What's eating my red mulberry?

Red Mulberry (Morus rubra) is native to eastern North America and generally vigorous and pest-tolerant. Birds and squirrels are the dominant fruit thieves. Scale insects and the mulberry borer occasionally attack wood and bark. Deer browse young trees, but established specimens recover well. Very little spray intervention is normally needed.

Ripe berries consumed rapidly once they colour; a medium tree can be stripped clean of fruit within a week by combined bird and squirrel pressure. Net smaller trees with bird netting; harvest when fruits just begin to colour and ripen indoors; accept some loss as wildlife value is high for a native species.

Waxy or crusty bumps on bark; twigs show dieback; leaves yellow; honeydew promotes sooty mold and attracts ants. Spray dormant horticultural oil in late winter or early spring; maintain tree vigor with adequate watering; prune out dead and scale-encrusted wood.

Larvae bore into twigs and small branches, causing dieback above the entry point; bark may show gum exudate or small entrance holes. Prune and destroy infested branches well below the entry point; keep trees healthy as borers favor stressed wood; avoid bark wounds that invite infestation.

Young trees have foliage browsed and bark stripped; buck rubs in early autumn damage cambium and may girdle slender trunks. Protect new plantings with a wire cage or spiral tree guard for the first three to five years; repellent sprays offer some deterrence in winter.