Black Mulberry

[Raj]

Looks just about 60 ft or so, about 30" DBH. HO asking to remove two larger limbs overhanging her property. Going to need a high TIP, SRT. Anyone have any experience climbing this tree? Concerns with being brittle or splitting or ??

Thanks.

 

[MasterBlaster]

It's just a tree. TCOB!!!

 

[Raj]

I will take an appetite, that tree is full. Hope I don't get the craps.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Metamucil the day before!

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

I've only climbed one to prune and cable. Not nearly as big. No species specific help.

Use two climb lines, one high, one really high, using multiple forks to support load via compression, rather than sideways pull. Don't eat too many mulberries and get weighed down.

 

[Cobleskill]

It is very strong and not too splitty. It is related to Osage Orange. We used to make pie with mulberries. It kind of needs something to go with it, like rhubarb/strawberry.

 

[Raj]

Thanks all! I'm definitely going to try to propagate this tree. It is completely full of berries, according to the HO it's constantly full during the growing season. I offered instead to built a platform with a ladder to pick berries, no go. It's like a 30ft radius around the tree everything is dark purple, irritates the HO, I suggested chickens, still a no go, guess my cheap European side was shinning through. That and a few other trees are to be cut back next week.

 

[Cobleskill]

chickens would work great.

 

[Raj]

and how good would they be!

 

[Steve Mack]

My chickens wouldn't eat them at all, kurrawongs like them though. I don't like them.

Makes great wine, a bit like port.

 

[Cobleskill]

Hard to comprehend chickens turning up their beak at them. We should try wine, we have a couple big old trees.

 

[stig]

Pick them and make them into Albanian Mulberry Raki!

Excellent turning wood BTW.

 

[Raj]

Funny, I've already had a wood turner interested in it.

 

[RopeArmour]

most likely Red or white mulberry. Either way strong and flexible.
Red is our native and bit rare. white is the common weeping mulberry that
volunteers all over. Pretty pretty wood just needs oil.

 

[treelooker]

What's the objective for limb removal? Cuts >10 cm will rot.

Better to meet client goals with smaller cuts further out, and conserve natural form.

 

[Raj]

Berries leave a mess on their yard, definitely keep that in mind.

 

[treelooker]

So the objective is to mitigate litter nuisance? You could start by replacing the lawn with a flower garden.

:lichmalignus:

Hey where's the "This thread is useless without pics!" smiley?

 

[Altissimus]

Willows , any fruiting tree , Cottonwoods , Poplars ...all good for business I say

 

[Raj]

Found this on the way up, I was tied in 20ft above this, tree was bendy but strong, no worries, the limbs that the HO was wanting down were the lower ones in the pic, splitting away from the trunk.

 

[treelooker]

So....you completely removed 2 big lower limbs, and left that top with THAT attachment as it was? No worries???

The customer is usually wrong. Potential worries include: lever arm, loss of mass damping, wood dysfunction and dryness from massive wounding, trunk failure, injuries, lawsuit, insurance hikes, loss of sleep, eczema....

By the looks of that woundwood above your boot, that stem split several years ago. Mulberries are amazing, but not magical. There may be more than messy fruit in that yard soon enough.

 

[Raj]

I understand your concerns. The tree is on the property line and the majority of it is on the neighbouring property. I was asked to do a job so the HO can use their backyard, with the neighbour's permission. The neighbours are gone for a few days, I'm going to leave my card asking them to call me to discuss the tree, as I have other work there this Thursday. I've mentioned it many times, Brantford is a notoriously cheap city. People will leave 30ft blown out tops tangled in their trees and not have a second thought about it. I'll attempt communicating about the problem, but that is all I can do. Hopefully there will be a satisfactory resolution, but I'm not holding out hope. I am also hoping the cuttings I'm trying to propagate will root, it is a delicious tree.

 

[MasterBlaster]

The customer is usually wrong

That's been my motto for ages!

 

[treelooker]

Peter I get it; talking to the owner might be a waste of time so maybe just email the pic with an estimate for reduction, and let them figure it out.

Good luck with the cuttings!

 

[Al Smith]

Generally speaking mulberry gets propagated from bird droppings .It seems the birds take special pleasure in dive bombing freshly washed automobiles on their flights paths from dining on ripe berries .