That Tree Grows Like a Weed

About a month ago, I showed how much that tree beside our front porch had grown, starting from my having cut it down to almost nothing but a bare long branch.

( It's still growing )

There are other trees of this type (and I understand that it's not a particularly nice plant) on the property. I think that if maybe we aggressively cut them back the way I did this one, in the future they will mostly just produce leaves (which I value for the shade) without producing any pollen (which I value not at all).

There is another pod of these trees (they propagate through root systems as well as seeds), and I expect that the way they crowd out other plants is why I've never been able to raise any flowers in the seed bed out front. I instead planted birdseed and have raised a crop of birds, who don't seem to mind the tree and like being able to shelter within its branches when one of the local small hawks flies through.

Lisa has already had to cut this one back to keep it from crowding the front steps.