Mulberry Black Fruit Trees

The Black Mulberry tree (Morus nigra) is an outstanding and highly ornamental fruiting tree. A mature Black Mulberry Tree makes a real garden centrepiece with its rounded head and attractive gnarled bark. The bright green heart shaped leaves have a serrated looking edge, with a distinct hairy underside that turns to a glorious yellow in Autumn. The fruits are around 3cm in length, red and black in colour, ready for harvest in September. The small spikes of yellow and green blossom appear in May. Grown on their own rootstock, the tree could mature to a height 8 metres.

The Black Mulberry is self fertile, a second mulberry tree is not required for pollination. Mulberry trees are grown on their own roots (not grafted) and will slowly grow to a height of 5-10 metres.

The Mulberry was brought into the country by the romans, the fruits have a slightly acidic, tart flavour, but can be eaten as fresh fruit from the tree or used for culinary purposes including Jams, jellies and Wine. The tradition is to shake the Mulberry tree and collect the fruits from the ground, the fruits can heavily stain the hands if picked by hand.

A Black Mulberry Tree makes a great addition to a garden – both beautiful and productive, and the versatile fruits do have a certain exclusivity, they don’t travel well and so you are very unlikely to ever see them in a supermarket!

When planting a young Mulberry we always recommend using rootgrow to give it the very best start in your garden.