On this page
- What We Mulch and Clear in Nassau County
- Acreage and Pasture Mulching Around Yulee, FL
- Residential Mulching Services: Lots and Backyards, Not a Tree Service
- Forestry Mulching Cost in Nassau County: Mulch by the Day or the Acre
- After Mulching: Drive It, Grind It Twice, or Grade a Pad
- Permits, Tortoises and Wetlands Before Mulching or Land Clearing in Nassau County
- Where Our Insured Forestry Mulching Service Works in Nassau County
- Frequently Asked Questions About Mulching Services
What We Mulch and Clear in Nassau County
Planted slash pine with a palmetto and gallberry understory, wax myrtle thickets on old pasture, grape vine through all of it. Standing trees to 8 inches go down in one pass; the heritage live oaks over 36 inches that the county protects stay, and so do the hammock oaks on Amelia Island. Small trees and sapling pine mulch in seconds. Palmetto root systems are the slow part: the drum shreds the mat a rotary cutter only combs. Planted pine grows in rows. Palmetto never learned the rule.
Acreage and Pasture Mulching Around Yulee, FL
Overgrown acreage around Callahan and Hilliard is old pasture gone to wax myrtle and volunteer pine. Twelve acres of it near Callahan took the 300-hp mulcher three days, $12,300 plus transport. We clear land like that at three to four acres a day with the big machine, an acre a day with the skid steer in thick palmetto, two in light brush. Fire breaks and fence lines first. On our jobs in Nassau the bedded rows tell me where the water goes; a mulcher floats on wet beds where a dozer sinks.
Residential Mulching Services: Lots and Backyards, Not a Tree Service
A 1-acre lot near Wildlight was one day of mulching, $2,700, plus a $3,900 pad. A quarter-acre Fernandina Beach lot is $1,900 flat. Backyards in Nassauville and along SR 200 went to privet, vine and sapling pine against the fence; the heavy-duty head fits a 10-foot gate, and we cut trees it cannot swallow. Around the landscape beds the trees and brush end up as a 2 to 4 inch layer of mulched material. We are not a tree service and do no tree removal over a roof. I know people who do.
Forestry Mulching Cost in Nassau County: Mulch by the Day or the Acre
Planted pine and palmetto flatwoods mulch at $1,400 to 2,300 an acre by density. The sandy ridges along SR 200 and US 1 run $1,100 to 1,700. Live oak hammock on Amelia Island or the Nassau River, oaks kept, is selective clearing at $2,000 to 3,200. The wet-season day on flatwoods, June to September, goes in the written price first. No surprises on the invoice.
- Skid steer mulcher, $2,700 a day, transport included Hilliard to Amelia Island.
- 300-hp mulcher at $4,100 a day plus transport: stems to 12 inches, and the right tool on planted pine past 5 acres.
- Haul-off by the 10-yard load, $650 to 1,200, when the material has to go.
Free estimates on-site, and the written quote follows the walk. Pick a slot on the calendar or call (904) 406-7990. I text the same evening.
After Mulching: Drive It, Grind It Twice, or Grade a Pad
You are left with 2 to 4 inches of chipped pine and palmetto as ground cover, drivable the same day without a rut. Topsoil stays on the lot instead of blowing off bare sand. Palmetto resprouts from any crown the drum missed, so I grind the thick patches again the next dry season. Cleared areas meant for a house pad still need the root rake at $165 an hour, then 12 inches of compacted fill above crown of road, which is exactly what the Wildlight pad got. Cleared ground meant for grass gets the material raked into strips.
Permits, Tortoises and Wetlands Before Mulching or Land Clearing in Nassau County
Mulching vegetation needs no county permit by itself. Taking down a protected tree does: the Nassau County tree ordinance covers 8 inches DBH and up outside bona fide agriculture, heritage live oaks at 36 inches. Fernandina Beach runs a stricter code on Amelia Island, and Wildlight carries DRI conditions. Timber under greenbelt classification follows silviculture BMPs instead. The SJRWMD Environmental Resource Permit is triggered by fill and drainage changes, not mulching. FWC gopher tortoise rules apply on the sandy ridges: survey within 90 days, no work within 25 feet of a burrow. Eagle nests on the Nassau River and Lofton Creek carry a 660-foot buffer.
Where Our Insured Forestry Mulching Service Works in Nassau County
Yulee, Fernandina Beach, Callahan, Hilliard, Wildlight, Bryceville, Nassauville and Amelia Island. The service area covers the Nassau County area and the rest of Northeast Florida, Duval, Clay, St. Johns and Baker, transport included. Kings Bay is 20 miles north across the St. Marys; the St. Johns River is 25 miles south. Most of my calls come from a (904) number.
Frequently Asked Questions About Mulching Services
How much does mulching cost per acre in Nassau?
Between $1,400 and 2,300 an acre on planted pine and palmetto, $1,100 to 1,700 on the sandy ridges. By the day, $2,700 for the skid steer and $4,100 plus transport for the 300-hp machine. Twelve acres of Callahan pasture was $12,300 plus transport in three days.
How is mulching different from traditional clearing and burning?
Traditional clearing pushes everything into a dozer pile and then burns or hauls it. Mulching grinds trees and brush in place and leaves the material as cover: no burn pile, no bare sand. Out past Callahan a burn is sometimes still practical, but land clearing in Nassau County mostly mulches now.
Will mulching kill palmetto and underbrush under the pine permanently?
No. Palmetto resprouts from the crown under any mulch layer; a second pass the next dry season takes most of it, and undergrowth like gallberry comes back thin. To eliminate the mat for good, the root rake has to pull it, which is a different price.
Can I drive on the mulched rows?
Same day, yes. The 2 to 4 inch layer of mulched material carries a pickup with no rut, and a concrete truck after a dry week. For a driveway or pad we rake the layer off first. Mulching leaves a lot walkable and clear, not buildable.
Does the service cover commercial sites and the rest of North Florida?
Yes. Commercial sites on SR 200 and at Wildlight get the same crew as a backyard in Nassauville. We work the whole metro, Nassau County FL to Clay and St. Johns, and refer out demolition and stump grinding. Cleanup is on the ticket, and the 2026 dry season is already filling on the calendar.
