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 if you ignore it, your tree suffers, your harvest suffers, and your summer … Read more
Ruth Nakamura · March 10, 2026
Standing next to my Illinois Everbearing in mid-July, I’m watching how the light filters through those massive leaves and lands in a particular corner of my patio—the spot where I set up my harvest baskets. That tree has taught me something most gardening posts never mention: the way your mulberry garden *looks* and the way … 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. During my second season with my first trees, I watched ripe fruit pile up … Read more
Ruth Nakamura · March 6, 2026
If you walk into my backyard right now and look down at the patio stones bordering my mulberry rows, you’ll see stains that won’t come out — deep purple marks from fruit that’s been dropping steadily since June. Those marks didn’t appear until I rearranged my entire orchard layout three years ago. Before that, I … Read more
Ruth Nakamura · March 4, 2026
My neighbor stopped by last summer asking why the dirt under my mulberry looked like a neglected parking lot while mine had turned into something green and alive. That conversation stuck with me, because the answer isn’t as simple as “just plant something” — it’s about understanding what your mulberry tree is actually doing to … 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
Most gardeners dismiss dwarf mulberries as undersized curiosities that belong in containers, not property lines. That assumption crumbles the moment you actually watch them fill a hedge space — I’ve spent twelve years testing this across my own yard, and what I’ve observed contradicts that tired narrative completely. The real revelation wasn’t some research paper; … Read more
Ruth Nakamura · February 27, 2026
Sixty pounds of ripe mulberries can drop from a single mature tree in just two weeks during peak season — and where that fruit lands determines whether you’re harvesting a windfall or cleaning purple stains off your deck for months. On a property where space earns its keep, every planting decision ripples outward. Mulberries deliver … 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
