Also it looks like the prior owner did not remove the support stick or a chain tied to it. Will this damage the tree in the long run or will it continue to envelope the wood?

Wow. That poor tree is a mess. I would say it was topped, not trimmed back. And what usually happens when you top a tree is you get a mess of weak shoots sprouting up all over like in your picture. That tree really wants to live. That chain choke job should probably have killed it, and that old stake is probably causing it to rot inside. If it were mine, I would start over. But if you want to try to salvage it, I would thin out the branches, starting with the ones that are crossing and rubbing together, and with the weakest ones, which are nearest to the old stubs where it was topped. I would do it in the winter when I could see what I was doing. Two branches close together will rub and cause problems, not fuse into one big branch. Not much you can do about the chain or stake now. I hope it's not near the house. I wouldn't recommend a tire swing on those weak branches.

you should get rid of it ...

the only good thing i can say about mulberry ... is that you would be better off with a maple.. and the peeps here know how much i really.. really .. hate maple ...

i am not sure that was a good thing.. lol

ken

I had one of these in my front yard. In fact it was a selling point for me when we bought our house. It had never been trimmed or topped and the branches spread out sideways making it the best jungle gym ever for my kids. They grew up climbing that tree, playing in it and going for 'bronco' rides when the wind blew hard. We hung a number of tires and swings from that tree. It's abundant foliage shaded the entire front of the house and kept the house cool.

It eventually developed a major crack in the trunk and it also began to lean. Surface roots cracked my porch too, so it had to go. Now it's a nice log to sit on and the stump has a small slab of marble on it by way of a table.

I did notice that the house was MUCH hotter with the tree cut down.

I have since planted two plane trees and a cal sycamore further away from the house with the idea of shading the yard and the asphalt of the street to make it much cooler.

As nice as that mulberry was, the plane trees are much prettier and one is growing with a sort of 'spiral staircase' habit with the way the branches grow from a central leader. That one is going to be an epic climbing tree!

I've tried a couple of watering schemes with them and they have always done well, but they look freshest and best with periodic flood irrigation. I have no lawn that requires frequent watering so these trees are rooting deeper.

With the problems your tree already has, I would start over. I counted 22 rings on my mulberry after I cut it down. It got big fast, but it also developed major problems fast. I would do some home work to find a sturdier tree to replace it.

periodic flood irrigation

==>> i lke this term ... it is what i would call .. 'putting the hose on trickle.. and letting it run for an hour' ...

to accomplish this.. you dig a small hole and find out how much moisture there is at 3 to 6 inches.. and on new transplants.. and speaking of trees.. for 2 years ... you must insure deep watering thru the whole root mass planted ... so it can get a good set of roots down.. to grow the tree above ...

your base soil type is important ... as drainage is key ... so it is near impossible.. for anyone but you ... to define how it all works ... so you do not drown them ...

ken

I have near perfect drainage so flood irrigation means turn the hose on halfway and let it run for about 4 hours. That gets a large area good and wet deep down. When I turn it off the puddles are gone in 3 minutes. It's almost impossible to overwater in my garden but it is very easy for something to die in a hot spell. It's the deep rooted or xeric that make it in my garden.

Thank you all for your response. I will wait until the winter like suggested and control some ofthe branches. I will also attempt to clear away some of the support stick and see if there is any damage inside. I would hate to lose all those years of growth and plant a new little guy in its place. So lets hope it can pull through.

Thanks again everyone.

Around here nothing provides the kind of deep shade that a mulberry does...so I suffer with them for that reason. With your congested situation you do probably want to wait until the leaves are gone to prune, but you'll get way more resulting water sprouts from your new cuts than you would if you did it after it leafed out. So be vigilant next year about removing any water sprouts (new shoots around your cuts) as soon as they appear, when they are small and easy to take out.

They are fast growing trees so if you do decide to replace it with another, you won't have to wait forever for shade.

Sara