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7 Of The Best Ways To Pick Up Acorns From Yard

Oak trees greatly accentuate the look of the house and provide you and your family a shade. Some trees even harbor birds that wake you up in the morning.

Unfortunately, they shed acorns that are a nuisance.

Are you looking for the best way to pick up acorns from the yard? Read on to find out.

You will also know how to use the different acorn removal tools and even what to do with the fallen acorns.




But first…

Why do you need to clean up acorns from the yard?

Besides acorns making the lawn unsightly, they have plenty of other negatives that include:

They kill grass: If you are wondering, do acorns kill grass? Unfortunately, they do.

When acorns stay on the grass for long, they prevent the lawn from accessing sunlight vital for growth. As a consequence, the grass dies.

Unwanted seedlings can sprout: Like any other seedlings, when you leave acorns on the lawn for a long time, they can germinate and produce seedlings.

If you don’t remove the seedlings early enough, they grow, and you end up with trees you don’t need.

Acorns are unsafe: If your children are like mine, they like playing on the lawn barefooted. Acorns are painful to walk on, so your kids end up being hurt. They can also easily slip and fall.

When lawn mowing, the acorns can be ejected from the lawnmower, and when they hit any of your family members, they cause serious injury. The acorns can also land on your house windows and break them.

They attract animals: If you are asking, do squirrels eat acorns?

Yes, squirrels and other animals feed on acorns, so when you allow acorns to stay on your lawn, they attract these animals to your compound, where they can be of danger to you, your family members, and even your pets.

Some of these animals, such as mice, carry diseases that can spread to your family members and pets.

Which is the best way to pick up fallen acorns from the yard?

There are plenty of practical ways you can use to clean up acorns from your yard. They include:




#1: Push a nut roller

A Ingenious Nut Gathering Device That Can Easily Clean Up a Large Pile of Pecans From a Yard

Also known as an acorn picker or nut gatherer, the nut roller allows you to pick up acorns and toss them into a collection basket.

It features a long pole saw and a cage that rolls along the surface of the lawn.

If you have small acorns in your yard, this is the best tool to use.

The small acorns get inside the basket-like cage and once the basket gets full,  empty it.

The beauty is the metal wires from the basket easily roll on different surfaces, so regardless of the nature of your lawn, you are bound to collect the acorns. The wires are flexible, so they easily spread open and collect even the hidden acorns.

Pros

  • Easy to use
  • Collect acorns on different surfaces
  • Easy to empty
  • Collects even the hidden acorns

Cons

  • Tedious collecting acorns over a large area
  • You have to make several moves on rough surfaces

#2: Tarp the acorns

The whole essence is to pick the acorns before they fall off acorn trees to the ground making your life harder.

This method is effective with small oak trees, but you can throw a rope over the branches and shake the acorns off even if the trees are large.

To remove acorns, grab the oak tree with your hand, then shake it hard so it drops the acorns onto the acorn netting or tarps below. If necessary, smack the branches with a stick.

After you have removed all the acorns from the tree, wrap them inside the tarp and dispose of them in green materials waste bin or compost bin.

While this is probably the easiest way to clean up acorns, you need to do it at the right time. Often when the acorns are about to fall off the trees.

NB: When you remove the acorns too early, you will have a hard time as they won’t easily fall off. Smacking the trees hard to remove acorns at the wrong time ends up damaging your precious trees. And you don’t want this. 

#3: Rack them up using the best rake for acorns

If you are wondering, should you rake up acorns? Yes, you should. If acorns have already fallen on your lawn, use a rake to pick them up.

Remember, you can’t use the same rake to clean the driveway as it’s not tough enough.

An ideal rake for acorns should be sturdy enough to pull the acorns from the grass. It also should get the acorns buried deep in the grass.

Rake the acorns into a large pile, then scoop them up with a flat shovel for disposal. You can also rake the acorns onto a tarp. Once you are done, wrap the tarp and dispose of the acorns.

While rakes are highly effective at collecting acorns, they are best to use when you have a small yard. If you have a large yard, get a more powerful acorn picking tool.

#4: Use a power broom

A power broom is simply a sweeper with a lot of power behind it. You can buy the broom or rent it from Lowes or Home Depot.

