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Hi, I am wondering how easy and possible to grow mulberry, I need it to make authentic, historical handmade paper. I only need to use the inner pulp. Does anyone have experience of growing mulberry? and any information on growing it etc. would be really welcome.

You can buy mulberry trees from many reputable fruit tree specialist, but beware they are enormous when fully grown.

Don't know how you make paper from it though, but the fruits are delicious made into jam.

Yes you can buy and cultivate these in the UK.They are expensive to buy,and very slow growing.In my (I'd like to say humble,but that would be a lie!)opinion it would be sinful to cut one just to make paper.Actually,most of the ones that have grownto any size,are so old that they they have TPOs.

Basically, you only use the pulp from inner bark, this has been the problem for me in demonstrations of historical paper making, although I haven't used it before, I need to show the origins of paper and The Orient still uses mulberry to make paper by hand and at mills, as the origins of paper-making come from The Orient, I need to be able to show how and what paper(in the true sense) evolved. I have mainly used macerated hemp , but it is very time consuming.

Sounds like growing your own is a non-starter in that case - as oj said they're slow growing and you'd presumably kill a young tree if you stripped it of its bark for little or no return.

You'd be better looking for suppliers, although in all likelihood they'll be Chinese imports - assuming you can get it at all.

Alternatively, if you only want small amounts for demonstration purposes, you could approach some of the handmade paper makers about for a sample (although I'm guessing most of them import it ready made by someone elses hands )

Hi
I planted a mulberry tree about 7 years ago and it's still only about 5' high and the trunk is only about 2" dia. So there wouldn't be anything like enough bark to make paper from.

A few years back I moved into a house that had a fully grown tree in the garden and, although it was a large tree, I don't remember it having a particularly large trunk.

Zoe

I planted a tree/bush about 3 or 4 years ago, and although it hasn't grown much yet I was amazed to have fruit from it last season, not an enormous crop but enough to make it worth picking - though I did eat most of them as I went along ;-)

Sue

They're a fairly long - term project,I saw one in a garden Yatton way in the mid 80's,it was 40ft high about the same in span and planted,they said around 1800!.Masses of fruit,serious TPO,and one of my fave trees of all time(wish I owned it)>

I may be wrong, but i think that paper was always made from Morus papyrifera/Paper Mulberry bark, which i've never seen for sale or seen one in person to be honest. I don't doubt that you could grow one though. It'd be a massive pain to get the cambium or inner bark from a black mulberry tree, because the branches are sooo knobbly.

If you havent already, grab a copy of Hilliers Manual of trees and shrubs from the library(prob reference only) that should explain the various species and their common uses,and given your feelings for mulberries,you may find it a good read!

I've never done it, although I've had my eyes on some branches hanging over a garden wall for quite a while, but I believe that Mulberry roots very easily from cuttings, in fact it will from quite large branches - a quick way to get a largish tree?