Biomass

My non-horticulturalist self has always wondered why any sane individual would cut back beautiful trees to their bony knuckles. Growing up, there were some trees down the street from us that were hacked down to nubs every fall, and they sat there in the yard all winter, looking humiliated. I felt for them. I scoffed at their owners.
Well, I can scoff no more. The two mulberry trees in our backyard have, it seems, been knuckled for years (since long before we moved here), and now I am heartily nodding in agreement. Yikes. The growth rate and sheer biomass of these things is UNBELIEVABLE. One day you can run around unhindered in the yard, and the next, you find yourself crashing into inch-thick branches that appeared mysteriously overnight! Aliens?