Zone 9B Florida: The Life of my Dwarf Everbearing Mulberry tree

Introduction: I ended the celebration of Thanksgiving 2020 by purchasing a “dwarf super sweet everbearing mulberry tree (Morus nigra)” to add to my edible garden from GreenEarthPlants on Etsy for $11.95 with additional $10.95 for shipping cost. I bought this because I think my kids will enjoy the fruit and it seems be a low maintenance fruit tree that can be trained as a bush or dwarf tree with a mature height of about 10 to 15 feet tall and spread out about 15 to 20 feet wide if planted in the ground. The dwarf everbearing mulberry tree can be kept and pruned to 6 feet tall in a pot. This fruit tree needs six to eight hours of full sun to thrive. This will be an ongoing documentary starting December 1, 2020.

1. 12/01/2020: The dwarf everbearing mulberry tree arrived. Its height is about 10-inches tall.

2. 12/07/2020: I potted this tree. It measures to about 10-inches tall. I am planning to plant this tree in the ground when it gets to about 3-feet tall in the front yard for my children and the kids on the cul-de-sac to enjoy.

3. 2/27/21: I started training the tree with a main straight trunk by first stripping the side leaves off, leaving just about 5 leaves at the top.

4. 3/01/21: I up-pot the tree into a 7-gallon pot.

5. 4/26/21 & 5/07/21: I up-pot the Everbearing Mulberry tree into a 10-gallon pot, continue stripping the side leaves off. I also started reinforcing the straight trunk with a bamboo stake and secure the trunk to the the stake with ties.

6. October 2021: The strong wind and storm knocked the tree over and broke the stake so I I had to pruned the branches to give it a better stability. Having one young thin trunk with so many long branches at the top doesn’t balance the weight well with a strong wind so I cut each of the branches back leaving about an arm’s length on each branch.

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7. November 2021: Okay, this tree doesn’t really pretty during this time of year. After pruning the branches back, I am starting to see new growth already. I’m planning to pot this tree up though. Still debating if I should or not. I finally decided to plant the Everbearing Mulberry tree into the ground in the backyard in front of my daughter’s bedroom window hoping it will provide some shade for the window.

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8. Okay, I realized it’s not a pretty looking tree in the winter during the cold weather weeks. The foliage turns brown with bronze and rusty looking colors all over the leaves. The idea of planting the tree in front of my daughter’s bedroom for shade and privacy barrier was not ideal. So I dug the tree out and transplant it to the front yard. LOL! I do pray my tree doesn’t die every time I dug up trees to relocate. It’s not good to keep on transplanting and relocating trees once in the ground but then, it’s my yard, I need to feel a balance harmony for each tree and where it’s located. Besides, transplanting the tree while it’s still young is better than when it’s 4 years or older in the ground. While trying to dig the root system out of the ground, I noticed several main roots were cut and damaged.

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9. My dwarf everbearing mulberry tree survived in it’s location in the front yard. But after a few weeks, I kept looking outside my window and wasn’t happy where the four fruit trees are located. So I moved my Grumichama cherry tree near the mailbox spot and transport the Dwarf Everbearing Mulberry once again from the ground to where the Grumichama cherry was near the sidewalk. I’m finally happy with where it is standing now in my front edible garden.

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