Bought a Mulberry... now what?

Gustavo Martins · Mar 26, 2017

M. Frary said:
That's the name of the game. If you only cut one side of the slingshot off it doesn't give you much taper.
By chopping it low you also put movement into straight trunk.
It's a mulberry. You could have done all of this when you got it.

Well, between the time I got and today, it's been less than a week. Then thing is, I too have read that mulberries are strong but I don't know how strong it was. I checked the roots and they look fine but I did not know. Also, this year I will give me time to think my options and make a plan for its design. I will also get acquainted with the species features, growth rate, etc... so it's not all bad to wait a bit.

Gustavo Martins · Mar 26, 2017

M. Frary said:
That's the name of the game. If you only cut one side of the slingshot off it doesn't give you much taper.
By chopping it low you also put movement into straight trunk.
It's a mulberry. You could have done all of this when you got it.

Do you suggest a chop like in red, or something like in green?

Mulberry by Gustavo Martins, no Flickr

Gustavo Martins · Mar 26, 2017

sorce said:
Just for you...

No thread till it's out the ground!

Gotta be soon!

View attachment 138374

View attachment 138375

Got a couple weeks to kick around how to go about it.
Concrete cinch? Wire? Cut girdle?

Hmmmm....

Sorce

That's a monster

no leafing out over there yet ah?!

sorce · Mar 26, 2017

Gustavo Martins said:
That's a monster

no leafing out over there yet ah?!

I been itching to dig down....
Not bad.

Just budding, I think we're done cept for one more 30F night next week.

Sorce

Gustavo Martins · Mar 27, 2017

sorce said:
I been itching to dig down....
Not bad.

Just budding, I think we're done cept for one more 30F night next week.

Sorce

Dig it...

We're already on a 55-65 F (night-day) cycle here

pweifan · Mar 27, 2017

Gustavo, can you take a closer picture of one of the leaves, both top and underneath? We should be able to confirm if it's a White or a Red Mulberry ID that way.

Gustavo Martins · Mar 27, 2017

pweifan said:
Gustavo, can you take a closer picture of one of the leaves, both top and underneath? We should be able to confirm if it's a White or a Red Mulberry ID that way.

I can, but only tomorrow. It's late and it's pouring outside

Gustavo Martins · Mar 28, 2017

@pweifan

There you go.

Mulberry leaf by Gustavo Martins, no Flickr

Mulberry leaf by Gustavo Martins, no Flickr

I would have thought this to be a white mulberry. The red one is American so less likely to show up here... But let me know what you think

Gustavo Martins · Mar 28, 2017

Inspired by @JudyB 's chinese hackberry (https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/chinese-hackberry.7424/page-5) I started wondering what if...

What if instead of chopping off the right trunk I leave it be and aim for a design similar to that of Judy's? I know my tree does not compare, but would that design (or similar) be possible with my tree? I should I proceed?

pweifan · Mar 28, 2017

Gustavo Martins said:
@pweifan

There you go.
Mulberry leaf by Gustavo Martins, no Flickr

Mulberry leaf by Gustavo Martins, no Flickr

I would have thought this to be a white mulberry. The red one is American so less likely to show up here... But let me know what you think

Gustavo, I agree that it's White Mulberry. Thank you for posting the pictures.

sorce · Mar 29, 2017

I think that heavy trunk should go....

If it does well, when it is established...

I'd saw it off and see what pops...

I kind of like how the little trunk spreads to three....

Though a little tall, I think that could work.

But hell...you could probly layer a couple better trees off this and start the base afresh too!

I can't wait to revisit it in a couple months !

Sorce

Gustavo Martins · Mar 29, 2017

1,2...testing, testing....1,2

Mulberry.test1b by Gustavo Martins, no Flickr

And with a slight change in angle

Mulberry.test1a by Gustavo Martins, no Flickr

I think I prefer the latter. What about you?

sorce · Mar 30, 2017

Looking at the first pic.....
Makes me want to airlayer it around the level of that white line on the right.

Blah blah blah!

Sorce

Gustavo Martins · Mar 30, 2017

sorce said:
Looking at the first pic.....
Makes me want to airlayer it around the level of that white line on the right.

Blah blah blah!

Sorce

I thought about air-laying too, but I would then get a much smaller tree. As far as I've seen, mulberries have a bit of a coarse growth/ramification and I do not think this suits very well smaller bonsai. So I rather have taller like it is now. I think that if I chop it as in picture 2, I will promote back budding. Hopefully, I will get a bud close to the chop left size that I can use to grow a thicker branch. If not, I can always try to graft a brach there...

I have not made my mind yet... but I still have one growing season to clear up my mind

sorce · Mar 30, 2017

I've seen leaves from 6 inches to 1 inch in the same tree.

They definitely Reduce well...

Sorce

pweifan · Mar 30, 2017

sorce said:
I've seen leaves from 6 inches to 1 inch in the same tree.

They definitely Reduce well...

Sorce

Same experience. I have a White Mulberry in my yard and the leaf size varies drastically, getting much smaller on well-lit branches with high ramification.

Gustavo Martins · Feb 3, 2018

Update:

Looked like this

Buds were swelling

so,

and while I was at it,

So it now looks like this

Gustavo Martins · Feb 3, 2018

more images

JudyB · Feb 3, 2018

Good transformation from the first set of pics to here, although I think I'd ground grow it for a couple years, they are so fast to develop in the ground. Good reduction, looks like potential now.

Gustavo Martins · Feb 3, 2018

JudyB said:
Good transformation from the first set of pics to here, although I think I'd ground grow it for a couple years, they are so fast to develop in the ground. Good reduction, looks like potential now.

Thanks Judy.

Unfortunately, I have no way to ground grow it. I could have put it in a larger nursery pot, but I thought the roots may benefit from a shallower pot. This was the largest I had available. I'm only starting my bonsai journey and I do not have much spare material (e.g. pots).

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