This very sad looking fella is a mulberry tree I planted in honour of my dog when he passed, that quickly got eaten by goats who snuck into the orchard. Its still green inside, but has been this stick with no leaves for over 12 months. Is there anything I can do to keep it alive / bring it back?
by tiffanyfern
5 Comments
I don’t know, but i’m curious at what point does a tree get classified as a stick?
Are there any green buds forming? 12 months is a really long time to show no growth at all. I would say if you wanted to give it one more attempt, to remove all the grass growing around it (at least 80cm around) so the roots aren’t fighting for space, and give it a fortnightly feed of seasol which will help the roots develop and help with the stress. Give it some compost and mulch around the base and see how it looks in a month or two. Because its spring, now will be the best time to notice those leaf buds swelling. Hard to tell from the photos how much life is left in it, but its worth a shot if its sentimental. Good luck!
12 months without any leaves? It is probably dead.
Got me wondering if any animals apart from humans understand delayed gratification, or even the concept of the future? Those goats could have been living the good life, drunk on mulberries, if they’d thought ahead.
Mulberries are tough as nails. There is certainly hope. Clear away all that overgrown grass around its base so it isn’t competing. Then just watch and wait. There’s no point ripping it out if you don’t have another use for the space. You may as well leave it.
Just do the usual. Apply seasol, a little bit of fertiliser seeing as we’re in spring, but not too much as it’s in distress. Mulch the base well. Occasional deep watering.
Mulberries aren’t fussy. She’ll be right.