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Hi. Yes. They are first year dormant cuttings taken in late December or early January. We had much better success on IE when we kept them in the dark for about three weeks after starting propagation. You may have already seen this, but we describe our process here: th-cam.com/video/nl12mwYtFeA/w-d-xo.html. Hope this helps! - Mark

Thanks. I really like the ones with a pulp that looks like a red jam. Although most times it's hard for me to tell the difference in taste so I bring them in for the family to taste test. - Mark

That's great. Thanks for sharing. I really like this willow. We have a few old full-grown trees on our farm but to be honest I prefer coppicing them and harvesting them every year. By mid-summer all the branches that I had cut to the ground have grown back to 10 feet tall. It's fun to be able to harvest something... we use the cuttings for replanting or for making living structures. Scoulers really does in our dry PNW summers... pretty drought tolerant. - Mark

Yeah. You're right. I need to gather more video across the seasons to make it clear and do it step-by-step. I was just too eager to film... the way the trees are responding to a low-coppice pruning method got me excited to share. - Mark

Hey great. Thanks. Glad it was useful. What other fig varieties are you looking into? - Mark

@@dingdongsgarden Cessac, LSU Hollier, Azore Dark, De La Rocha and Black Celeste are some I’m curious about. Seen videos on those and heard they are good. I don’t have enough experience to know what is or isn’t.

We have Hollier. Big, early figs. I like it. - Mark

Thanks. There are a ton of different varieties. And many of them are hybridized and grow and spread on their own. Did you buy yours at a store or get it from the wild or from another grower? Often, if you're not sure where it came from it's hard to identify. Riverview Russian has small berries but there's probably dozens/hundreds of others like that as well. - Mark

@@dingdongsgarden OK, thank you. Didn't know if this was unique because it is edible at all stages of ripeness.

Hi. Yes. We don’t sell trees, but we sell cuttings to root or graft seasonally. It’s typically available on our website in the winter around the first of the year.

@dingdongsgarden great!! do you have non dwarf american mulberry aka red mulberry?

Most of our mulberries are hybrids or Albas with a few Nigras. I don't think we have any north American native Morus rubra. We go by the name we received it under and have done our best to list the scientific names but without genetic testing, it's often hard for me to tell the difference between a native rubra and a some of our hybrids. - Mark

Yes, Pakistan types are unique. Morus Macroura. We haven't gotten them to fruit in our area. I'm not sure but perhaps it's because of our climate or temperatures? Either way, we'll keep trying because they are a neat mulberry! Mulberries don't root as easily as something like Figs, but they still root. We only propagate by grafting on our farm and we have over a hundred trees. This video shows how we propagate our mulberries and the links in the description provide some success rates for various varieties: th-cam.com/video/nl12mwYtFeA/w-d-xo.html. Hope this helps! - Mark

Right. Sorry. I should have been more clear. For the mulberries you see in the video that already have 10-20 leaders, I will prune them in the late spring or early summer after harvest. If I were doing an initial planting, I would do my first low prune in the winter. The system we are trying is similar to the KGB method shown in this video: th-cam.com/video/M_95Kmv1CRs/w-d-xo.html. But it is definitely not identical to that system because mulberries fruit on new wood and cherries fruit on second year + wood. Hopefully I can make it clearer in a video this winter when there aren't so many darn leaves :)! - Mark

Yeah Thanks. We're very happy with it too. Looking forward to seeing how it produces when we plant it in the ground (but still in the hoophouse) next year! - Mark

Thanks for the detail! -Mark

@@dingdongsgarden You’re welcome. I’m one of many of Gershom Moore’s descendants.

