Give it room. Grows fast. Will be 8 ft. tall pretty quick.

Thanks bboy.

Will it branch on its own, or do I need to head it or something?

Will it stop at the 8' or is OGW just implying that it won't hurt to prune it and keep it at that height? I'm assuming that this tree will be much less vigorous than one that is listed to reach 30' like Illinois Everbearing.

When it reaches that 8' in height, how wide will it want to be?

Do you have one?

One I planted last year (I guess) is growing 2 or 3 ft. per year. Another, older one that grew like a weed at a location I visit occasionally may be about 10 ft. tall by now, perhaps more. Both have grown as bushes with multiple, similar branches coming from the base.

Shrubs and trees stop growing when they are dead. None grow to a predetermined height and then hover there, as though frozen. The very tallest trees do seem to be limited by how far they can transport water, but even these do not stop growing when they reach the cutoff. They grow very slowly and/or die back and re-sprout.

I have received a cutting of the same at a scion exchange - how good is the fruit on the contorted?

I know this is an old one but I'm looking for advice on contorted mulberries. I've had mine for 2+ years and it's getting huge. Over 6 feet tall and 5' wide. I have gotten flowers every spring but never any fruit. I haven't ever pruned it and a few branches have gotten too heavy for the tree to hold and fell over. There doesn't appear to be much damage and the leaves stayed green while it healed. I'm just wondering if I should prune it for next year to help it fruit or if it's maybe a fertilizer issue. I didn't do any fert. the first two years and this year I put compost on it in Feb. It didn't appear to change anything as far as fruiting. Just flowers then nothing. I may not have put enough on it or put in on at the wrong time.

sbee,

flowers with no fruit... makes me wonder if you got a 'male' (staminate) form - some folks are so opposed to 'messy trees' that they don't want anything that'll drop fruit, twigs, leaves... (why bother?). If yours hasn't yet bloomed - or is currently blooming, look at the flowers and compare them to photos of male/staminate mulberry flowers. Might explain why you get no fruits.

Additionally, I have seen mulberries 'switch' genders.... have one here on the farm - M.rubra - first time I noticed it, it was bearing a good crop of tasty berries. Every subsequent year, when I've visited it... it's got nothing but male catkins, and no fruits.

I have 3 and they get about 20ft high and wide..they are very beautiful. But again they get huge! They grow about 4ft or more a year

It is not mid-Summer yet, and my whip already made 5'. I've read somewhere that trimming it low to the ground, below 1m height, will make nice sculpture, looking like thick snakes on the ground.