Mulberry
Morus nigra
Generous old-garden tree dripping dark fruit the birds and bees adore.
Light Full sun
Water Moderate
USDA zones 4a–9b
Height 6–12 m
Spread 23 ft
Spacing 3–5 m
Sow depth Deep
Spacing & sowing
- Plant spacing
- 13 ft 1 in
- In-row spacing
- 13 ft 1 in
- Between rows
- 16 ft 5 in
- Square-foot density
- Not suited to SFG
Calendar (from your frost dates)
- Plant out
- at the last spring frost
- First harvest
- 90 days after the last spring frost
- Harvest ends
- 60 days before the first fall frost
Growing
- Type
- Fruit · Perennial
- Botanical family
- Mixed / other
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Watering
- Moderate
- Soil
- Deep, fertile, well-drained
- Feeding
- A compost mulch in spring; it rarely needs feeding beyond that.
- USDA zones
- 4a–9b
- Frost tolerant
- Yes
- Flowering
- May
- Pruning
- Prune only in winter dormancy, and cut as little as you can.
Through the year
- Apr–May Bud Break
- May–May Flowering
- May–Jul Fruit Set
- Jul–Aug Harvest
- Aug–Oct Growing
- Oct–Dec Leaf Fall
- Jan–Apr Leaf Fall
Harvest
- When
- July–August in the UK; black mulberries (the flavor king) are famously slow — 7–9 years to real cropping from a young tree, though grafted and dwarf types fruit in 2–4 years.
- What to look for
- Berries at their darkest — black mulberries a deep purple-black, soft, and fall-apart juicy; they detach at a touch or drop of their own accord. If it resists at all it will be sharp. Whites and reds ripen paler but equally soft.
- How to harvest
- The traditional harvest: spread clean sheets or nets under the tree and shake the branches gently — ripe fruit rains down; hand-pick only what you can reach without squeezing. Wear old clothes: the juice stains indelibly (and so does the ground beneath).
- How often
- Every 2–3 days over a 3–4 week season; the tree ripens fruit in a long succession, never all at once.
- Storing the crop
- Almost zero shelf life — hours to a day at room temperature, 2 days refrigerated, which is why mulberries never appear in shops. Eat immediately, or freeze/jam/make mulberry gin the same day. Best eaten standing under the tree.
Companions
Comfrey, Chives, Alliums
Pests & problems
- Generally trouble-free No notable pest or disease problems when grown in the right conditions — one of the easy ones.
Did you know?
Silkworms eat only mulberry leaves — this tree built the ancient silk trade.
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com