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Avatar for joshua_oaklane
Nov 4, 2024 6:46 AM CST
Thread OP
Southwestern PA
This plant grew naturally where the stump from an old pine tree was on our property. I'm not sure if it just a weed or something I should try and save and trip into a more decorative item.

Does anyone know what type of plant this might be?

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Nov 4, 2024 6:47 AM CST
Name: stone
near Macon Georgia (USA) (Zone 8a)
Garden Sages Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Plant Identifier
Looks like mulberry...

While not the native red mulberry, I got good fruit this spring from one I had next to the house...

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Last edited by stone Nov 4, 2024 6:56 AM Icon for preview
Avatar for catpaworchid
Nov 4, 2024 6:54 AM CST

I agree.
It walks like a mulberry, quacks like a mulberry and looks like a mulberry, so it is a duck!!! Sorry, feeling a bit silly this morning. Sighing!
Avatar for joshua_oaklane
Nov 4, 2024 6:59 AM CST
Thread OP
Southwestern PA
Thank you! After looking at some pictures of the various types of leafs on the internet, I can see how it might be a mulberry.

Does anyone know if it is a plant that I should keep at take care of or is there a downside to having a mulberry on our property?
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Nov 4, 2024 7:11 AM CST
Name: stone
near Macon Georgia (USA) (Zone 8a)
Garden Sages Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Plant Identifier
I like eating mulberries... I also use the trunk of the tree as fence posts when it gets big enough to cut down...
Mulberries are attractive to the song birds, and the leaves are forage to a number of lepidoptera, which... help the songbirds to raise their families...
Good in a number of ways... the only problem is that it isn't a native plant...
Over all... I'd enjoy the tree.

If you opted for removal, what would you replace the tree with?

Sure looks like you need a tree there...

Edit:
Found this... Pros and cons of mulberry... Especially the white mulberry that you have:
https://www.foodforestnursery....
Last edited by stone Nov 4, 2024 7:28 AM Icon for preview
Avatar for joshua_oaklane
Nov 4, 2024 7:19 AM CST
Thread OP
Southwestern PA
I think I'll keep the Mulberry (definitely need a tree or something decorative there).

I guess I need to learn how to take care of a mulberry tree now Sad
Avatar for porkpal
Nov 4, 2024 7:49 AM CST
Name: Porkpal
Richmond, TX (Zone 9a)
Cat Lover Charter ATP Member Keeper of Poultry I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Dog Lover Keeps Horses
Roses Plant Identifier Farmer Raises cows Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
I find mulberries to be quite self-sufficient.
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Nov 4, 2024 11:16 AM CST
Name: Sally
central Maryland (Zone 7b)
See you in the funny papers!
Overwinters Tender Plants Indoors Garden Procrastinator Charter ATP Member Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Houseplants
Keeper of Poultry Vegetable Grower Region: Maryland Composter Native Plants and Wildflowers Organic Gardener
I don't like the wild mulberries- Morus alba. I guess birds like the berries.
And you have a tree starting as a shrub.. how's that going to go? And is it just below power lines?

I'm not a fan of that tree in that spot. Maybe think about the big picture. But it is your yard, I'm not telling you what to do.
Plant it and they will come.
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Nov 4, 2024 11:46 AM CST
Name: Zoë
Albuquerque NM, Elev 5310 ft (Zone 7b)
Bee Lover Salvias Region: New Mexico Herbs Container Gardener Composter
Cat Lover Butterflies Bookworm Birds Enjoys or suffers hot summers
Perhaps if you determine whether it's a red or white mulberry you can make a more educated decision. The environmental folks in Pennsylvania aren't too keen about the white variety, love the red.
https://weconservepa.org/blog/...

Here's another informative article relevant to PA
https://elibrary.dcnr.pa.gov/P...

One more consideration: do those power lines visible in the first picture cross over the tree? Mulberries I've known get very big.
Avatar for porkpal
Nov 4, 2024 12:31 PM CST
Name: Porkpal
Richmond, TX (Zone 9a)
Cat Lover Charter ATP Member Keeper of Poultry I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Dog Lover Keeps Horses
Roses Plant Identifier Farmer Raises cows Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
Yes, volunteer trees often come up under power lines thanks to the birds who perch there.
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Nov 5, 2024 6:07 AM CST
Name: stone
near Macon Georgia (USA) (Zone 8a)
Garden Sages Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Plant Identifier
Wish I had pics of my entire tree... I climbed ladder & picked what I could, got up on roof to pick more...
This summer, I cut tree down... Used as fence posts...
The mulberries tasted fine to me... even if it was a chinese mulberry...
The birds weren't complaining about the taste either...

I can't tell if that wire is over the tree or to the side...

As empty as that yard is... I'd keep the tree until I found something else...

Even If I had to keep it pruned back into a shrub... I think it looks very nice as a shrub... A shrub form mulberry keeps the fruit where the home owner can reach...

As a kid, I used to climb the mulberry trees, to feast on all the fruit I could reach... This Spring, I had to be careful, the best ones let go with the least bit of disturbance... So, lean ladder against roof, instead of against tree.... And use step ladder... Stand on top step when necessary...

What I found interesting... the bloom was earlier than the red mulberry... the fruit ripened earlier...
Last edited by stone Nov 5, 2024 6:13 AM Icon for preview
Avatar for porkpal
Nov 5, 2024 6:11 AM CST
Name: Porkpal
Richmond, TX (Zone 9a)
Cat Lover Charter ATP Member Keeper of Poultry I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Dog Lover Keeps Horses
Roses Plant Identifier Farmer Raises cows Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
My dogs discovered our mulberry tree this year and ate all the fruit they could reach. I don't know what kind it is; the birds planted it, but I find it very tasty.
Avatar for David_in_KS
Nov 6, 2024 10:27 AM CST
Name: David
Jackson County, KS (Zone 6a)
The main problem with mulberries is that the birds spread them everywhere. Every year I have to cut mulberry saplings out of the cedar hedge and under the power lines. There is a "mother tree" about a block away, large enough that no one is ever going to harvest all the fruit, so the birds feed heavily in early summer.
Avatar for ljmcadam
Nov 9, 2024 6:25 PM CST
Name: LJ
Greencastle, PA (Zone 7a)
If you keep it, you must sing "Here we go round the mulberry bush, The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush. Here we go round the mulberry bush On a cold and frosty morning." at least once a week. 😁
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