Mulberry trees
Mulberries are large trees, grown for their tasty small fruits, which resemble blackberries.
Illinois Everbearing
An American hybrid mulberry, producing long black fruits from an early age.- Self-fertility: Self-fertile
Wellington
A traditional English Mulberry tree featuring large dark sweet fruits.- Self-fertility: Self-fertile
How to choose Mulberry trees
Mulberries are sweet fruits which bruise easily and do not keep. For this reason they are rarely available in shops, and growing your own is a good option.
Mulberries are slow-growing fruit trees which eventually get quite large. They are easy to grow, and usually unaffected by diseases, and usually self-fertile.
Mulberries come out of dormancy very late in the spring, around the end of May, when most other trees are already in full leaf.
The fruit is borne throughout the canopy of the tree, generally out of reach from the ground - the usual method of picking is by shaking the branches when the fruit is ripe in late August. However you may need to net the tree (or some of the branches) as the fruits are popular with birds.
Pruning is not usually necessary and best avoided.
Being naturally slow-growing most Mulberries can be grown in large pots or planters for a decade or more, although trees grown this way may eventually need to be planted in open ground.