Home Repair forum - mullberry tree vs. deck

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mullberry tree vs. deck

AND Books

2006-04-21, 2:21 am

for some 12-14 yrs we've had a domestic argument about the huge mulberry
tree overlooking our deck and house. we've trimmed. but summertime results
in endless washoffs of berries, the fall with lotsa leaves. my view is to
leave it alone. her's is to cut it down! the place where birds and squirrels
socialize. it gives nice shade. she's got our friends ready to pounce and
slice. the argument has been going now for 5-6 years. i don't wanna move
or divorce her, but it's *really* a problem. in the spirit of compromise
i examined it and am ready to give-up 1/2 of the tree, the side that covers
the deck and house... why not just chunk off the thing vertically? 1/2 goes
away, the other half stays over the yard? am i being too romantic about a
plant that is only a "bush"? (i luv it's berries!) no big thing, but the
tree *is* healthy and about 20+ yo... ya, it's a deck and roof problem,
but i really like it... she hates it!

any advice is appreciated!

js

--

Tony Hwang

2006-04-21, 2:21 am

AND Books wrote:
> for some 12-14 yrs we've had a domestic argument about the huge mulberry
> tree overlooking our deck and house. we've trimmed. but summertime results
> in endless washoffs of berries, the fall with lotsa leaves. my view is to
> leave it alone. her's is to cut it down! the place where birds and squirrels
> socialize. it gives nice shade. she's got our friends ready to pounce and
> slice. the argument has been going now for 5-6 years. i don't wanna move
> or divorce her, but it's *really* a problem. in the spirit of compromise
> i examined it and am ready to give-up 1/2 of the tree, the side that covers
> the deck and house... why not just chunk off the thing vertically? 1/2 goes
> away, the other half stays over the yard? am i being too romantic about a
> plant that is only a "bush"? (i luv it's berries!) no big thing, but the
> tree *is* healthy and about 20+ yo... ya, it's a deck and roof problem,
> but i really like it... she hates it!
>
> any advice is appreciated!
>
> js
>
>
>
Hi,
I am on your side. Finished pruning trees/shrubs in my yard. Always we
argue. She says leave them alone, I say needs pruning to make them
healthy and live longer.

Toller

2006-04-21, 9:21 am

"AND Books" <andbooks@ripco.com> wrote in message
news:e29nua$6rd$1@e250.ripco.com...
> for some 12-14 yrs we've had a domestic argument about the huge mulberry
> tree overlooking our deck and house. we've trimmed. but summertime results
> in endless washoffs of berries, the fall with lotsa leaves. my view is to
> leave it alone. her's is to cut it down! the place where birds and
> squirrels
> socialize. it gives nice shade. she's got our friends ready to pounce and
> slice. the argument has been going now for 5-6 years. i don't wanna move
> or divorce her, but it's *really* a problem. in the spirit of compromise
> i examined it and am ready to give-up 1/2 of the tree, the side that
> covers
> the deck and house... why not just chunk off the thing vertically? 1/2
> goes
> away, the other half stays over the yard? am i being too romantic about a
> plant that is only a "bush"? (i luv it's berries!) no big thing, but the
> tree *is* healthy and about 20+ yo... ya, it's a deck and roof problem,
> but i really like it... she hates it!
>
If it were mine...
I would, over a period of years, change it from a bush to a tree. You do
that by gradually cutting out the small stuff and turning it into something
with one (or two) central trunks. You can chose a central trunk that
interacts least with your deck.
If you try to do it all at once you will probably kill it, or at least get
unsatisfactory results; just do a bit each year for maybe 4 or 5 years.

hallerb@aol.com

2006-04-21, 9:21 am

trees are beautiful. do you live in a warm climate?

remind her your energy bills will skyrocket when the tree is removed
and mature trees add thousands to home resale value. If you dont have
AC expect to bake.

So refuse to cut tree down based on these issues............

With global warming trees help filter the air. If this coming hurricane
season is bad, see the government start a plant a tree camnpaign and
other moves to help.

hallerb@aol.com

2006-04-21, 9:21 am

the shade and respiration f trees are a natural air conditioner once
removed you home will be a lot hotter

mrsgator88

2006-04-21, 9:21 am

Who cleans up the mess this tree leaves? (no pun intended)

IMO, that person gets to decide.

