Should I buy a dwarf or contorted mulberry tree?

[leoturt]

Or are they both the same thing?
I don't need a large size one. And one without invasive, destructive roots.
I can plant it in the ground.
Which one would be best but also which leaves would be better liked by my leopard tort? It seems like torts like one type more than the other.

 

[Maro2Bear]

The Contorted Mulberry are prized for their gnarly looking branches often cut & used in craft work/flower displays, etc. So, this type is possibly more expensive...

Id say it depends what you are looking for. The gnarly look might provide a nice touch to your landscape during the Winter. If you don’t care - personally id just buy the cheapest. So, it all depends. Cost, firm function, size. And, whats easily available.

 

[turtlesteve]

If you are harvesting it constantly for food a dwarf variety will not grow as fast or produce as much food. I guess it depends on how much you need. You could also plant a normal one and coppice it (cut to the ground) yearly to keep it small.

I have both white and red mulberry. These are the two species that grow well in the southeast. My tortoises eat both but seem to prefer the white mulberry if given a choice. In Mediterranean climates the black mulberry is a 3rd fruiting species, I presume they have edible leaves too, but they won’t grow here.

 

[wellington]

I have 3 dwarf. They are slow growing and only get around 10 feet. The branches are more like a weeping willow, thin and drooping. Once they get tall enough they will make a nice shade canopy I think. I have had them since 2015 and they are maybe 4-4 1/2 feet tall.

 

[leoturt]

I have 3 dwarf. They are slow growing and only get around 10 feet. The branches are more like a weeping willow, thin and drooping. Once they get tall enough they will make a nice shade canopy I think. I have had them since 2015 and they are maybe 4-4 1/2 feet tall.

How soon did they start having edible leaves?

 

[wellington]

How soon did they start having edible leaves?

I believe the very next year. Possibly the same year it might have had a few. Didnt take long. Each year gives more and bigger then the last.

 

[Yvonne G]

If you are harvesting it constantly for food a dwarf variety will not grow as fast or produce as much food. I guess it depends on how much you need. You could also plant a normal one and coppice it (cut to the ground) yearly to keep it small.

I have both white and red mulberry. These are the two species that grow well in the southeast. My tortoises eat both but seem to prefer the white mulberry if given a choice. In Mediterranean climates the black mulberry is a 3rd fruiting species, I presume they have edible leaves too, but they won’t grow here.

About five years ago my tortoise partner planted seven or eight white mulberrys across the front of the then Aldabran yard (now Babcock yard), and we started training them to "espalier" out to the sides. It got to be too much for me to keep pruned, so I bought a 40v ion powered hedge trimmer, and now I just trim it like a hedge. These are normal sized trees, but I keep them in a hedge shape. This is when I was trying to keep them espalier:



And here they are now, from the other side of the fence, after being trimmed over and over with the electric hedge trimmers:




The trunks are about five inches diameter and they would be a good sized tree if allowed to grow tall.

 

[leoturt]

If you are harvesting it constantly for food a dwarf variety will not grow as fast or produce as much food. I guess it depends on how much you need. You could also plant a normal one and coppice it (cut to the ground) yearly to keep it small.

I have both white and red mulberry. These are the two species that grow well in the southeast. My tortoises eat both but seem to prefer the white mulberry if given a choice. In Mediterranean climates the black mulberry is a 3rd fruiting species, I presume they have edible leaves too, but they won’t grow here.

It will just be for one leopard tort. Would a dwarf mullberry that's like 5 yrs old produce too few leaves for even 1 tortoise if some leaves were fed several times a week?

 

[leoturt]

I have 3 dwarf. They are slow growing and only get around 10 feet. The branches are more like a weeping willow, thin and drooping. Once they get tall enough they will make a nice shade canopy I think. I have had them since 2015 and they are maybe 4-4 1/2 feet tall.

Are they all the same type? Or do you have different dwarves and if so does the torts prefer one type of leaf over the other?

Also, would 1 tree produce enough leaves, once the tree is like 4 or 5 yrs old, to be able to feed some leaves like 3x a week?

 

[wellington]

Are they all the same type? Or do you have different dwarves and if so does the torts prefer one type of leaf over the other?

Also, would 1 tree produce enough leaves, once the tree is like 4 or 5 yrs old, to be able to feed some leaves like 3x a week?

Mine are all the same kind.
As for feeding the leaves 3-4 times a week. That would depend on how many leaves and how many tortoises. I don't feed the leaves in the summer. I feed them in winter when I have to use grocery greens.