Thanks for sharing this... I have such a hard time discerning/describing taste I leave it to the family! We love it because it is pretty productive here with our cool summers. - Mark

This is a great question! We are zone 8A as well with a last frost time range of early April. I had always thought that hardiness in deep winter was a separate issue from mulberries that would start to show activity before our last frost date. My conclusion is that those two issues (deep winter hardiness and waking up early) are related in some way. So all the varieties that didn't survive the winter in this video had made me nervous in previous springs because they were showing activity before our last frost date. As for the varieties that did survive in this video? The only ones I think might be susceptible to early wake-up are Jan's Best, Lakeland, and Everbearing.... but I'm not sure about that and I'm growing them in the orchard with some confidence they'll make it. What I really need to be careful about is putting plastic over our hoophouse too early. Waking them up with the heat of a hoophouse before the last frost date could really zap them! Thanks for asking this question, its one I think about a lot. Hope this helps and have a good day! - Mark

@@dingdongsgarden Yes, that does help. Thank you. My average date of last frost is around April 15th, but who even knows anymore the weather is so crazy now. This year our last frost was March 18th, but within the last 5 years, we have had frosts and even 1 hard freeze as late at the first week of May. As I research new fruits to add to our farm, I generally try to look for things with higher "chill hours". My average chill hours here is 1,000-1,200 annually. So I do agree that there is some relationship between cold hardiness and later dormancy break. I find that choosing cultivars rated under 1,000 chill hours, results in breaking dormancy too early, which can lead to crop loss from late frosts for me. I had Worlds Best that I got from Bryce, but it would break dormancy way too fast. It would wake up in February, so I didn't keep it. Still looking for an Everbearing type that is later. Thank you for your helpful answer.

Hi! Sure. We usually start propagating a few weeks after the sale starts so like mid-January. We propagate indoors where its heated with a heat pad under shop lights. Here's a video taken on Feb 5 2023 that shows what our set up looks like: th-cam.com/users/shorts_eN7adx51UM (Sorry for the corny music!) We keep them on the heating pad for 2-3 weeks... and we also keep them in darkness for at least three weeks. I have no evidence for this, but I feel if we give them too much light early on, the priority will grow to growing leaves instead of roots... and roots are critical. We have also successfully rooted on heating mats in cooler rooms around 50F or so. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions! - Mark 🙂

@@dingdongsgarden All very helpful as are the videos, thanks a bunch

Hi. Yes. First cut is about 18 inches of the ground but then after that we are building out structure so it's not like the way we coppice our willows. The next cut is of the leaders slightly above the third cut and so forth. It's kind of like the KGB system for cherries where you have many leaders coming out of a short trunk except we would prune back down to the top of the structure every year after initial harvest. So mid-summer next year, all the mulberry trees/bushes you see here would be pruned back table-top flat in a way that we'd get 2 dozen leaders or more to grow out over the remainder of the summer. We're still learning so I hope that description makes sense! Happy friday! - Mark

Yes. They should. Willows are cold hardy. Unless you live in an extremely cold growing zone, rooted willows will overwinter in a pot no problem. But to get full growth to harvest branches you'll need to end up planting them in ground at some point. Hope this helps!

Yes. All willows will take root easily if they are given enough water. But even willows that can survive drier areas will need some water to get started. Here's a video that talks about how to start willows in a small pot: th-cam.com/video/wOHfRsEiKkw/w-d-xo.html. Using this method may be easier if you want to get a willow started from a cutting in a drier climate. Hope this helps! - Mark

Hi. Right! Rams Horn is Salix babylonica 'Crispa'. Fantail is Salix udensis. Wintergreen is Salix miyabeana. We do grow natives as well, we have a bunch. We're up in the Pacific Northwest and we Pacific, MacKenzie, Sitka, Scoulers and some others I would have to research. We also grow some Cottonwood and Poplar in our willow bed including Black Cottonwood and Red-Twig Dogwood. - Mark

Hi. Right. Our next cutting sale will be this winter. Probably late December or early January. It’s not very vigorous but we should have some cuttings for sale. -Thanks! Mark

Hi. We are zone 8a too. While we only planted Rosemary Willow early this spring, I am confident that it will survive our winters here. None of the 100 or so other willows in our Willow Bed haven't made it through the winter. It's a beauty! - Mark

Hi. We like it too... currants and gooseberries are a new taste for us but we're learning to like them a lot.

Oh no! Nothing worse than that early morning patrol to pull them off the trees. Thankfully our summer got warm quickly and the mulberry trees grew faster than the slugs could eat them.

@@dingdongsgarden unfortunately lost 2 young trees before I realised!