SteveO

m Ransley

2006-04-21, 10:21 am

And I suppose you like the smell of rotting berries on the ground and
tracking that red crap in the house where it stains everything, so what
is more important, not getting laid or a lousy tree that craps out
everything with berries that stink and stain everything red, cut the
nuisance down, you will have a happier wife.

dadiOH

2006-04-21, 11:21 am

AND Books wrote:
> for some 12-14 yrs we've had a domestic argument about the huge
> mulberry tree overlooking our deck and house. we've trimmed. but
> summertime results in endless washoffs of berries, the fall with
> lotsa leaves. my view is to leave it alone. her's is to cut it down!
> the place where birds and squirrels socialize. it gives nice shade.
> she's got our friends ready to pounce and slice. the argument has
> been going now for 5-6 years. i don't wanna move
> or divorce her, but it's *really* a problem. in the spirit of
> compromise
> i examined it and am ready to give-up 1/2 of the tree, the side that
> covers the deck and house... why not just chunk off the thing
> vertically? 1/2 goes away, the other half stays over the yard? am i
> being too romantic about a plant that is only a "bush"? (i luv it's
> berries!) no big thing, but the tree *is* healthy and about 20+ yo...
> ya, it's a deck and roof problem,
> but i really like it... she hates it!
>
> any advice is appreciated!

Chopping it in half is not a solution. Either...

1. divorce her
- or -
2. buy her a bunch of silkworms for fun and profit.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Boward@gmail.com

2006-04-21, 12:21 pm

Would the structure of your house and deck allow for any sort of
screening under the part of the tree that receives most of the mess?
If done properly - think, cables - in the right setting, you could
redirect much of the mess to the ground beside the deck.

Just a thought.

Tony Hwang

2006-04-21, 12:21 pm

BobK207

2006-04-21, 2:21 pm

AND Books wrote:
> for some 12-14 yrs we've had a domestic argument about the huge mulberry
> tree overlooking our deck and house. we've trimmed. but summertime results
> in endless washoffs of berries, the fall with lotsa leaves. my view is to
> leave it alone. her's is to cut it down! the place where birds and squirrels
> socialize. it gives nice shade. she's got our friends ready to pounce and
> slice. the argument has been going now for 5-6 years. i don't wanna move
> or divorce her, but it's *really* a problem. in the spirit of compromise
> i examined it and am ready to give-up 1/2 of the tree, the side that covers
> the deck and house... why not just chunk off the thing vertically? 1/2 goes
> away, the other half stays over the yard? am i being too romantic about a
> plant that is only a "bush"? (i luv it's berries!) no big thing, but the
> tree *is* healthy and about 20+ yo... ya, it's a deck and roof problem,
> but i really like it... she hates it!
>
> any advice is appreciated!
>
> js
>

consider a fruint prevent spray on the 1/2 of the tree that overhangs
the deck & roof

http://www.mortonarb.org/plantinfo/...ducingfruit.pdf

when I was a kid we had a huge mulberry between the house & the
driveway...............the yard smelled like a winery but I loved the
fresh berries.

My folks finally got tired of the mess & chopped it down into a bush
then we moved.

Fruit trees are great but thye require work & can be messy & smelly.

How about some animals to eat the dropped fruit?

cheers
Bob

Norminn

2006-04-21, 3:21 pm

m Ransley wrote:
> And I suppose you like the smell of rotting berries on the ground and
> tracking that red crap in the house where it stains everything, so what
> is more important, not getting laid or a lousy tree that craps out
> everything with berries that stink and stain everything red, cut the
> nuisance down, you will have a happier wife.
>

I tend to agree with Ransley :o) Mulberry trees are nasty, weedy junk.
But, the loss of a mature tree is sad. You might compromise by having
it pruned so there isn't quite as much mess, the branches are off the
roof and not over the deck, and then consider planting a smaller tree to
take it's place. Another fruit tree, such as cherry, might not be as
messy. When the new tree gets large enough, then cut down the old mulberry.

We had a cherry tree in our yard at a rental home. Bore cherries every
year, and every year, in one day's time, the birds moved in and cleaned
every trace of fruit from it. It was a little spooky, because we would
go to work and come home to a tree that had been stripped of every bit
of fruit, just as it was getting ripe.

Goedjn

2006-04-21, 4:21 pm

>
>We had a cherry tree in our yard at a rental home. Bore cherries every
>year, and every year, in one day's time, the birds moved in and cleaned
>every trace of fruit from it. It was a little spooky, because we would
>go to work and come home to a tree that had been stripped of every bit
>of fruit, just as it was getting ripe.

Fishnet over the tree would help with that. (well, bird-netting,
if you're in a place where that's more common)

AND Books

2006-04-28, 3:21 am

hallerb@aol.com <hallerb@aol.com> wrote:
: the shade and respiration f trees are a natural air conditioner once
: removed you home will be a lot hotter

HER answer to all of this: (egads, just learned how to post email to
usenet... but, let's be fair - i still disagree with her!)

me,

--

If you like, you can "reply to all."

