Question
QUESTION: I moved into a new home that had been professionally landscaped,with mature scrub oak trees that have been trimmed and maintained well.  This fall I have been doing clean up in the yard and there are hundreds of new starts that I do not want to come up.  I have been cutting them down as far as I can but they are getting out of control.  How can I get rid of them with out killing the mother tree?

ANSWER: The sprout are coming from the parent tree's root system and feeding off this system. The foliage manufactures food and transports it to the roots form storage and use the next spring to bud out new leaves. The root system is all the same with just new sprouts coming up. It will not harm the root system or the parent tree if these are cut. Do not use any herbicide or wound dressing on these cuts. Cutting them will have no effect on the root system. About all that can be done is mow the sprouts and over time they should stop.

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QUESTION: That's great news!  Is it best to trim them in the Spring and the Fall?

Answer
The sprouts coming up in the yard can be cut as they come up anytime during the year. The tree itself IF needed should only be pruned after the leaves fall in the Fall and then only prune the dead or maybe lower limbs that are getting in the way. I would mulch around the tree with not more than 3 inches deep and about three feet out from the trunk of organic mulch not piled up on the trunk. This will help hold moisture and keep the lawn mowers and string trimmers away from the tree trunk.