Mulberry — Sebastian, Florida

Most Sebastian yards can hold a mulberry, and the choice comes down to size: red and white mulberries grow into large trees, while black mulberry is generally the smallest and Dwarf Everbearing can be pruned to keep fruit within reach.

UF/IFAS Extension Orange County lists three species most commonly cultivated in the United States, red mulberry (Morus rubra), white mulberry (Morus alba) and black mulberry (Morus nigra), along with a handful of hybrid cultivars, and notes that the names come from the color of the flower bud rather than the fruit (UF/IFAS Extension Orange County). Red mulberry is the native one. The UF/IFAS EDIS fact sheet places it in moist soils from south Florida west to Texas and gives a height of 15 to 70 feet (UF/IFAS EDIS FR326), so a tree planted near the Indian River Lagoon in Sebastian is growing inside its natural range.

The two named cultivars that come up most around Sebastian both have extension write-ups. UF/IFAS Extension Baker County describes 'Pakistan' as having extremely large, sweet ruby-red fruit 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches long and says it is recommended for the deep South and mild winter areas (UF/IFAS Extension Baker County). UF/IFAS Extension Hillsborough County calls 'Dwarf Everbearing' an excellent Florida-Friendly fruit tree that produces fruit several times each year (UF/IFAS Extension Hillsborough County). Gardening Solutions warns that weeping and contorted mulberries sold for looks are purely ornamental and do not produce fruit (UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions), a label to check at any Indian River County garden center.

Mulberries suit the infertile sand found across Sebastian, since UF/IFAS says they thrive in infertile, sandy soils and are drought tolerant once established, (UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions).

The exception in Sebastian is salt: the Florida Native Plant Society gives native red mulberry low or no tolerance of salt spray (Florida Native Plant Society).

Gardening Solutions adds that mulberry trees do best in full sun to light shade, rarely require irrigation after establishment and generally do not require fertilization. That makes a mulberry one of the lower-input fruit trees for a Sebastian lot. The Baker County sheet adds a caution for the dry months: the trees are somewhat drought resistant but need to be watered in dry seasons, and if the roots become too dry the fruit is likely to drop before it fully ripens (UF/IFAS Extension Baker County).

Salt is the limit near the water. The Florida Native Plant Society rates red mulberry as having low or no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray, and as not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water, while listing it for USDA zones 8A through 10B (Florida Native Plant Society). A red mulberry therefore belongs back from the lagoon edge along Indian River Drive. Gardening Solutions credits white mulberry with some salt and wind tolerance, which makes it the more forgiving of the large species on an exposed Sebastian lot.

Fertilizer, when used at all, falls under local rules. The City of Sebastian's Florida Landscaping page links its City Fertilizer Ordinance and a list of ordinance compliant fertilizers (City of Sebastian). Outside the city, county rules apply: Indian River County says its ordinance covers the unincorporated areas, where fertilizer is barred from June 1 to September 30, and it lists trees grown for their edible fruit among its exemptions (Indian River County).

A Sebastian mulberry belongs well away from driveways, sidewalks, patios and pool decks, because UF/IFAS says fallen fruit stains whatever it lands on (UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions).

Gardening Solutions suggests a light-fruited cultivar to cut the mess, naming 'Tehama' and 'King White Pakistan'. The Baker County sheet says trees should not be planted near a sidewalk, driveway or patio because fallen fruit stains walkways and is likely to be tracked indoors, and it calls for at least 15 ft between trees (UF/IFAS Extension Baker County). On a Sebastian Highlands lot with a concrete drive and a screened pool, that usually means a back corner.

The EDIS fact sheet makes the same point from the other direction: red mulberry should be used as a background tree and planted away from the house to avoid the odor of rotting fruit, though it notes that people and animals usually eat the berries first (UF/IFAS EDIS FR326). Birds take their share of a Sebastian crop as well; Gardening Solutions says mulberry fruits are quite popular with wildlife and that a good sized tree usually has enough for everyone.

Sex matters for fruit. Gardening Solutions explains that mulberries can carry male and female flowers on the same plant or on different plants, and that a dioecious type needs both a male and a female tree to fruit. The Orange County extension blog adds that mulberries are wind pollinated and do not rely on animals for fruit set (UF/IFAS Extension Orange County), so bees are not the limiting factor in a Sebastian yard.

A Sebastian mulberry gets light pruning while young to build strong branches, and UF/IFAS rates red mulberry as having medium to low resistance to wind (UF/IFAS EDIS FR326).

For a Sebastian mulberry, Gardening Solutions recommends light pruning on young trees to create a strong framework and, on a mature tree, pruning only dead or damaged wood or crossing limbs, since wounds from removing a major branch are slow to callous (UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions). For 'Dwarf Everbearing', the Hillsborough County extension office advises pruning between flushes of fruit to maximize yields and keep fruit at a reachable height, and says pruning also builds a strong framework because the tree is susceptible to injury during high winds (UF/IFAS Extension Hillsborough County).

Those two cautions line up with Sebastian's storm exposure. A 40-foot red mulberry with weak wood next to a house in the Sebastian Highlands is a different risk than a Dwarf Everbearing pruned to keep its fruit within reach. The EDIS sheet notes that mulberry wood is relatively weak, even though it has been used for furniture and fence posts.

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Paper mulberry is not in the mulberry genus Morus and is classed as a Category II invasive species in Florida, so it has no place in a Sebastian yard even though it shares the mulberry name (UF/IFAS Extension Orange County).

The Orange County extension blog explains that paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) belongs to the same family as red, black and white mulberries but not to the genus Morus, that it is an extremely aggressive species that rapidly takes over many sites in Florida, and that Category II means it has been proven to invade and displace native plant communities. For a Sebastian yard, that ranking is the reason to identify a tree before planting it.

White mulberry raises a quieter issue. The same blog notes that white mulberry is not currently listed as an invasive plant in Florida, though several other states list it, and that it hybridizes easily with the native red mulberry. Planting the native red mulberry, or a clearly labeled cultivar, keeps a Sebastian yard from adding to that mixing.

Identification help is local. UF/IFAS Extension Indian River County Master Gardeners staff a plant clinic every Wednesday from 10:00am to 12:00pm at the North IRC Library, 1001 Sebastian Blvd. (CR512), where volunteers identify plants and diagnose plant problems, and they run soil pH tests in their lab (UF/IFAS Extension Indian River County).