Mulberry Shade trees. pros and cons

[luke frisbee]

Pros....food source of berries and bugs in late Spring and Early Summer
....big leaves will be easier clean up (he skimmer is huge and can handle them
.....deciduous means that the shade will not be their in the Winter, so the Florida Winter Sun can keep the temp more moderate. And the evergreen fruit trees will get much needed Winter sun that grow underneath them...Lychees and mangoes
.....Fast growing and spreads wide so it will cover much of the pond.
...thick dappled shade

anyone got any thoughts? different tree I should consider? pros or cons i missed about Mulberry trees?

[Akinosan]

I like the shade they provide, but I could live without the leaves in the fall. What are their root systems like? An invasive root system could be a real problem with ponds.

[mulberryjen]

Luke:

My pond is under overhanging limbs of large maple and "ornamental" peach & pear trees.....hahahahahahaha. I was in denial about fruit trees since that had very little fruit the first year. Every year since - literally thousands of golf balls sized pears drop like bombs all over the place - BIG pain in the butt.


Pros: delightful shade for fish, for shade plants, and for people, trees are pretty when flowering

Cons: Springtime: fallen flower petals - I think mulberrys have catkins as well - messy

Summer: Gazillion $#%&#*@ pears & peaches everywhere that must be picked up daily to avoid rotten squishy mess, squirrels eat fruit and throw them all over the place, fruit gets in pond and hits you on the head.

Isn't mulberry fruit sort of like a big raspberry? I do know that birds love the berries, and that the juice from the berries is used as a dye - strong pigment. Could be messy around your pond with purple berry mess & bird poo.

Fall: leaves - cover pond to keep them out of pond b/c build up & decay very quickly

Winter - no big deal

I would strongly consider a tree species that has less crap falling off of it, from experience.

FYI: List of toxic plants I came across online a few months back. Was surprised to see azalea & rhododendron - often see them in Japanese garden pix:
Poisonous Plants What most new ponders may not realize is that many plants can be harmful or even fatal for their fish and water life. Here is a partial list of plants that can be harmful and should not be planted near your pond.
Azalea (leaves)
Baneberry (berries & roots)
Black Locust (bark,sprouts & foliage)
Boxwood (leaves & stems
Buckthorn (fruit & bark)
Buttercup (sap & bulbs)
Calla Lily (leaves)
Caster Bean (beans & leaves)
Cherry Tree (bark, twigs, leaves & pits)
Daffodil (bulbs)
Daphine (berries)
Delphinium (all parts)
Elephant Ear (Leaves and flowers)
Eggplant (All parts except for the fruit)
English Ivy (berries & leaves)
False Henbane (all parts)
Foxglove (leaves & seeds)
Golden Chain (all parts)
Henbane (seeds)
Holly (berries)
Horse Chestnut (nuts & twigs)
Hyacinth (bulbs)
Hydrangea (flower buds)
Jack-In-The-Box (All parts)
Iris-Blue Flag (bulbs)
Lima Bean (uncooked bean)
Jimsonweed ((leaves & seeds)
Juniper (needles, stems & berries)
Larkspur (all parts)
Laurel (all parts)
Lily of the Valley (all parts)
Lobelia (all parts)
Locoweed (all parts)
Mayapple (all parts except the fruit)
Mistletoe (berries)
Mock Orange (fruits)
Monkshood (leaves & roots)
Morning Glory (all parts)
Narcissus ((bulbs)
Nightshade (berries & leaves)
Oak (acorns & foliage)
Oleander (leaves, branches, blossems)
Philodendron (leaves & stem)
Poinsetta (leaves & flowers)
Potato (eyes & new shoots)
Privet (all parts & berries)
Rhododendrom (all parts)
Rhubarb (leaves)
Skunk Cabbage (all parts)
Sweet Peas (seed & fruit)
Virginia Creeper (sap)
Wisteria (all parts)
Yew (needles & seed)

[dick benbow]

As a flyfisherman I tied many a dry fly that looked like a mullbery to fish for carp that love to sip the berries as they fell from the tree. So from that aspect i know they like the shade and fruit. other than that I mostly have to deal with fir needles in mine (here in the pacific NW )

[luke frisbee]

thanks to all for your personal observances and perspectives.....I am going to go with Mulberries then...unless someone else has a better tree?

Dick,
I figured the koi would enjoy the fruit.

MULBERRYjen,
Your concern about the mass of fruit one I had. i have a mulberry tree in the front yard...I don't get a single fruit off of it because of the birds. I'm guessing the koi won't have to eat too many of them....and yes the catkins will drop in the Spring...my koi eat the catkins from the Oak trees. the only catkins in the vortex chamber are the ones that fall in it....Mulberry catkins will probably taste better and they fall at a different time....much later.
And in the Autumn...wll the prevailing winds blow across the pond and towards the place I will plant them. It blows the oak tree leaves into the pond (and I am aware of their hazard.)

[MikeM]

Luke: I miss the cooler temps that trees bring, but I do not miss the leaves etc.

[mulberryjen]

Luke - sounds like you're in good shape! Getting hit in the head with a mulberry is probably less painful than stupid pears anyway...

MULBERRYJen (me) lived on Mulberry St. and had a small business by that name a few years back - personally I'm more of a tulip poplar & Japanese maple tree kinda girl.

[Steve E]

Get a fruitless mulberry if you can. No messy fruit and the flowers all fall within a week or so. Roots might be a problem if planted too close to the side wall of the pond.

[luke frisbee]

I really think so many birds eat the berries around here, the koi won't get tired of eating them....
I really hope the trees gets infested with some kind of american silkworm catepillar thingee....

[bekko]

We have mulberry. I can take them or leave them. Always wanted to have silkworms to feed on the mulberry trees. How about silkworms falling into the pond. Now that's koi keeping.

If you're far enough south, you could consider tropical almond (called False Kamani here). The leaves are said to emit anti-microbial and therapeutic compounds when soaked in water. Some of the tropical fish people swear by them and buy the leaves. That being the case, I am over-protected because the damn leaves are everythere in the winter.

The classis koi pond trees are probably the fancy Japanese mapels. Leaves on the water and all that stuff.

-stevehopki