Question
My father's house has beautiful live oak trees...some hundreds of years old.  The root shoots are taking over the small lawn.  Is there any way to manage them?  Currently we just mow them down, but they come back so quickly and they are very thick.  Would planting grass pads over them help once we mow them?  My friend suggested using some sort of natural foliage killer, but I think this could cause systemic problems and may harm the trees.  I would rather live with the shoots than harming the trees.

Answer
If the sprout are coming from the root system of the tree there is not anything that can be sprayed on them that will not also damage the tree. Grass planting may help but for the short term but I would expect the sprouts to come up through the grass. The best way is to keep mowing them.