Oak Trees Taking Over Lawn

[Paul78]

New here. Looks like a nice board community you all have.

A brief introduction, I am new homeowner and this is my second spring in my new house. My lawn is surrounded by oak trees and last fall they dropped thousands of acorns all over the lawn. I did my best to rake the acorns out, but i missed many, and now i have thousands of oak trees growing in my lawn.The oak trees are really just little saplings, 4 inches high or so.

Any thoughts on how i should get rid of the oak trees?

I have come up with three options. Mowing the lawn and the trees, picking them all out, or thatching the lawn to get out the trees. I will probably just mow over them and hope they die.

Please help!

Thanks.

 

[Chuck]

Acorns are not what those sprouts are from.
Oak trees grow in what are called motts. What you see and think are acorns sprouting are actually sprouts from the root systems of the surrounding trees of which all are interconnected. There is absolutely nothing you can do about it except keep them mowed down and possibly plant a ground cover to shade the ground. If you try to poison those sprouts you will kill your trees.

 

[Paul78]

Acorns are not what those sprouts are from.
Oak trees grow in what are called motts. What you see and think are acorns sprouting are actually sprouts from the root systems of the surrounding trees of which all are interconnected. There is absolutely nothing you can do about it except keep them mowed down and possibly plant a ground cover to shade the ground. If you try to poison those sprouts you will kill your trees.

Thanks for the reply. That is interesting then, because I literally see the saplings sprouting from the acorns themselves, but i do appreciate your response.

 

[Chuck]

Thanks for the reply. That is interesting then, because I literally see the saplings sprouting from the acorns themselves, but i do appreciate your response.

Maybe as small percentage are acorns sprouting but why don't you dig down in a few places and you will see I am correct. I have the same problem. If it were that easy why don't you just get you a Grand Pa's weed puller and yank them out. If they were only acorns buried by squirrels or something they should be easy to remove. Try pulling them up. See what they are attached to. Get a shovel and try to dig them up. I know what I am talking about as I have numerous live oak trees and have studied this and how to stop it. You can't stop it. Go ahead and see for yourself.

 

[Paul78]

Maybe as small percentage are acorns sprouting but why don't you dig down in a few places and you will see I am correct. I have the same problem. If it were that easy why don't you just get you a Grand Pa's weed puller and yank them out. If they were only acorns buried by squirrels or something they should be easy to remove. Try pulling them up. See what they are attached to. Get a shovel and try to dig them up. I know what I am talking about as I have numerous live oak trees and have studied this and how to stop it. You can't stop it. Go ahead and see for yourself.

Does it ruin your lawn? Or can you still have a nice lawn despite these things?

 

[Chuck]

Does it ruin your lawn? Or can you still have a nice lawn despite these things?

It seems to be a genetic trait and not all oak trees send up these shoots but you cannot stop the trees from doing it. All you can do is to keep them mowed down. A lot of people around here plant a ground cover to camouflage the oak shoots and mow high. I have thought about using a chemical like Brush Be Gone. It would kill the shoots but it would also kill the mother tree/trees too. If I wanted a lawn that is what I would do, remove the trees and plant some other type but I live in a rural area and do not have a lawn, just what mother nature placed here.