Question
Hi,
We bought a house recently with 2 large oak trees(I don't know the type of oak but the bark has red color inside) in the front yard and 2 large oak trees in the back yard. The back yard trees appear larger in height and size.

The front yard trees drop a lot of seeds and lot more brown leaves. The back yard trees don't appear to shed any seeds. The neighbors and the local gardener suggests that the frontyard tree might be having beetles like pests which causes the oak to drop lot more seeds in defense, so we should trim the tree by cutting a lot of the branches.

Please share your thoughts. I feel quite sad to cut any part of the tree as they look majestic in my eyes. I am a tree lover and I want to do the best for these trees.

I truly appreciate any insights you might have.

Thank you.
Sarah

Answer
Oak trees produce acorns at different rates on a three year cycle depending on the weather conditions. Even trees of the same species will produce acorns crops on different years (usually the genetic makeup effects this). Insects have little or nothing to do with this production.
The leaf production is based on the overall crown size of the tree and the food and water the tree gets and the age of the tree as well as the species. The brown leaf drop is normal for hardwood tree as they shed their leaves in the winter and put on new ones in the spring. As long as the trees leaf out this spring they are in good shape. I would not prune the trees for the reasons you stated.  

If you want to fertilize them to increase the foliage production you can use 10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of 1 lb per inch of trunk diameter scattered around the tree and watered in good. Do not use  a fertilizer for lawns containing a herbicide for the weeds (Weed and Feed type products) near the trees this can kill the trees.

Beyond that it sounds like your trees are healthy and growing normal.