On Jan 6, 9:03 am, Rockford
wrote:
Help!
I've just reluctantly had to heavily prune a 'black mulberry' tree
that's thrived in my mum's garden for years - at 31' it had grown way
to big & had also begun to lean dangerously due to uneven growth.
Apparently it isn't a good idea to prune these trees at all, as they
bleed so much when cut & are unlikely to survive 'an extreme hair
cut'.
Mulberry trees can actually be severely pruned and grow well very
quickly.
They were used in France and pollarded (cut back severely) every year
to provide firewood. I think it might be impossible to kill a mulberry
tree...
My neighbor cut a 60 ft. tall, about 24 in diameter tree down to the
ground,
in just a few years it is now 12 feet tall.

On advice taken from an ancient 'Pruning tips' book, I did the cuts at
a steep angle so as rain water runs off the sloped ends, & also burnt
the wounds with a blowtorch to create a seal that would stop the sap
escaping. Despite that, I've removed such a lot of it's branches that
it's quite likely I've killed it. Oops, sorry mum!
To prune, cut a straight cut just on the outside of the branch collar
(
a slightly larger ring of bark near the joining to the main trunk.Do
not
use anything to treat pruning cuts; the tree will heal itself in time.

I won't talk about rooting the cuttings, that's been well covered by
others.
Emilie


Ta.
And Ta to you
Emilie

--
Rockford