Miller, James H.; Manning, Steven T.; Enloe, Stephen F. 2010. A management guide for invasive plants in southern forests. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–131. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 120 p.
Paper mulberry [Broussonetia papifera (L.) L’Hér. ex Vent.] is a traditional ornamental deciduous large shrub or tree with a round crown to 50 feet (15 m) in height and boles to 2 feet (0.6 m) in diameter, often appearing as shrub-forming thickets from root sprouts. Broad oval leaves that can be deeply lobed on rapidly growing stems are softly hairy on the lower surface (compared to the rough texture of other mulberry species) and scruffy above. Forms dense stands in fence rows, disturbed sites, and forest edges with shallow roots, and is prone to windthrow. Viable seed are rarely produced.
Management strategies
- Do not plant. Remove prior plantings, and control sprouts. Bag and dispose of fruit in a dumpster or burn.
- Manually pull new seedlings and tree wrench saplings when soil is moist, ensuring removal of all roots.
- Burning treatments are suspected of having minimal topkill effect due to scant litter.
- Treatment combinations should be used that are appropriate for dense thickets with limited access. Access trails may need to be cut.
Recommended control procedures
Large trees. Make stem injections at cut-spacing specified on the herbicide label using Garlon 3A as a 10-percent solution (1 quart per 3-gallon mix) in water or a 15-percent solution (58 ounces per 3-gallon mix) for larger trees, or cut large stems and immediately treat the stump tops with Garlon 3A as a 30-percent solution (7 pints per 3-gallon mix) in water with a surfactant. ORTHO Brush-B-Gon, Enforcer Brush Killer, and Vine-X are effective undiluted for treating cut-stumps and available in retail garden stores (safe to surrounding plants).
Saplings. Apply basal sprays of Garlon 4 as a 20-percent solution (5 pints per 3-gallon mix) or when nontarget damage is not a concern, Stalker* as a 3-percent solution (12 ounces per 3-gallon mix) plus Garlon 4 as a 15-percent solution (3 pints per 3-gallon mix) in a labeled basal oil product, vegetable oil or mineral oil with a penetrant, or fuel oil or diesel fuel (where permitted).
Seedlings and saplings. Thoroughly wet all leaves with one of the following herbicides in water with a surfactant on young trees less than 10 feet tall (July to October): when safety to surrounding vegetation is desired, use Garlon 3A as a 2-percent solution (8 ounces per 3-gallon mix), Garlon 4 as a 0.5- to 2-percent solution (2 to 8 ounces per 3-gallon mix), or a glyphosate herbicide as a 3-percent solution (12 ounces per 3-gallon mix). If nontarget damage is not a concern, use Arsenal AC* as a 0.25-percent solution (1 ounce per 3-gallon mix) or Arsenal PowerLine* as a 0.5-percent solution (2 ounces per 3-gallon mix).
* Nontarget plants may be killed or injured by root uptake.
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