When to Plant Mulberry in Melbourne, Cool Temperate Guide

Plant June to August. Right now in October it is out of season. The next planting month is June.

Planting window
Plant bare-root trees in winter. Fruit ripens from late spring into early summer.
Sunlight
Full sun for best fruit. Tolerates part shade.
Soil pH
5.5-7.5

Published · Last reviewed · By GardenBuddy.au
Growing advice is reviewed by hand. Planting dates, current conditions and prices on this page update daily.

This Mulberry guide is written for the Cool Temperate zone, which takes in Melbourne, Hobart and Geelong. Somewhere else? Your postcode picks the right one.

Not your zone? Cairns Brisbane Sydney Canberra Alice Springs Perth

Also handy: will it frost this week? and what grows in shade.

Mulberry

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Possibly the easiest fruit tree to grow in Australia. Virtually indestructible, tolerates poor soil, drought, neglect, and a wide climate range. Black mulberry (M. nigra) produces the best-flavoured fruit. Trees grow fast, fruit young (often in first year), and produce heavily. The main downside: fruit stains everything. Paths, cars, laundry, hands, and anything beneath the tree. Plan placement carefully. Birds love mulberries, which can be an advantage (distraction crop) or disadvantage.

See what grows now in your own postcode

Best Planting Window for Cool Temperate

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
- - - - - P P P - - - -

P = Planting window

Plant bare-root trees in winter. Fruit ripens from late spring into early summer.

Want a nudge when it is Mulberry sowing time in Melbourne?

One email a week with what is worth planting in the Cool Temperate zone right now, Mulberry included, plus which veg has jumped in price at the supermarket. Free, and you can stop it in one click.

This month in Cool Temperate

In October the Cool Temperate zone normally runs 19°C by day and 8°C overnight, with about 67 mm of rain over 9 or 10 wet days. The coldest October night on record across the zone was -3.0°C, so a late frost is not out of the question. Averages 1991 to 2026, 28 postcodes, SILO.

The full twelve months are on the Cool Temperate zone page.

How to Grow Mulberry in Cool Temperate Australia

When to Plant

Plant bare-root trees in winter. Fruit ripens from late spring into early summer.

Soil
Tolerates almost anything including heavy clay, sand, and poor soils. Performs best in well-drained fertile soil but genuinely undemanding.
pH Range
5.5-7.5
Sunlight
Full sun for best fruit. Tolerates part shade.

Companion plants: Anything, mulberries are not fussy

Avoid planting near: Paths, driveways, clotheslines, swimming pools (staining), Anything you don't want purple-stained

Cool Temperate Growing Tips for Mulberry

Recommended Varieties

  • Black English (best flavour)
  • Hicks Fancy

Key Challenges

  • Popcorn disease in wet springs
  • Shorter fruiting season

Pro Tips

  • Excellent mulberry zone. Melbourne gardens grow outstanding mulberries.
  • Black mulberry has the best flavour but is slower growing than white.

Harvesting Mulberry

When ready: Black mulberry: fully black-purple and soft. White/Shahtoot: pale pink to white and sweet. Ripe fruit falls at a touch. Lay a clean sheet under the tree and shake branches.

How to harvest: Shake branches over a sheet or pick individually. Wear old clothes, staining is inevitable.

Preserving: pressure canning

1 tested pressure-canning recipe for Mulberry: 1 where it is the crop being canned. Each one comes from published home canning guidelines. The conversion to Australian units is ours, with psi beside every kPa. Always follow your pressure canner's manual.

Recipes in this set

  • Berries-Whole

The full recipe details are for members on a paid plan: jar sizes, headspace, process time, the pressure for a weighted or dial gauge at your altitude, the ingredients, the preparation steps and the safety notes.

See the plans

Where to next

Also worth sowing in the cool temperate zone this October: Sweet Corn, Beetroot, Rutabaga (Swede) and Asparagus Pea (Winged Bean).

Get the Full Interactive Guide

Track your garden, get real-time pest alerts, and plan around your zone's weather.

Open the planting dashboard Join GardenBuddy.au

Common Questions About Mulberry

When do you plant mulberry in Australia?

It depends on your climate zone, not the calendar month alone. Planting months by zone:

Which zone am I in?

Type your postcode into the box under the heading and the page tells you, and links this crop in your own zone if it differs. Or look it up on the grow zone map. This page is the Cool Temperate zone, Melbourne is its reference city.