Question I live in southwestern NM, and I have a non bearing Mulberry tree in my front yard that is 16 years old. this year I noticed a lot of dead branches, and the leaves are small, and not thick. The tree gets plenty of water, but some of the leaves turn yellow and drop off. I'm wondering if Atomic Grow would help? and where I could get it?
AnswerHi Ruth,
Your Mulberry is showing signs of stress that could be due to one or many environmental issues. Did you have a very cold, windy or dry winter? This could have caused some of your branches to die back and your tree to leaf out sparsely. A previous dry summer could also cause your tree to leaf out sparsely the following spring as a survival mechanism. Your tree makes smaller leaves to reduce the surface area for moisture loss. If stress levels are reduced this year, your tree may produce new leaves this season and will come back normally next spring. All dead branches should also be removed.
ADDITION: Atomic Grow will help your tree push new growth this year although I would not over fertilize to compensate for how sad the tree looks. I am not sure who supplies this product, but a general fertilizer ( 10- 10 - 10) or MiracleGro is just as good.
