Found a natural raft mulberry

[dtreesj]

I found this rafted mulberry behind my garage. I set it angled in the pot, but the left branch was perfectly horizontal and on the ground. Unfortunately I couldn't leave it where it was because it would become a nuisance in the future (how dare trees grow in places)
No idea if it will live or not. Pot is a little small in width but there's a lot of empty space. I put it in the soil it was growing in with a ton of perlite.

 

[Jzack605]

might have something interesting if you remove that long straight piece and work with the S.

tasty fruit

 

[dtreesj]

might have something interesting if you remove that long straight piece and work with the S.

tasty fruit

Yeah I was thinking about doing that. If I carve that nub that's sticking up off, will it blend in?

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

"garden soil" is a crap shoot, in a pot will often compact to the point where it will be hostile to life. Over the next few months, seek out either a good bonsai mix or at least a potting soil designed for container gardening. Garden loam, and garden soil, are simply too high in clay content. The result will be the clay peds will loose structure, become "fused together" essentially turning the pot of garden soil into a brick. In the garden, earthworms, insects and various arthropods keep tunneling through the garden soil to keep it from compacting. In a flower pot, these creatures are not able to do the job. Garden soil is a living system, and depends on the organisms to keep the structure open to allow air to penetrate to the roots.

Repot into a better media in late winter or early spring

 

[dtreesj]

"garden soil" is a crap shoot, in a pot will often compact to the point where it will be hostile to life. Over the next few months, seek out either a good bonsai mix or at least a potting soil designed for container gardening. Garden loam, and garden soil, are simply too high in clay content. The result will be the clay peds will loose structure, become "fused together" essentially turning the pot of garden soil into a brick. In the garden, earthworms, insects and various arthropods keep tunneling through the garden soil to keep it from compacting. In a flower pot, these creatures are not able to do the job. Garden soil is a living system, and depends on the organisms to keep the structure open to allow air to penetrate to the roots.

Repot into a better media in late winter or early spring

Yeah, what I might actually do when it recovers from being uprooted is plant it back in the ground somewhere else. I could have put it in a better mix but that pot is pretty big and I don't want to waste material.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Even relatively inexpensive potting soil for container gardening is a better option than digging clay soil from the garden.

I would buy or make a shallow training tray or pot or training box for your mulberry. If you put it back in the ground its roots may quickly dive deep enough that it would be difficult to lift again after a couple years.

 

[dtreesj]

Even relatively inexpensive potting soil for container gardening is a better option than digging clay soil from the garden.

I would buy or make a shallow training tray or pot or training box for your mulberry. If you put it back in the ground its roots may quickly dive deep enough that it would be difficult to lift again after a couple years.

Hmm yeah, I have a couple bags of that laying around that I'm not really using. I think it's a 2 gallon pot so that isn't so bad. Should I go ahead and pull it out or wait? I had to conserve some of the tap root to have some feeders so it's pretty deep.
Actually it might be more like a 3 gallon but it doesn't matter, I have enough.

Also I have a bushel sized crate and some landscape fabric that I could line it with. I think I can make it fit in that.