What will grow under a big mulberry with a major shade footprint? Nothing, I guess?
mulberry trees and groundcover
If you can thin some of the branches to let a bit of sunlight through, St Augustine will grow under it.
Carla
Well, maybe, Carla. We just had to cut down two that were 41 years old that we grew from the flower bed. Not supposed to live but 20 years but took good care and had wonderful shade for twice that. They were more dead than alive last summer so we made the decision to cut them down in the winter. I cried as each limb hit the ground. The best luck we had, and we really tried a lot of things, was common monkey grass, or mondo grass, or whatever you would care to call it. I guess I should go to Plant Files so you can know the exact one. It requires no care whatever and is difficult to get rid of. 41 years later, who cares.
LouC
The reason they survived so long was having them lifted and cared for about every 5-6 years. Never, ever, ever top them.
Oh no, Lou, I would never suggest topping a tree (and I'm sorry if my reply gave that impression). The house I bought in 1994 came with a mature (ie, huge) Fruitless Mulberry in the backyard. Every year I would trim a few branches out of it, in order to get more sunlight to the grass below. Finally it just got to be too much and I really wanted flowerbeds in that area anyway, which would require *much* more sunlight, so I hired a tree company to take it down. It had to have been over 30 years old and was a healthy specimen, but I confess that it didn't bother me to have it taken down. It simply took up too much space in my backyard and things couldn't thrive under it because of lack of sunlight.
But based on my 13 years of experience with that particular shade-producing Mulberry, I think if Tutroy simply takes a few specific limbs off, the St Augustine will grow nicely underneath it.
Carla