This is my third autumn in this house and the number of acorns is simply amazing. For some reason I don't think the oaks produced much my first year here because I did not have an issue at all. Last year there were tons. I raked and shoveled what I could but still had an oak tree farm growing in my lawn and mulch beds this spring. This fall it's just as bad.

At first I had read, incorrectly, that oaks produce acorns every other year. Turns out that the acorns just take 2 years to mature and fall, but you can have them every year.

I bought a silly acorn rake thing that they don't really stay in and it doesn't pick them out of the grass too well.

Today, my best effort yet, was to rake into piles, use my shop vac to suck em up and then dump em in my waste pile.

Any other great ways to deal with these things?

Move to the Pine Belt, then all the trailers will block your view of the hardwoods.

Import a lot of squirrels and chipmunks? I think goats and pigs will eat them, too. (But chipmunks are cuter.)

flashguy

Squirrels.

They go in cycles, I’m learning that on Year 4 at a house with a huge old hickory tree on my property line. This year is a ON year and it’s produced hundreds of pounds of nuts since July or so and they’ve finally mostly stopped falling. Fun to clean up

The good thing is, next year this tree will produce virtually zero nuts, I’ll bet your oak tree does the same. Apparently they exhaust themselves producing a bumper crop and the following year is a recovery year where few or zero nuts or acorns are produced.

I bought a nut roller from Bag-A-Nut and it’s worked well and I also have a Garden Weasel nut gatherer.

I’d look at both if I were you, they make models that are for various nuts, sweet gum balls, acorns etc:

The Bag-A-Nut:



The Garden Weasel:




https://baganut.com/


https://www.gardenweasel.com/g...weasel-nut-gatherer/

I have the same issue with a Beechnut tree.

Have ever seen the seed from inside the spiky pod? It was invented by the Viet Kong. Tri-shaped so a razor edge always faces up?

Cuts my dogs feet, gets stuck in every shoe worn as well so they infiltrate the house.

The mower won’t pull them up either…

Little bastards.

Just be thankful that you don't have chestnuts to clean up.

Bag a nut may be the way to go. I was searching for that online but didn’t know what it was called.

The funny thing is that I first saw one at Sig Academy. They use it to collect brass. Thanks PA Sig!!

This is the second year in a row with a bumper crop. Hopefully next year will be less. We have tons of squirrels and chipmunks but there are just too many oaks for them to put a dent.

Hire those animals that gather them up for
winter. LOL

I am on a ranch with lots of oak trees. We don't bother with acorns in the yard where we are, it is an exercise in futility. We sweep them off the deck and side walks and what the wildlife does not get will just disintegrate over time. We end up with deer in our backyard at night and the clean up a lot. I do know of people who collect them and put them in their deer feeders

No Squirrels?

I just leave them for the turkey, deer, squirrels, and the occasional bear to eat. I believe species of white oak can produce varying numbers of acorns every year while red oaks every other year. Last year a late frost kept the acorns (and apples) from producing and this year they've made up for it!

When I lived in town the neighbor had a large, old white oak that covered his yard and he didn't like it. His solution was sucking them up with a shop vac and I can remember hearing that thing run for what seemed like days at a time!

We always just swept them off the driveway and walks, leaving those in the yard.

I think my issue with leaving them is some of it is in fenced yard and my biggest problem is the front where larger animals don’t go. My lawn tractor pushes them into the turf and the begin to grow in spring. It takes a few mowings before they die off.

These are red oaks and now on 2 years in a row with acorns.

Do acorns kill grass? Everyone saying they just leave them there, I really can’t do that with my hickory nuts, for one it’s like walking on thousands of golf balls strewn across your lawn, and two they will kill the grass because they contain a substance that kills vegetation called juglone.

Has anyone tried one of these attachments? https://m.stihlusa.com/product...ttachments/kwpwrswp/

I have heard they work great for removing stones from the grass without damaging the grass. I would imagine it would work for nuts too.

You may be able to rent one to see if it'll work.

I have plenty of Mother Nature’s little preppers visiting my yard. Y’all feel free to drop by and pick up a load for your own acorn patches.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
Import a lot of squirrels and chipmunks? I think goats and pigs will eat them, too. (But chipmunks are cuter.)

flashguy

Exactly! The goats think they are dessert. The pigs probably do too, but darn are they destructive.

Yeah, we have them here, too. Sounds like a hail storm outside with even a slight breeze. And walking across the driveway is like walking on ball bearings. This is the worst year for them in quite a while. I know that some of our American Indians used to harvest them as a food source.

Was doing my moms yatd work today. HOLY SHIT. I cleaned up 2-3 garbahe cans of acorns.
This was from 2 trees. I guess the squirrels have gone on unemployment.