Pruning White Mulberry (forum)

Rod Coster starts with ...
Hi, Brought a grafted tree just before winter 2011, two frosts but came back ok with some small fruit in Oct 2011.

Now is 2 mts tall on main stem so needs pruning.
I am reading best to trim 50% off the lenght of the branches . Is this best and when ?

Daughter loves the tree and i am impressed with its growth.

Regards and thanks.
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Time: 18th February 2012 1:28pm

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About the Author Rod Coster
Valley Heights nsw
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Brendan says...
My two-bobs worth Rod, it's far too young to prune it yet.
Here's a pic of my mulberry, and I've pruned it once.
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Time: 21st February 2012 7:51am

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About the Author Brendan
Mackay, Q
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epiphany says...
I have a white King Shatoot mulberry & I have to prune it twice a year to keep it in check - I swear it easily grows 6 foot during summer. In it's first year it got to more than the height of the fence (from a stick roughly 20cm long). Not sure if the little white mulberries are quite so vigorous but if they're similar, then I could well imagine you might need to prune it now. All the books (well...the book I consulted when I first thought I'd better prune it) say they are at risk of bleeding if you prune incorrectly & you should cut the branches you want to remove back by 50% first, yadedadeda...but honestly...I've never had too many issues. I probably prune it at completely the wrong times of year but I cut it back by 50% when I feel it needs it (in fact I did it last week) & remove half the branches...otherwise I end up with a massive mess of *really long* branches that simply take over the back corner of my garden. It doesn't seem to affect it too much - I get a lot of fruit & it clearly isn't setting the tree back any, if it's growth is anything to go by. Someone might be able to give you a better, more scientific guide to pruning or whatever...but my 2c is they're much hardier when it comes to pruning than the guides let on...lol.

Time: 23rd February 2012 1:28am

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Rod Coster says...
Thanks gents for your feedback and sorry for the slow reply. I have taken a combitation of both feedbacks to move forward with the tree.
I have pruned the main stem and a couple of longer stem by 40% but hav4e left the others at about 1 mt long. New buds have started on the main stem within 4 days. Looking forward to the next fruiting .

Rod Coster
Valley Heights

Time: 4th March 2012 5:13pm

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About the Author Rod Coster
Valley Heights nsw
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Posts: 2
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