Is it a branch or is my fruitless mulberry growing a new tree.

Question

My puppy got a hold of my 1 year old fruitless mulberry and stripped half the bark off. I thought for sure it would die, but to my delight it is coming back…but at the base of trunk is new growth and I’m not sure if it’s a branch or and second tree, is that possible?
I will need to prune it this Winter so I think I will need to cut that off. This is the first tree I’ve ever planted.

• 

Answer 1

Those are suckers coming up and you can trim them right now. The stress of the missing bark probably stimulated the suckers to form. They are coming from the grafted rootstock so you don't want to let them grow. They can take over your desired upper part of the tree.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/tgen/tree-sucker-removal-and-tree-sucker-control.htm