. . this Spring two shoots came up from the stump, one on each side, and each leaf is two feet across! The leaves prior to cutting the tree down were only about eight to ten inches.

I have never pruned my mulberry tree, thinking I would shorten its life by causing accelerated growth because the tree had to catch up to the root spread. But seeing the new leaves on that empress tree, this fall I'm going to prune, prune, prune those mulberry trees!
 

Tom

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I have never pruned my mulberry tree...
Same here. I've pruned a little bit, but it didn't seem to do much. My neighbor has super healthy growing mulberries and I've asked her gardener to come teach me how to properly prune all my mulberries this fall. The leaves on all their trees are so much fuller, larger, more tender, and just more delectable all around. The leaves on my trees seem kind of dry, rough and small by comparison. The leaves on my neighbor's trees look so good I want to eat them myself!

I've managed to find and utilize a lot more mulberry leaves for my tortoises this year. Don't know why that is. Just fed out another truckload today.
 

Len B

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Same here. I've pruned a little bit, but it didn't seem to do much. My neighbor has super healthy growing mulberries and I've asked her gardener to come teach me how to properly prune all my mulberries this fall. The leaves on all their trees are so much fuller, larger, more tender, and just more delectable all around. The leaves on my trees seem kind of dry, rough and small by comparison. The leaves on my neighbor's trees look so good I want to eat them myself!

I've managed to find and utilize a lot more mulberry leaves for my tortoises this year. Don't know why that is. Just fed out another truckload today.
This year I did a full prune on some of my mulberry trees. I cut them back below the bottom limb with just a stump of the trunk left. They were slow getting started, but I just went and picked this leaf off of one of them,Picture 036.jpg I didn't hurt them at all with the big cutback. They are big but still tender.
 

turtlesteve

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Generally pollarding or heading cuts (“topping” trees) is BAD technique, but is common because most landscapers don't care or know better and it saves them time. Most homeowners see it so often they think it’s normal. This technique stimulates trees to rapidly sprout at the cut and the new growth is generally faster, thicker, and results in weaker branches. It can kill trees or make them more hazardous.

For producing tortoise food, well, we really don’t care - all we want is tender new leaves. So read up on proper pruning techniques, and then do the opposite.
 

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