There are almost never seedlings growing from acorns. If there were, you would be able to pull them up easily. What you see are sprouts from the roots of the existing tree; therefore, you do not want to spray a herbicide on them in an attempt to eliminate the sprouts for you will hurt the “mother” tree along with the sprouts.
Only a small percentage of oaks send up suckers from the roots. It is a genetic trait, like freckles, except I like freckles. But like freckles and sunshine, some trees have the ability to sucker, but do not unless stimulated to do so. Oaks having a slight tendency to sprout suckers will often do so when roots hit a barrier, such as trees confined to a parking lot planter, or between a sidewalk and driveway. Also, when roots are disturbed and damaged by rototilling, they are more likely to sprout suckers. But some trees never will make suckers. When choosing an oak in a garden center, if there are sprouts coming up at the inside edges of the container, I would avoid that tree.
You may choose to mow them along with the grass, if grass still exists. Or if the grass has thinned too much, you might plant Asiatic Jasmine groundcover, and use hedge trimmers to trim the jasmine and oak sprouts to a uniform height. You can cover the area of sprouts with a heavy gauge woven geotextile, and then either mulch or spread large gravel or decomposed granite over the top of the geotextile. My favorite solution, when appropriate, is to cover the ground with geotextile and then build a wood deck.
Or if you prefer a thick green lawn, you may remove the oak tree, and all of the tree roots with a backhoe. If you just cut down the tree, grind down the stump and all the large roots you can see, there will still be thousands of oak sprouts emerging from the remaining roots in your new lawn or bed area for a few years afterwards. The area will need to be continually sprayed with an herbicide.
James 
Tom M. says
Will using a Herbicide on the ground stump area get rid of the sprouts?
james gill says
If you remove a tree, but it keeps sprouting from roots, triclopyr will kill those sprouts. But if surrounding trees or shrubs have roots in the same zone, they will be damaged.
Pamela Overstreet says
Thanks for your info on the sprouts under a Live Oak Tree. I assume that the Preen Weed Preventor will also harm the tree?
james gill says
Preen will not harm the tree but will not suppress the sprouts so no reason to use it.
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Stephanie says
We live in the woods. Oak suckers mowed turn into small nails. My dogs foot got pierced by one between her toes and bled for some time. I can’t walk outside at my own new house without thick soled shoes for fear of being stabbed. This i cannot live with! I don’t see “pull and cut” being much different than tilling. What to do about the spikes?
Patrick says
Just moved into a house with my fiancé and dog. We are having the same problem, I cut the grass really low exposing the suckers and most of the front yard is now composed of spikes … seriously “sucks”
james gill says
Yes its sucks. You can cover the sprouting area with heavy gauge geotextile and rock, or remove the tree and roots (major job). I had one gentleman tell me he excavated all suckers and surface roots and the tree had not resprouted. But I can’t believe that is a permanent condition/solution.
james gill says
Cover with heavy gauge geotextile and rock. Not ideal. Or remove tree and roots entirely.
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steve evans says
Can these oak suckers be dug up and transplanted until they grow independent roots?
Thanks,
Steve
Greg Schilling says
I have a large live oak and the sprouts around the tree have started to grow to a larger sprout being 5′ tall. Can I just cut them down and will they harm the large oak tree?
Please advise. Thanks,
Dan says
Thanks James. I’ve read or scanned six online articles looking for a solution to this oak sprout problem and yours is the best so far. Not just saying that because I’m from CC. Wish there was an easy solution, but thanks for the answers and some alternatives. By the way, none of the three oaks I’ve bought from your nursery have had this problem.
James says
There is no herbicide that will kill morning glory without harming the oak
Marty Doyle says
Thank you other than pulling morning glory is there something we can spray that will not harm the oak trees
We live on a ranch and have a few plus cattle
Becky Davies says
Spray the leaves with 5% vinegar. Keep spraying until the sprouts do not keep growing and producing green leaves. It kills the sprouts without killing the tree. This solution to the problem came mostly from trying to eliminate these sprouts while stopping new growth. My dog is a scavenger and loves to eat anything on the ground. These sprouts will make her throw up. I had the same problem with Hackberry sprouts that grew in response to a Hackberry tree that I had cut down. The Hackberry sprouts, when eaten, give my dog really bad diarrhea. Just keep spraying until they stop growing. Won’t kill your dog or the tree!