I want to tell you about the afternoon I showed up to my own backyard barbecue with what appeared to be a crime scene on the bottom of my sneakers. Purple streaks across the patio. Purple footprints through the kitchen. My mother-in-law staring at me like I’d tracked in something far worse than mulberry juice. … Read more
I once spent an entire Saturday afternoon arranging river rocks around my mulberry tree, convinced I was creating a serene Japanese zen garden. I stepped back, squinted artistically, and thought, “Yes. This is it. This is the one.” My neighbor walked over, tilted his head, and said, “Did your dog dig that up?” Reader, it … Read more
I still remember standing in my backyard in early July, staring at my beautiful cottage garden bed — the one I’d spent three weekends planting and nearly $400 on perennials — absolutely soaked in dark purple mulberry juice. The berries had been falling for two weeks, and I’d done nothing about it. I told myself … Read more
I once planted fifteen mulberry trees in what I can only describe as “enthusiastic chaos.” No plan, no spacing research, no thought whatsoever about sun angles or airflow — just me, a shovel, and the misguided confidence of someone who had successfully kept a houseplant alive for three months. By year two, I had a … Read more
Three years ago, I stood in my backyard staring at a patch of cracked, barren earth the size of a dining room table — and I almost cried. I had spent an entire weekend and nearly $200 planting a lush mix of hostas and ferns as ground cover under my mulberry tree, and within six … Read more
I cried in my backyard on a Tuesday afternoon in October. Not a quiet, dignified cry — an ugly, defeated one, standing next to a dead mulberry sapling I’d spent $60 and an entire weekend planting. The soil was wrong, the spot was wrong, and honestly, I was starting to think the whole idea of … Read more
I want to tell you about the afternoon I accidentally ordered forty-seven mulberry trees. Not four. Not fourteen. Forty. Seven. And how that magnificent disaster led me to discover the most beautiful mulberry tree living fence I’ve ever seen — in my own backyard. This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn … Read more
I once planted a mulberry tree directly in front of my living room window because I thought it would look “charming and cottage-y.” Reader, within three summers, I had a fourteen-foot privacy wall blocking every drop of natural light, a carpet of purple berries permanently staining my patio, and a very unhappy spouse. Getting mulberry … Read more
I lost an entire season’s worth of work in one afternoon. Three mulberry trees, a backyard I’d spent months preparing, and what I thought was a brilliantly planned garden — all struggling, yellowing, and barely producing by midsummer. If you’ve ever stared at a garden that cost you real money and real weekends and thought, … Read more
I once spent an entire Saturday afternoon sitting in my backyard, sweating through my shirt, completely baffled as to why my beautiful new patio set felt like it was positioned directly on the surface of the sun. I had done everything “right” — nice furniture, cute umbrella, cold lemonade. What I had not done, apparently, … Read more
