The mulberry tree tree diagram ( Morus nigra ) in my front - yard food woods has proven to be a less - than - exciting assortment . Here it is :
It makes decent fruit but they ’re not all that big and they ’re not well-nigh as prolific as my “ Illinois Everbearing ” tree out back .
However , the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree has get well for the last four years and has some good ascendent beneath it at this point so there ’s no way I ’m conduct it out .
Instead , I ’ve decide to multi - graft it with more exciting sort .
I begin this project on Wednesday of this hebdomad .
First , I decided to take off the top of the tree . It was getting too tall for loose harvesting .
Then I took off some of the branches that were growing too close to the ground .
Once the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was cleaned up a bit , it was fourth dimension to start transplant . I pick a secure branch for my first graft and made a crevice in the middle withmy trusty Leatherman :
Then I sharpened up a couple of scions of “ 6th Street , ” a fertile black motley . When they were trimmed nicely , I popped the first one in .
You demand to put them in cautiously so you do n’t snatch the long , slender wedge . Using the blade of a knife help .
After that , I impart the second one .
Ta - da !
Next I tied it up tightly to pull the cambium layers together .
Your main enemy when ingraft a mulberry Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ( or anything else ) is have the graft dry out out , killing the scion before it can join to the root stock . This is why you envelop it up tightly or paint the wounding with tree sealant . Or both . In this case , I wrap everything withparafilm .
And here ’s the final grafting , labeled with an Al tatter :
I also added a few scion of “ Saharanpor Local Mulberry , ” a long - fruit white eccentric , to another branch on the tree diagram , this time using “ whip and tongue ” grafts to equal like - sized Natalie Wood .
Over time I ’m decease to keep tally varieties to this Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . Since my space is limited , I can just use this tree as a reservoir of propagative material for my nursery as well as for fruit . rather of planting all the varieties of mulberry I carry , I can graft on arm and later employ them for cutting I can add together to the mist house .
Of of course , there ’s really no reason at all for doing the following … except for SCIENCE !
What is that bribery , you say ?
It ’s a Brown Turkey fig I lash - and - tongued onto this black mulberry .
Will a fig on mulberry tree graft work ? I have no mind , but the tree are cousins so I ’m giving it a try . I sustain a really plastered convulsion with that graft , then wrap it up after the photo was taken . I cogitate it would be wild coolheaded if I was capable to grow figs on a mulberry tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree …
The wintertime has been so warm I just could n’t wait to set out graft . I ’ve got quite a few experiment travel and if any of them succeed I ’ll be quite pleased .
Other than the mulberry , today I added nectarine , sweet cherry and plum transplant onto Chickasaw plum , seraphic cerise and nectarine onto a Flatwoods plum , and seraphic cherry onto a wild pitch-dark cerise tree ( Prunus serotina ) . I ’m curious to see if they ’ll take . All are cousins … so the chance is there .
I ’ll keep you post .
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