Here are the trunks. The leaves have a very velvet-y type of feel.

Pre-canopy.

Bad news! You should get rid of them as soon as possible.

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.

Here is a link that might be useful: alien plants

Red,

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!

Well I agree that it is a mulberry, I am not so sure it is a paper mulberry. Apparently milky sap is an identifier. You might want to verify that.

They do look a little close to the house though.

Yep. It's Broussonetia.
Most I see are thicket-like clumps - like you've shown, and relatively small in stature - maybe 15 ft max. Fairly common around old (>60 yrs) farmsteads and older homes in town.
I don't notice them spreading aggressively, and sure don't see seedlings popping up everywhere like M.alba (or P.calleryana).

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

That is definitely Paper-Mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera). This is not a plant to be trifled with.

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.

Holy cow. Thanks for the replies. My question is this -- as long as I contain these to this particular area (I would stay on top of matters), would it really be that bothersome to keep them around for a few years?

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?

I will say that the "suckering shoots occurring a hundred feet away" particularly caught my attention (among other items).

"...as long as I contain these to this particular area (I would stay on top of matters), would it really be that bothersome to keep them around for a few years?"

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