Any ideas? Thanks!

My mother-in-law planted some these paper mulberries (Broussonetia papyrifera) on her place back in the 60's, now what a headache. They spread like crazy, by seeds & roots. The limbs become hollow. We had to warn visitors, to beware of the hornets in the tree, when they parked in the driveway. Brisk winds caused a large limb to break, & we saw a couple of snakes living inside.

Now, my husband & I live in a new house a couple of hundred feet away from the old one. And as I was mowing the old place yesterday, I still see more of these darn trees growing in the back yard. We will be cutting them down soon.

Thanks for the identification! Honestly, they're not bothersome in any way now. I know that they certainly could become so down the road. I'll be sure to monitor them and keep my eye on them. If I see any new mulberries sprouting up, I'll be sure to remove them.

No issues with hornets at all -- and I'm not surprised that snakes would make a home out of a fallen limb -- that would happen with most any tree.

If these trees become a nuisance down the road, I'll be sure to cut them down. Like hedera helix, for example -- it's about maintenance and keeping an eye on them.

Thanks again!

They do look a little close to the house though.

I saw a HUGE single-trunked one in Bowling Green(KY) a week or so ago.

The reason that you see these growing in a row down a fence, or in thicket-like clumps, or as I know them well - as inextinguishable stands along railway corridors where they withstand whatever chemical assault the railroad can fire at them - is that this species is a suckering/colonizing plant, regenerating from any root system it has. It is quite resistant to chemical control, and doesn't seemed fazed by being cut down or mown off.

I know this plant from my early youth, where there was a plant on the property my parents bought and moved us to in 1967. Despite being cut to the ground repeatedly, mown off, sprayed with herbicides, incredibly cold winters to -25F, ridiculously dry/droughty summers with shallow to bedrock soils...this plant persists at that same location lo these 45 years later, and with suckering shoots occurring a hundred feet away!

This is a dioecious species to boot, meaning that only plants with female flowers will produce fruit, and male plants won't produce fruit/seed but can continue to vegetatively reproduce via root suckering and colonizing behavior.

I would do everything I could to eliminate this plant anywhere within the sphere of where I would want to garden. Do not believe that this is an innocent or innocuous neighbor.

I should also mention that what appears to be a 'house' on the other side of the fence is actually an empty, and probably eventually-razed shed. I should also mention that the limbs or roots are not affecting the fence (or the shed wall/roof) whatsoever.

What could I expect the max height of these to reach, say 8-10 years down the road?

1. seeds!!!
2. increased cost of removal in a few years.