Ruth Nakamura · August 14, 2026
I got an email last spring from a reader with a couple of acres that made me pause. She had let a section of her property go wild — a proper meadow, thick with grasses and black-eyed Susans by midsummer — and she wanted to know if she could plant a mulberry tree right in … Read more
Ruth Nakamura · March 12, 2026
Most people assume that once you plant a mulberry tree, lawn management stays simple—mow it like you always have and call it done. That assumption is dead wrong. The competition playing out underground between tree roots and grass roots is relentless, and ignoring it means the tree suffers, the harvest suffers, and summer becomes an … Read more
Ruth Nakamura · March 10, 2026
A mulberry garden’s appearance and its function during harvest are inseparable concerns. The way the tree’s canopy and foliage work with your picking and processing setup — your baskets, your workflow, your processing space — all have to sync as one integrated system. The window between “ready to pick” and “collapsing into fermentation on the … Read more
Ruth Nakamura · March 8, 2026
Fallen mulberries will wreck your garden beds if you don’t stay on top of them. The staining, the fermentation, the pest explosion — it all compounds fast once those berries hit the ground, and by then you’re playing catch-up for weeks. Ripe mulberries accumulate quickly under the canopy, and delayed cleanup leads to stained hardscaping, … Read more
Ruth Nakamura · March 6, 2026
Mulberry orchards that sit in dense arrangements often show signs of poor production. Rearranging trees to improve spacing and layout can transform productivity significantly. When trees are given proper distance, the physical evidence accumulates quickly—fruit staining appears on nearby surfaces, harvest baskets fill more readily, and the quality of production often improves enough to attract … Read more
Ruth Nakamura · March 4, 2026
Mulberries offer rewarding growing opportunities for backyard orchardists. From cultivars like Black Beauty to the hardy Illini Star, there are options suited to different conditions and goals. Growing mulberries involves learning what works in your own yard and sharing those lessons with other growers. Last summer, my neighbor stopped by, curious about why the dirt … Read more
Ruth Nakamura · March 2, 2026
I’m standing over my harvest bins on a humid afternoon in late August, sorting through the day’s pickings—some berries going into the freezer, others destined for the dehydrator, a handful split between fresh eating and a batch of cordial I’m experimenting with. What strikes me now, after a decade of trial and error, is that … Read more
Ruth Nakamura · March 1, 2026
Many gardeners dismiss dwarf mulberries as undersized curiosities that belong in containers, not property lines. This assumption overlooks their actual performance in hedging applications. The real advantage of dwarf mulberries emerges when you consider how compact cultivars planted in overlapping rows with intentional wire training can create a functional privacy barrier with ornamental appeal — … Read more
Ruth Nakamura · February 27, 2026
Mature mulberry trees can drop substantial fruit during peak season — and where that fruit lands determines whether it becomes a harvest opportunity or a cleanup task. In backyard settings where space is limited, every planting decision has consequences. Mulberries deliver triple duty: fruit production, shelter for pollinators and birds, and a well-positioned canopy that … Read more
Ruth Nakamura · February 25, 2026
Have you ever wondered why some people’s mulberry trees seem practically immune to aphids while yours get hammered every summer? The answer isn’t fancy sprays or constant vigilance — it’s what you plant in the soil around the tree’s base. I stumbled into this discovery by accident after my first attempt at companion planting went … Read more