I have carefully reviewed these responses and have comments of my own --
Surprise!

First of all, the tree is very healthy as I have been pruning it for years.
It is so healthy, it has grown to 50 feet. I, too, like mulberries. They are
delicious. However, the tree produces twice as many berries each year. We
are literally buried in berries from June 15 to late August. Our deck sits
under that tree, as well as our house. We live in Indiana and the only time
the weather is nice enough to enjoy the deck, the berries are bombarding us.
I slipped and broke my tailbone several years back. The berries have
attracted all kinds of interesting wildlife which feed endlessly. The tree
brings carpenter ants to eat our deck which now needs to be replaced (even
though I, single-handedly power-wash, stain and seal the deck (12' x 30')
twice each year (three times last year because we had a bumper crop).
Racoons have taken up residence under our deck and the squirrels made it
into the house once or twice. It towers over the house and has rotted the
roof on the back half and that, too, needs to be replaced.

We have two large dogs who track the berry juice into the house. I also get
to wash the floors and carpets single-handedly.

Oh yes, the tree has also killed one of my perennial gardens, ground-cover
and grass in the back half of my 75' x 100' yard. I am an AVID gardener and
spend all non-work hours in the warm weather outside growing things. I am
interested in native plants and am working to convert our landscape to a
more naturalized setting.

Did my husband mention that our yard is bordered on 3 sides by 30 blue
spruce? They are now 60' tall. We also have 2 dogwoods, 4 maples, 1 apple
tree (which I planted for my husband's 50th bd., the tree is a mature 13
years old now), a beautiful japanese maple (which I planted for my 50th bd.,
it is now 4 years old) and a redbud (also planted by me) which is struggling
behind the mulberry and was intended to take over and provide the shade lost
by the mulberry . I also grow a large organic vegetable garden, have nutured
plantings under the pine trees in the dry, acidic soil, and have three large
perennial beds. I am familiar with plants and trees and love the wildlife
they attract. Unfortunately, the mulberry tree should have grown on a farm
where it cannot do any damage. My house is white and the siding is stained
purple (and, yes, I power-wash that annually as well, also single-handedly).

I appreciate my husband's spirit of compromise. However, as the one tending
to the rooted members of our family, and cleaning up after them; I am
compelled to base my decision upon experience, preservation of our home, our
yard and my sanity.

My compromise is to turn that sucker back into a bush.

Thank you for your comments.

"the wife"

--

bottom line from me is that if it's alive & healthy, leave it alone!

ok, do some major chopping limbs that are destroying the roof and deck...
but save the baby from the bathwater!!!

i'm posting this cause the battle continues, any input is appreciated!

thanks

Norminn

2006-04-28, 10:21 am

clipped
> My compromise is to turn that sucker back into a bush.
>
> Thank you for your comments.
>
> "the wife"
>
> --
>
> bottom line from me is that if it's alive & healthy, leave it alone!
>
> ok, do some major chopping limbs that are destroying the roof and deck...
> but save the baby from the bathwater!!!
>
> i'm posting this cause the battle continues, any input is appreciated!
>
> thanks
>
>

Different perspective. You don't need the tree, and it sure doesn't
sound like it adds to your "quality of life" (tree-hugger talk for not
being a PIA :o) Sounds like an idyllic spot!

George

2006-04-28, 11:21 am

AND Books wrote:
> for some 12-14 yrs we've had a domestic argument about the huge mulberry
> tree overlooking our deck and house. we've trimmed. but summertime results
> in endless washoffs of berries, the fall with lotsa leaves. my view is to
> leave it alone. her's is to cut it down! the place where birds and squirrels
> socialize. it gives nice shade. she's got our friends ready to pounce and
> slice. the argument has been going now for 5-6 years. i don't wanna move
> or divorce her, but it's *really* a problem. in the spirit of compromise
> i examined it and am ready to give-up 1/2 of the tree, the side that covers
> the deck and house... why not just chunk off the thing vertically? 1/2 goes
> away, the other half stays over the yard? am i being too romantic about a
> plant that is only a "bush"? (i luv it's berries!) no big thing, but the
> tree *is* healthy and about 20+ yo... ya, it's a deck and roof problem,
> but i really like it... she hates it!
>
> any advice is appreciated!
>
> js
>

I agree with your wife. I like mulberries too but the animals got them
first
and tracking red goo that stains into the house gets old after a while.

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