Dwarf Black Mulberry Trees

This is mostly for my Arizona friends, but it may pertain to others depending on where you live; please consult your local nursery... 

I have a new favorite tree: the dwarf black mulberry. I planted a dwarf black mulberry about two years ago as a two-foot-tall stick in the ground. Within a year it was about ten feet tall. By year two it was so tall that I needed to massively prune it to keep it at a manageable height since it was well over 15 feet tall. So quick growing? Check. 

But it also produces massive quantities of delicious fruits. After one year of growing, we were excited to have the tree covered in berries. They are much more flavorful than the wild mulberries I remember eating in Illinois as a kid (those were essentially tasteless berries that we ate just because they were there). These berries are large, plump, and flavorful. One of my kids described the flavor as a mild blackberry/raspberry mix. 

So why is this a recommended tree? First, fast growing trees in Arizona are pretty important, as they provide a lot of shade in a short amount of time.

But many fast-growing trees in Arizona are desert trees, which typically have thorns on them and like to try to kill you (we say that everything native to Arizona either tries to stab, bite, or sting you). So the dwarf black mulberry is fast growing and thornless. 

Part of one day's harvest

It has a nice canopy of leaves, which means  that it provides great shade. This can be great for your garden, for your house, or for your chickens. Right now my chickens have two umbrellas to provide some respite from the sun in the hot afternoons, but this winter I'll be planting a second dwarf black mulberry in the yard where my chickens hang out so they can get some natural shade, along with some snacks of mulberries when its fruiting. 

Finally, anybody who knows me knows that I love trees that provide some sort of fruit. And while citrus are great, they are pretty slow growing. So the dwarf black mulberry as a fast growing, fruit providing, heavy shading tree is a great tree for your Arizona yard. It's a win, win, win! 

Look at all those berries! 

Worth noting, the "dwarf" in the name does not refer to its size. Rather, it refers to the smaller size of the fruit. Please do not plant this tree and expect it to remain at 8 feet without heavy pruning. 

Also worth noting, my 13-year-old and I made some mulberry fruit leather this past spring. We spent an afternoon picking mulberries, blending them, and dehydrating them in the oven. As we put the tray in the oven, I said, "As soon as this is done you and I get to be the first ones to try it." She responded, "I don't like fruit leather." She just enjoyed the time in the garden, picking fruit, and making something with her dad just for the time together. That is a Renaissance Dad win! 

If you live in the Phoenix area and are looking for some great fruit trees, I recommend checking out The Urban Farm's fruit tree program. I get most of my fruit trees from them, and they come in in the fall (citrus) and winter (deciduous). The Urban Farm has a great knowledge base for fruit trees, great deals on fruit trees, and is just  a great resource for anybody trying to create a backyard garden. Information for their fruit tree program can be found here. 

Dwarf Black Mulberry - 2 years old