Monday, September 24, 2007

Fruitless Mulberry

Hi Anne, we have a fruitless mulberry that has been here the 10 years we have been here. I don't know how much longer it was here. It is a very big tree. Anyway, we have had a very wet summer, not flooding here, wetter than usual. And for about a month now we have been losing leaves on our fruitless mulberry. Is it dead? Or is there anything we can do?

Thank you,
Christie O.

Anne's response:

Trees do lose leaves when they are under stress. The stress can come from air pollution, too much or too little water, disease or insect problems. Mulberries do need good drainage so it may be in soil that is holding too much moisture. If the ground seems “swampy” you may need to improve the water drainage in that area. Roots that spend too much time in wet soil will be destroyed and the tree will die. By September many trees do go into early dormancy if they are under stress. Early dormancy does not mean the tree is going to die, it just means it is behaving as though winter is coming a little early.

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