Acorns why so many this year

FAQ Actions. Was this helpful? Yes No 8. Print Tweet Share on Facebook. Comments 0. Add a public comment to this FAQ Entry. Contact Us with your Question by Email. Your Question Question. Leave this field blank. Submit Your Question. Powered by Springshare ; All rights reserved. Hickory and walnut trees are experiencing the same thing. Walnuts, which are also called "stone fruits," are coated in husks. Depending on the species, walnuts can be bigger than golf balls.

When they fall, especially from a tall tree, they can come down with considerable velocity, Sandler said, and really do damage. Sandler said he gets a lot of calls this time of year about the extra tree nuts. Homeowners tell him they've never seen so many acorns and are worried. He calms them down by telling them that they have nothing to fear. Nature is doing just what it's supposed to be doing.

This may mean there are advantages for the tree to produce occasional, rather than annual, mastings. Second, weather does not always cooperate to provide the conditions for a bumper acorn crop. Unfavorable weather during pollination and seed development periods can result in reduced production of acorns.

Late spring freezes, extremely high temperatures, summer droughts and other weather stresses can reduce acorn pollination and production. Third, predation by seed-eaters like squirrels, deer, turkey and even weevil larvae can greatly reduce the number of viable acorns. Winter Almanac says we're in for one of the coldest winters in 'years. A mild winter can often mean more acorns since white and red oak trees are able to produce more of them when they start creating seeds in the spring. But a harsh winter or a springtime freeze can lead to very little acorn production, or sometimes none at all.

This is where climate change potentially plays a role in the frequency of acorn mast years, Bassuk said. Mild winters and no spring freezes mean a more conducive environment for flowering. In the Northeast, for instance, this past winter and spring were "phenomenal" for flowering, Bassuk said. And it's not just acorns that fall in bunches once every couple years. Other nuts like walnuts and hickory nuts go through the same process.