Also, Here is a picture of the bottom of the tree. When we bought the plant, that small part on the left was already growing.

I noticed that green started to grow on the very bottom of the tree. Is this Normal?? Would it be something I've heard of called "rootstock" and never let the tree produce fruit?

Thank you all for all your help, I am a beginner gardener and could use all the help I can get.

dod,
I can't make out a graft union in either of the pictures you've posted - not to say that there's not one, I just can't see it.
Root collar flare in the second shot sure makes it look as though it's a seed-propagated rootstock.
Nicely-branched little specimen; if it is grafted, it's a pretty sure bet that the 'branching' part at the top is the grafted selection, and for most purposes, you'd want to pinch out/rub off any shoots coming out below wherever last year's branches are.
Mulberries may be monoecious - both male and female flowers and fruit on the same tree, or dioecious - meaning a tree is either male (non-fruiting) or female (fruit-producing). And, I've seen trees 'switch gender', going from a fruiting female to non-fruiting male.
No way (that I'm aware of) to determine 'gender' without seeing the flowers.

As for leafing out, we've had one day in the 80's here in L.A., and my mulberry is currently starting to leaf out and flower nicely on some limbs, but others are still just beginning to bud. So, I'd say your tree is probably doing fine. It could be delayed a little due to having just been planted. How much direct sunlight it gets will also be a factor.

Mine is a non-fruiting male that has just become transgendered, as I have grafted 3 varieties of fruiting scion onto it.

This is growing out of the very bottom of the tree, and I am posting the next picture of the top of my tree

and here's a close up of the stems on top.

Can anyone help me decifer what breed this is, and what it's doing and if it's healthy?? I have been having a hard time finding help.

Why is there healthy growth coming from the bottom of the trunk?

why are all the stems on top looking dead?

The guy at the nursery didn't even know what species of mulberry this was.

If he didn't know what species it is, then it is almost certainly a non-fruiting white mulberry street tree. You have to really look hard to find ones that have fruit, and even the bare-root ones usually cost $40 to $50. The nursery would be charging a premium for a fruiting one.

Carla in Sac

@sautesmom

Looks like there is a little fruit forming on his second set of pictures. So perhaps it is fruiting. Hard to tell what it will be though.

$40-50 ? That is very pricey, even for local nurseries. Usually they are half that. Albeit usually for a whip, but it makes no difference since they usually grow so fast.

@Dreemsofdark

Look on many reputable online nurseries if you want to know what you are getting. (RainTree, OneGreenWorld, GrowOrganic , Baylaurelnursery, etc)

I think you can send your cuttings to a lab to get genetic testing done if you REALLY need to know what it is but I don't know what it cost if any.

Does that Bamboo stake need to be there or so close?Mulberry leaves usually get big and it looks like it may hinder development. Brady

Thank you Everyone for all of your help!!

To answer a few questions:

I took my pictures to another nursery and talked to a very nice man who told me exactly what I needed to do.

1) I was overwatering
2) I needed to scrape back the bark to see if the stems on top were alive, and prune down any dead bark
3) He said the white buds on it mean that it IS a fruiting tree.

I don't understand why finding a fruiting mulberry would be hard to find or so pricey (we paid $30) with the nursery owner guaranteeing me it was fruiting but that he just couldn't remember the exact name.

The Bamboo stake was in the potted mulberry when we bought it. When we dug the hole we just stuck the whole thing in there, mixed in top soil and original soil, the whole fertilizer, weed prevention, root stimulator bit, mulched, guarded, and done. If you think moving it and tying it straight at maybe an angle is better for it I will do that.

I was sort of advised that if I wanted a mullbery TREE VS. BUSH I should just cut that stock at the very bottom off anyways, but I'm going to wait for the stems to start blooming because the notion of a mulberry bush seems cool too.... have to decide... plus if the top dies I'd like to revive the bottom and it can grow anew!

Best thing to do is to go back to the fellow you bought it from.. and ask him what are all the varieties of Mulberry he had in stock this spring? It's reasonable that he might have to go back in the office to look and see...

Write down all the names.... and file it somewhere you can find it in a couple years....

Once it is fruiting pretty consistently - google up all the names the fellow told you and pick the one that's most like your tree...

On what is it doing? Looks to me that it's sulking after you planted it... My mulberries did the same thing when planted... They are pretty darned tough - and will grow out of it.

Thanks

Here's a video that may be of some help in keeping the Mulberry in bush form. Brady

Here is a link that might be useful: Pruning Trees Into Bushes

I am looking for anyone that might be able to offer a cutting from a red mulberry tree I live in Florida zone 9. we had one in the back yard when I was growing up and I would like to replace it any help would be greatly appreciated =)

A picture of my Illinois Everbearing Mulberry Bush taken yesterday. I know some may not consider it a bush but it's still being trained. It will end up 12'X12'X7-8' tall.

{{gwi:69637}}

I love mulberries but wish they came in a (much) smaller size. Does anyone know if there is a dwarf version (don't hate me).

Gerardi is a dwarf variety of mulberry