Hi! You bet. I'm glad it is useful. I think I mentioned it but I was more grateful we had some definitive numbers than sad we lost so many trees. We have black Pakistan Mulberry trees from two different sources that have never fruited for us so I don't include them in any of the videos. They didn't die off this year, but they suffered. Most of them recovered with new growth. It makes me wonder if they're not fruiting because of temperature issues... not that it's too cold in the winter but that its too cool in our summers here.- Mark

Did they suffer moderate or severe damage? I have one I'm contemplating planting in 8a...S New Mexico...

@@Historynut73 I had six Pakistans in ground…. Three are growing now. The other three didn’t make it. But they may have actually died when slugs got at the new shoots coming from the roots that survived the winter growing from the ground. Hard to tell. Another important point is that this winter we reached the absolute bottom of zone 8A. It was an unusual winter. - Mark

So, were the mulberries in dormancy when the 10 degree weather hit in Jan.? ​@@dingdongsgarden

@Historynut73 Yes. Our mulberries go dormant in November and don't really wake up until late March.

Hi. The coppiced trunk will get a little larger every year. You could kill it like any tree by cutting it level to the ground and regularly removing any new growth over the next season or by covering it with something for the season so new branches can't come out of the ground. You can grow willow in containers, but it will never get large. Are you growing for decoration or for harvesting branches? - Mark

@@dingdongsgarden thanks! I am growing it for basketry.

Ah. OK. For basketry, you may want to go with in-ground. Production in pots can be really limited. Good luck!

@@dingdongsgarden thank-you for your quick response!

Hi. There's an older one I show in the video... we've been using that as a fruit tray on our counter. Or sometimes as a centerpiece on a table. I've also seen them used as wall hangings. They are pretty rustic, but the natural colors of different willow varieties really make up for it. Plus, quick and easy to make! - Mark

@@dingdongsgarden good ideas and yes they are very pretty and easy to make. Maybe a good project for school kids to get them introduced to weaving?

Hi. Not at this time. Our black Pakistans seem to survive the winter but no fruit yet and we don’t sell cuttings on any varieties until we can confirm/show what fruit it offers. Gonna keep trying though. I would like to try it! -Mark

That’s great. It took a few years for us but then wham!! Tons of fruit. Totally worth the wait.

You’re right. Most people propagate dormant cuttings in the winter but since willows will easily root and grow just about any time of year, I think some just enjoy it and are eager to start something new. I know I still get a kick out of putting a stick in soil and watching it take root and grow. -Mark

Hi. Yes, the three lobes on the Oscar is my experience but leaves can be variable. How’s the fruit on the tree you thought was Oscar? -Mark

They do grow big! But we hope to control the height and shape by pruning severely and promoting as many leaders as possible in the early summer after harvest. Do you prune your mulberry trees back or just let them grow naturally?

Exactly. It feels strange to create these hot and humid spaces when temperatures in much of the U.S. are already there. Depending on how this goes, we may put up another hoophouse and delay covering it by a couple of weeks to see if we can spread out harvest time. If so, I have a Pawpaw tree in a pot we might sneak in... I think Pawpaws are heat-lovers as well. I hope your heat wave doesn't last much longer. Stay safe! - Mark

Hi. I don't have any direct experience with White Pakistan fruiting (ours didn't make it through the winter here). But it might be one of those mulberries that is shy about fruiting. Sometimes those shy mulberries have no fruit on the trunk, no fruit after rooting, or no fruit after pruning during mid season. Everything varies by climate condition and people might have different experiences but it might take a year or two to fruit. Good luck and I hope this helps! - Mark

@@dingdongsgarden Thanks!

Hi. Yes. We sell cuttings every winter during the dormant season on our store website. Our Shangri La trees took some damage last year but they are recovering so we should have cuttings to sell this winter. Thanks, Mark

Hi. This is a great question. I put together my thoughts on a short here... th-cam.com/users/shortsKYC-zAnGzg8. One thing I didn't mention is that you'll want to coppice (or prune) the willow back to the ground every year so that the foliage or basketry rods are within reach and of higher quality. Hope this helps! - Mark

@@dingdongsgarden thank you..