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 
Suzanne says
Never say never! : > ) After an unusually wet spring and early summer many lawns in KC – including ours – are filled with the small seedlings from sprouted acorns. We know it’s acorns and not sprouts from the tree roots because when pulled every little seedling root has an acorn attached to it! Several shorter than usual mowings have not done them in – they just continue to leaf out again in a day or so. Hardy and persistent little guys! : > ( Considering attacking them by hand, but oh the hours it would take. Any other alternative?
james gill says
Suzanne, I’m at a loss for solutions. A broadleaf weed killer such a Triclopyr will kill oak seedlings without harming the grass, but a spray application will definately damage or even kill the main tree. Roundup will kill the seedlings AND the lawn without harming the main tree, if they are indeed seedlings and not suckers. Using a wiper application of Triclopyr with NO spillage of chemical might be successful, but is risky. So I can’t wholeheartedly recommend any of these. You could attempt covering with old carpet or refrigerator boxes to suffocate the seedlings, being sure you still apply adequate water to the roots of the main tree. Best of luck.
Rosemary Willfong Willfong-Turpin says
People who come in on this web site trying to sell something and leaving their advice for how the web site’s experts handle things, ought not to be so rude!!! Please stop and refrain from interfering in what this site was intended for. We come in for here advice, and we are not here to be sold on some other product from rude and nasty opportunists!
Georgia Root says
I have been searching for an indepth article on these tree sprouts for sometime now. Thanks for the informaion and a couple of solutions.
Ola says
It’s truly a great and helpful piece of info. I’m glad that you shared
this useful info with us. Please stay us informed like this.
Thanks for sharing.
Gery says
Has anyone put artificial grass over the sapling affect area?
james says
I never heard of anyone trying that, Gery. It might work. The matrix of the artificial grass might hold the suckers back, or you might need another layer under it of heavier construction geotextile. But artificial turf is usually put atop a base of crushed stone or similar, I worry that the extra layer of base material might cause problems for the tree.
Bill says
Think I may have gone about the sucker removal all wrong. I used a propane burner to burn down the sucker hedge that has grown up inside the brick wall perimeter around my Oak tree. I have noticed some browning of the leaves on the tree. Hopefully just a shock and it will green back up in a week or so.
james says
Hopefully. I had never thought of that idea, would be a little afraid of trying it. But sometimes a plant problem will make you so mad, you will try anything. Please let me know if this works out for you, and I will pass it along.
Ian says
Bill – do you have any updates on your torching approach? I hoped this would be the silver bullet… since i don’t like any of the other options :). Great blog, though. I appreciated reading through everyone’s ideas and James’ original post. Stay vigilant with those suckers!
Reagan says
I have to watch them with a pair burner they still come back
Wayne says
Corrected email address.
JAMES GILL says
No seed for Floratam. Buy a few pieces of sod, cut them into 4″x4″ squares, partially bury them , keep watered and fertilized. They will spread fairly quickly next spring.
james gill says
And Wayne, I see I neglected to mention that though Floratam is superior in sun, Raleigh does better in shaded areas such as underneath large or closely planted live oaks.
Wayne says
Is the a seed product for Floritam or St Augustine grass to avoid re-sodding? Maybe a suitable alternative to plant in bare spots until the Floritam fills in?
Thank you!
Marlo says
By the way, I plan to purchase some more bags of the naturally organic topsoil to pour in the flower bed further away like 4′ to 5′ from the oak tree to make the flower bed for the hostas, bleeding hearts, ferns and astilbes. Will these plants be okay? Thank you.
james gill says
Marlo, I assume you are a long way from Corpus Christi. Those plants mostly will not grow here. But if your oaks are suckering from the roots, I would not plant in those areas, the sprouts will be very competitive with anything you plant.
Marlo says
Hi, I plan to plant Hosta plants around the oak trees but the problem is the seedlings popped up around the tree.
So the question is: will the seedlings harm the hosta plants, bleeding hearts or astilbe flowers? Thank you.