so Noir de Spain came in. small, but nice looking tree over all. however, the graft union doesn't look clean. is there something i can do for it? also i read that it should be planted at root flare and not deep like we do with figs when we don't like the shape of the tree. is that correct? i guess that's two questions. 

Mine was very noticeable at first a year later its healed over very well and hard to spot. 
Mine is planted few inches above graft which is done down low.

martin,

i guess since it will be in container, it wouldn't really matter. we'll have to do the root work every few yrs anyway. i'll plant it over the graft union once it heals well.

Exactly normal container culture and root pruning for figs and mulberries i see as a must otherwise plant will start to decline.
Come time when i take plants out i take picture of where the graft was to show you how it is healing nicely (late last year) i have not
really looked a the graft since.

usually the  ground level is the level it was growing at the nursery.  Not covering the graft join, you can manage suckers from the stock, whereas if you let a sucker grow it may suck the life out of the tree.

not covering the graft join will push suckers from the variety that i do not desire. by planting deeper and having the scion put roots, the tree will end up being stronger. however, from what i'm reading that's not a good idea. something about possible issues with planting trees deep. 

but, good thing is, i'm keeping it in the container. this means i can do root work every 2-3 yr to prevent any possible root issues. i'm looking forward to this tree growing nicely... i hope :) 

I originally typed mine is planted a few inches above the graft.

Sorry if there was a misunderstanding
as i should have typed the graft is a few inches above soil level.

oh well martin :) been reading more. everything says the graft union should be 2-3 inches above the ground. that's how i put the tree into the temp container. but i really want to put the graft union under the ground.. i guess i'll have to air layer the tree when it grows up. 

Yes Pete thats what i was told about the graft .
As a note i did get several mulberries last season toward the end that were red but before they had chance to
turn dark and ripen they dropped  - tree is young and small.

1st pic -Here is tree coming out of dormancy first week May it was bought dormant then soon put into bigger container.
2nd pic-Shown the mulberries that dropped last season - almost typed figs instead !
3rd pic- Tree lost most leaves when this October picture was taken getting ready for dormancy.

The graft union really does need to be above ground and the union its self should be turned to the north east to protect it from the sun (according to experts).

The reason for the union to be above ground is that we use grated trees for a reason. That reason could be for size control, heavy wet soils, light loamy soil, disease resistance, nematode resistance or any combination there of.  Planting the graft union below or even in some cases near the soil level can allow the trees natural roots to grow from the graft. When / if this happens, the natural roots will over rule the rootstock and the purpose of the graft will be lost.

Mulberry, plum and apple are just a few examples of trees that easily root from cuttings and from the scionwood above the graft. As already mentioned, in a year or two, the graft union will disappear.

as you mentioned, the mulberry "should" root easily from the cutting. however, from my experience, it's not as easy as figs. i thought the main reason for the graft was to make propagation easy. if that is the case then getting the scion to root shouldn't be much of an issue from above the graft union. 

would root stock's resistance to cold hardiness carry over to scion on top? if it does, then it would make sense to keep the graft union above the soil, but if not.. i'm not really seeing much of an advantage. 

Yes, I meant to add cold hardiness in to the list of rootstock characteristics. Also, If it is a dwarfing rootstock the tree will have less vigor which will lead to less pruning then the natural roots which will grow to 50'.

Rootstocks do transfer their traits to the scionwood, this is why they are used. Propagation is relatively easy through many means, the purpose of grafting is mainly to get a clone of the parent.  As we all know, it is the only way to get an exact copy of the variety you want, seedlings will never be a duplicate of the parent do to genetic make up and cross pollinating. Once we take the scionwood or June bud, we the select the rootstock for its traits to best match with our growing requirements.


Edit:

I should mention that putting a very tropical variety onto a cold hardy rootstock will not likely make that variety cold hardy.  It will make is a little more so but not much.

Example: I have a pear that only requires 200 chill hours grafted onto a pear that requires over 1000 chill hours.  The 200 chill hour pears lives here in Colorado with no problem, yet it blooms so early it will never have fruit without extreme measures do to the heavy frosts here.

I does get very complicated, and can be a little frustrating at times.

Hi, this isn't exactly about your toic but didn't wAnt to start another OT thread.

Just want to know how productive mulberries are in container culture.

Hi bullet08,
Grafting is not a mater of making propagation easy.
Mainly, it is to be true to type - as opposed to going through seeds. ( By the way, one of my Apricots stone is born ... Just OT as well .)
The second main reason, is to adapt to the soil and climate and for a better root-system and disease free roots - They (nurseries) say.
Another reason is for shaping - for instance gooseberries are grafted at one meter of height on other bushes - as naturally they tend to stay close to the dirt .

Don't spread the word, but for commercial firms, it helps them control us - as root shoots - as in plums/figs (heard about some grafted in other countries) /lila trees /roses - are then useless/deceiving to gardeners.
Well, they are useless unless you start grafting ...

So you could make a test. Leave that graft point above the dirt - as per recommendation from the nurseries -, and root a stem of the bush ( airlayer or with root hormone).
And do a comparison side by side .

To be honest, in roses, I've hardly found the difference between a mother plant and a daughter plant made by pushing a cutting in the ground .
But so to say, as for now, the best apricot tree I've seen, was a stone I had planted ... So just a matter of luck perhaps ... I'm not that lucky with cherries - the outcome is always deceiving.