'King James' Mulberry Tree | Morus nigra

An old English variety with a royal pedigree

Grown by Danielle

South Downs National Park

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Regular price £37
Regular price £41 Sale price £37

Out of stock

Currently out of stock

Currently out of stock

Perfectly happy plants, or your money back

Specialist overnight plant delivery

The highlights

  • Large crops of rich and succulent berries
  • A lovely ornamental tree with heart shaped foliage
  • Crops from August to September
  • RHS Award of Garden Merit

Description

  • A spreading, medium sized tree with heart shaped foliage which starts off bright green and turns golden yellow in autumn
  • Produces large crops of succulent dark red mulberries with a superior flavour
  • Harvest between August and September
  • Small fluffy green catkins add extra interest in May and June
  • A fully hardy, self fertile tree which requires very little maintenance
  • This mulberry is descended from the last remaining tree that was planted during the reign of King James I, at what is now known as the Chelsea Physic Garden. The original tree no longer stands (it was felled to make way for an air raid shelter in the Second World War), but fortunately cuttings were taken, and this is one of its descendents
  • Winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit
  • Our trees are professionally pruned before dispatching. This formative pruning can involve cutting the main leader, if the expert tree growers decide this will produce a better shaped tree. This can stop the tree becoming "leggy", and promote stronger, bushier growth.MORE

What to expect

Supplied as

3L Poly-Pot
This tree is supplied in a 3L Poly-Pot. Poly-Pots use 70% less plastic than traditional pots and can be recycled.

Height on arrival

60-90cm
Your tree will arrive at a height between 60-90cm including pot

Eventual height

12m

Eventual spread

8m
Spreads up to 10m

Tasting notes

Rich and succulent flavour

Time to first crop

Grows to approx 10m in 10 years unless pruned
2 years

Habit

Upright, bushy
An upright tree with a bushy habit

Hardiness

Fully hardy
No winter protection necessary

Self fertile

Self fertile
Does not need a pollination partner, producing good crops from just one tree

Uses

Eat fresh or make jam, smoothies, cobblers, dessert sauces and mulberry wine

Spacing

4m
Plant at least 4m apart to allow for spreading

How to grow

Good pest and disease resistance

Good pest and disease resistance

Generally very resistant to pests and diseases. Watch out for mulberry leaf spot - it looks like irregular brown or black spots on the leaves and can affect the fruit yield. Treat by pruning out affected branches and disposing in the general waste, not compost.

Water well when first planted

Water well when first planted

If you’re planting in spring or summer, water well for the first few months. Increase watering if there are extended periods of hot or dry weather. If planting in autumn, you may only need to water a little.

Full sun

Full sun

Prefers a sheltered spot with at least 6 hours of sunlight daily

Any fertile, well-drained soil

Any fertile, well-drained soil

Prefers fertile well draining soil. Can also tolerate clay soil but you will need to take some steps to improve drainage, such as mixing in fine horticultural grit or perlite to the surrounding soil when planting.

No feeding required

No feeding required

This tree gets all the nutrients it needs from the soil ?v=1613300929

Planting calendar

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  • Best time to plant
  • Harvest
  • Flower
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Choose your size

'King James' Mulberry Tree | Morus nigra Fruit Trees
'King James' Mulberry Tree | Morus nigra Fruit Trees

South Downs National Park

Meet Danielle

110 years' expertise free with every tree

Danielle's nursery has been growing trees in the South Downs National Park for over a century, and it shows. Dug up and sent straight to your garden at between 18-36 months old, their quality rootstocks, expert pruning and natural pest control mean that these traditionally field-grown trees are the hardiest you can get.

What customers say about us

We do our best to provide you the best experience ever

Growing with Roots

Good to know

Our plants are grown 
in the UK

Specialist UK growers we know and trust grow your plants the traditional way, with organic fertiliser and biological pest control. They pick only the healthiest plants for you, professionally pruning them so that they’ll grow strong and well shaped.

Our plants are delivered overnight

Your plants are sent to you fresh from the field in our plastic free box that’s specially designed to hold them tight, then securely delivered by specialist plant couriers - straight from the grower to your garden within 
24 hours.

We're here to help at every step

We want your plants to have a long and healthy life. Expect easy-to-follow grow guides and videos devised by our team 
of experts.

Perfect plants, guaranteed

We’re confident that you’ll be delighted 
with your new plants. Need help? Alice and her team are here to guarantee you’re 
perfectly happy.

Digging deep to answer your questions

How do I know I'm getting quality plants?

All of our plants are grown in specialist nurseries with the highest standards of plant care and sustainability. We guarantee you'll love them as much as we do! Don't just take our word for it - we've got thousands of great reviews on Trustpilot.

When will I get my plants?

The delivery timescale for each plant is on the web page (near the 'add to basket's button). You'll receive a dispatch email with an exact delivery date once your plants are on their way, so you can get the garden ready.

How will my plants be packed and delivered?

We send all of our orders through a courier network designed to handle plants. Specialist equipment ensures that no plants will be damaged during the packing process and every order is carefully finished and checked by plant-loving humans. Your plants will arrive in the most sustainable packaging possible with minimal to no plastic used.

Where do you deliver?

We deliver to anywhere in Mainland UK for our standard delivery cost. We are able to deliver most plants to Highlands and non UK mainland however this will be at an additional cost. This will be calculated at the checkout. Please note, deliveries to these locations will take longer. Unfortunately, we are not able to deliver to Northern Ireland at present.

Ask the grower

One of our trusted team will get back to you via email

What customers say about us

We do our best to provide you the best experience ever
10 May

Best plants you will ever get online

I have ordered plants from them twice this year. They arrived well packaged, on time and looked strong and healthy. I feel the staff from Roots plants deal with their plants and customers with passion and care. I can’t wait to order again, price is good as well.

2 May

Highly recommended all round

Delivered quickly, perfectly packaged and the tree was in excellent condition. Really healthy and taken to the garden with no problems. Can't recommend highly enough. 5 stars isn't enough!

3 April

Satisfied customer

Unlike other online sellers, this company are well ahead in the quality stakes. My plant arrived promptly as per their promise and the plant was much more established and healthy than I had expected. It’s the second time I have ordered from them and I have faith in their promise. Excellent service.

26 February

A really good quality tree

A really good quality tree, delivered on time and very well packaged. But the emailed planting advice and supporting information was what really impressed me. Thoroughly recommended.

18 May

Exceptional quality

The quality of the plants was exceptional, unlike ones I have had before from local garden centres. Thank you so much. I will definitely be using you again.

22 February

Marvellous!

Marvellous service, great plants and fast delivery. Very useful information on how to care for the plants I bought. Easy to use website that makes it far too easy to overindulge in fabulous plants 😂🌱

Fighting plastic waste

Delivering fresh from the nursery

Supporting UK growers