Using the power broom is easy as all you need to do is sweep the acorns in a pile then scoop them up into large garbage bags or tarps.

#5: Pick up acorns using a lawn sweeper

The lawn sweeper is an attachment to the lawnmower whose role is to collect debris.

The lawn sweeper follows behind a riding lawnmower and collects debris such as twigs, leaves, and even acorns.

So if you are one of the people asking, will a lawn sweeper pick up acorns, you should know that yes, the lawn sweeper will pick up acorns.

Would you like to know how to use a lawn sweeper? Read this detailed guide on how to pick up acorns with a lawn sweeper.

Lawn sweepers work by sucking up acorns like the vacuums or use their rotating brushes to toss the acorns into the collection bin.




If you already have a riding lawn mower, you need to attach the lawn sweeper to the lawn mowing machine and pick up most of the acorns in your yard.

#6: Vacuum up the acorns using the best yard vacuum for acorns

Although time-consuming, you don’t break your back picking the acorns when using the yard vacuum as you do when using the acorn rake.

Start with finding a yard vacuum that can suck up the acorns from your lawn. You can use a leaf vacuum or wet-dry shop vacuum.

For best results, choose a lawn vacuum with at least six horsepower and a 2 ½ inch hose attachment.

Whether you are using a leaf or shop vacuum, ensure the grass is as low as it can get. This is to make it easy for the vacuum to suck up the acorns.

You can also use a powerful leaf blower as a yard vacuum.  To get the most from it, ensure that it converts to a vacuum and collects the debris in a bag.

You don’t want one that vacuums and mulches the lawn debris.

#7: Use a baganut picker

This is a genius way to pick up acorns from your yard. All you need to do is to push the baganut picker around your yard, and it picks up acorns and puts them in a large basket. Once the basket is full, empty it.

While the baganut picker is highly effective and you can use it to pick up acorns from large yards, it’s pricey, but if you have the budget, there is no harm in trying it out as it will save you a lot of time.

Would you like to buy the baganut? Check out its price here.

What is the fastest way to pick up acorns?

There is no definitive answer to this question. Some people might say that the fastest way to pick up acorns is by using a rake, while others may say that the quickest way is by using a broom. Ultimately, it depends on the person’s preferences and abilities.
If you feel using a rake is the best way to go about it, you have to use the best rake for acorns
There are many different types of rakes on the market, but not all of them are ideal for gathering acorns.
For this particular task, you’ll want to use a rake with sturdy tines that can easily pierce through the acorn’s hard outer shell.
A metal rake is ideal for this purpose, but a wooden rake will also work. If you’re looking for a rake that’s specifically designed for acorn gathering, check out the Acorn Master rake from Fiskars.
On the other hand if you fee that you will collect the acorns faster using a broom, you should note that a standard broom is not going to cut it. You need a broom that is specifically designed to sweep up acorns.
This type of broom has long, stiff bristles that will easily grab the acorns and hold them until they can be disposed of.
If you don’t have a broom that is specifically designed for acorns, you can try using a dustpan and brush instead.
The dustpan will help to scoop up the acorns, and the bristles on the brush will help to grab them and hold them in place.

Tips to consider when picking up acorns from your yard

As you have seen, there are plenty of options you can use to clean acorns from your yard. It’s up to you to choose the option that makes sense to you based on your yard’s size.

  1. If you have a large yard, you will be absurd using an acorn rake as it will be tiresome and take you long to pick up acorns.




In such a case, the easiest way to pick up acorns is to use a lawn sweeper, yard vacuum for acorns, or any other powerful acorn removal tool.

2. You don’t need to hire an expert to help you pick up acorns unless you have a huge yard. For you to have an easy time collecting the acorns, first cut the long grass.

What should you do with collected acorns?

Did you know there are plenty of things you can do with collected acorns? Yes, you shouldn’t simply discard the acorns. Here are 5 things to do with collected acorns.

On my 15th birthday, I became the designated gardener in my home.

Now at 32, I have a small garden and every day I'm out trying different plants and seeing how they grow. I grow guavas, peaches, onions, and many others. Want to know more about me? Read it here.

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