Mulberry bleeding for a month

Question

When I got my mulberry plant 8 months ago, it has two main branches. I wanted only 1 main branch. So removed one branch before planting. But the way I have removed the branch was, I left 1.5 inch from the trunk. It worked nicely.

Recently, I decided to remove that extra 1.5 inch. So I have removed that 1.5 inch. But it has been bleeding for a month and didn't heal completely. Can I help it somehow?

Update Jan 1, 2023: the good news it has stopped bleeding after about 5 weeks.

Answer 1

This is going to be hard: the best thing to do for pruning is: nothing.

There is enough of a collar around the cut that, with time, the tissue around the perimeter of the cut will heal over and close off. You are seeing sap continue to come out as I expect it is hot enough that the tree is transpiring water from the roots to the leaves at full speed.

The best things you can do are:

• provide water during hot and dry periods (less frequent waterings of ten litres of more are preferred over frequent, small volumes)
• top dress with organic matter or compost ( 1 cm per application every few months)

Here is another article that is very detailed on how to prune for trees of all ages