Yes you can cut them off and yes it will react by producing replacements.

and of course.. we dont chop anything off.. we properly prune them ... never leaving stubs.. cutting at the branch collar etc ....

you should get a good pair of hand shears .. and a pruning saw .. the investment is well worth the money.. especially if you have more shrubs and trees around the house ...

saw... something like this: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=folding+pruing+saw&t=ffcm&ia=web

shears something like this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bypass-Pruners-8-Professional-Sharp-Bypass-Pruning-Shears-Tree-Trimmers-Gardening-Scissors-Hand-Pruner-Garden-Shears-Clippers-for-Garden-Yard-Work/130427864

are you new to the home.. note the lack of grass around the base .. im thinking last year someone went to town on this thing to clean it up .. and part of what you are seeing is a result of such ...

an id of the plant on better pix.. might help ... some trees.. there is a goo you put on the cuts coming out of the ground to dissuade more of such ... gal can bring us up to speed on that ... also.. if its a flowering tree.. timing of pruning might be important ...

nothing healthy dies from pruning alone.. so just get it done.. when the time comes ...

you might want to mulch under the plant to reduce weeds.. or plant some grass seed .. but just leaving bare soil is an invitation for weed city ... the ID will also help us decide if you can easily garden under it.. or if that might be a PIA ....

ken

Hand ripping the smaller sprouts and suckers is supposed to be better than cutting to encourage scarring over rather than resprouting. .

I take care of this small one or two leaf twigs with a sharp hatchet. If you hatchet is sharp enough a quick motion will remove the twig. Using a sharp hatchet you can clean most of these twigs from a tree in a few minute.

To do it right you have to make the hatchet stroke parallel to the tree and hit the twig right a the base.

Or you could just get out a lopper and a secateur (hand shear), clear the first foot or two each time and leave it at that.

ok .. lol .. recommending hatching is like saying go ahead and eat that mushroom.. im pretty sure its ok .. lol ...

and ripping ... hand strength might be an issue ... though.. if you happen to time it out right.. when they are very small it might not be that hard ... but once they get to a certain size.. you aint ripping anything ..

regardless ... the point is.. there are a variety of methods ... and i may have suggested the easiest and safest ... but not necessarily the only ...

ken

Thanks! It is a flowering tree. How does flowering effect pruning times? I'm not sure what type of tree it is though. There were small white petals falling off last week when we moved in. I've taken a few more photos for you to see what the tree looks like. I really appreciate your help since this is all new to me.

From the foliage shot apparently a star magnolia. If it were mine I would just leave it as is. And would definitely not do anything to it involving actions like tearing or chopping off stem sprouts.

If done with a SHARP hatchet and with PRECISION, it is as good as any method for removing small twigs. and It is faster.

The trouble with swinging sharp objects is, you generally are swinging towards the hand you are using to grab the branch.

My BIL gave himself a nasty gash with a Machete doing that.