How to Grass Under a Fruitless Mulberry Tree

Prune mulberry trees to raise the height of the canopy to at least 6 feet, allowing more sidelight to reach the ground in the morning and evening. Angle your cut down and away to leave a 1/2-inch stub that will drain moisture and heal quickly; use a pruning saw or long-handled shears.

Move as high in the mulberry's canopy as you can reach with a pole-handled pruning saw. Trim limbs that cross or rub against each other. Rake up leaves and twigs to clear the soil inside the dripline of the mulberry. Bag and discard prunings in yard waste bags.

Cultivate the soil beneath the mulberry to a depth of 3 inches with a shovel. Test with the shovel point for side roots before applying your full weight to avoid cutting them. Break up compacted soil and rake it smooth. Amend with a 2-inch layer of topsoil to add nutrients. Avoid piling soil against the trunk of the mulberry.

Water the soil until it is moist to a depth of 2 inches, but not until it's soggy. Broadcast grass seed by hand at a rate of 1 oz. per 10 square feet. Cover with straw to protect seed from birds. Keep the soil uniformly moist during the germination period, which lasts seven to 10 days. Remove the straw when sprouts appear.

Water only when the ground is dry in the summer months. Fertilize once a year with a 10-10-10 fertilizer, following the directions on the package, but dividing proportions for sun-loving grasses by half. Apply fertilizer when the ground is dry, then water it in so it leaches down to the roots.

Grow grass 3 inches high before mowing to reduce stress on the foliage. Greater surface area on each leaf will allow it to absorb more light. Rake up fallen leaves and twigs from the mulberry promptly to keep them from blocking light and moisture.