Therefore, cutting them back reduces the potentialfor future animal damage. A variety of organic and inorganic materials can be used as mulches aroundyoung oaks. All of these materials tend to suppress weeds by physicallycovering them, eliminating the light necessary for photosynthesis and growth. They also tend to conserve soil moisture by reducing evaporation from thesoil surface, resulting in more available moisture for the oak seedlings. A problem with mulches is that they do not last forever.
Plastics tend tobecome brittle and degrade in sunlight, while organic materials graduallydecompose.
Occasionally, weeds will also grow up through holes in the plastic,or through shallow places in the organic mulch. For maximum benefit, theseweeds should be regularly removed. When using chemicals to eliminate weeds around oaks, using the properherbicides and following the label on the container is critical, so thatonly the competing target plants are affected, and the oaks are not damaged. Spray it around plantingspots in the early spring, after most of the weed seeds have germinated. If the oaks have leafed out, or shoots from newly germinating acorns haveemerged from the soil, not spraying them is very important, because theycan be seriously damaged by the herbicide.