Mulberries in my Orchard

I have a five year old permaculture orchard modeled after miracle farms. I am in zone 7b SE TN. I have a bunch of spots for nitrogen fixers that I really do not want to fill with only nitrogen fixers. I also have spots for stone fruit that I want to scale back on because I am in a frost pocket and it tends to warm up early and get hit by a hard freeze.

Anyway I have read/heard a few times that you want to plant mulberries away from other fruit trees to attract birds away. The thing is mulberries are pretty amazing and I am thinking about filling 5 to 10 spots. Has anyone done this? Did you regret it?

Welcome to Permies Patricia!

Sounds like some thoughtful design work you have in mind.  

Planting Mulberries has never been a regrettable choice for me.

They are easy to manage, great for feeding the chickens, and some varieties are delicious! One of the top permaculture species.  

Your thoughts to use them to distract birds from other fruits is spot on with permaculture way of thinking.  Feeding the wildlife helps create all sorts of natural connections in the system.  Free bird poop fertilizer, potential insect control, and who doesn't love the songs they bring?  

As far as nitrogen fixers I try to not mix too many of them together in my system.  I've read from the regenerative ag experts, such as Dr. Christine Jones - who specializes in polyculture, that about 10% N fixers is a good rule of thumb.

I don't know much about Tennessee, but I am also in a zone 7 climate, so looking forward to what others will be willing to share.  

Patricia, what is your end goal? Are you trying for something like a food forest to feed yourself and neighbors? Or are you trying for an income?

Mulberry berries don't tend to be a commercial crop - very soft and they ripen intermittently over weeks/months, which is generally not what commercial orchards are looking for.  (At least not where I live.)

However, I'm sure I learned somewhere of Mulberries being grown and coppiced for their leaves as a cooked vegetable - my memory says it was on a Carribean Island, and I don't know how your climate compares, but it might be something to consider? (sorry - no idea where I read this, but Eric Toensmeier's info might be a lead, or maybe Arthur would know?)

I know I read more recently that the leaves are so high in nitrogen, that it's actually best they not be too large a component of chicken diets - a little is great and my Khaki-Campbell ducks like them.

However, I totally agree that it's a great addition to my homestead, even if I'm a bit marginal for it. It seems to need more water than my apple trees, but there are places I could plant it that might give it more access to water when I get things better organized. We get summer droughts for reference.

Take a look at this pruning technique to drastically increase fruit yield. I'm trying it this year with my mulberries.

My experience regarding mulberries is different. Out of 19 apples I had I have lost 6 due to summer stress (or disease). None of my mulberries died, despite dropping leaves when hit by a late frost. They get little bit less water in my orchard than my apples. Persian grows the best (probably too cold sensitive for your zone).
Regarding bird detraction, it may work if you are coping with small birds. In my case crows will try to get my plums and they would not care about small mulberries.

Welcome to the forum!

I like the idea of planting mulberries away from the fruit trees to attract birds there.