On this page
- Tree Clearing Methods on a Northeast Florida Lot: Mulch, Fell, Push, Rake, Grind
- Land Clearing and Tree Removal in One Job
- Slash Pine Out, Live Oaks Kept: Which Trees Northeast Florida Counties Protect
- Camphor, Privet and Brazilian Pepper: Why Exotic Tree Clearing Costs More
- Storm-Killed Pine and Leaning Oaks: Clearing Irma and Matthew Debris
- Stump Grinding vs. Stump Removal After Land Clearing
- Protected Trees, Eagle Nests and Gopher Tortoises on Jacksonville Land
- Tree Clearing Cost per Acre in Jacksonville, FL
- Land Clearing Across Northeast Florida Communities
- Tree Clearing Questions From Property Owners
Tree Clearing Methods on a Northeast Florida Lot: Mulch, Fell, Push, Rake, Grind
Five ways to clear trees from land, picked by stem size and what you want left. Forestry mulchers take pine and brush to 8 inches on the skid steer and larger on the 300-hp machine, grinding brush into mulch where it stands. A saw fells pine over 8 inches on tight lots. A bulldozer pushes whole trees when the pad needs the roots out. A root rake grubs stumps and palmetto root mat at $165 an hour. Stump grinding finishes a selective job at $4.25 an inch. That is the way clearing works on flatwoods: mulch the small stuff, fell the big pine, grub only the footprint. Efficient clearing is matching the machine to the stem.
Land Clearing and Tree Removal in One Job
One crew, one mobilization, one invoice. Jacksonville land clearing projects mix brush and tree work: palmetto and gallberry under 40-year slash pine, a few live oaks the county wants kept, wax myrtle on the fence line. We specialize in doing all of it in one pass instead of a tree service for the pine and a brush crew for the rest. Comprehensive land clearing on a half-acre lot is one day of forestry mulching, $2,700. Case 2: a 0.5-acre Nocatee-area lot, 1 day, $2,700, 3 live oaks kept under the St. Johns County tree ordinance. Lot clearing, brush removal services, stumps, site preparation for the pad: your clearing needs get one written price. No surprises on the invoice.
Slash Pine Out, Live Oaks Kept: Which Trees Northeast Florida Counties Protect
Most buildable lots here carry 40-year slash pine over palmetto, and the pine comes out. It sits shallow on hardpan and is the first thing down in a storm. Slash pine grows straight, falls crooked, and lands on whatever cost the most. Live oak stays wherever the code says so. City of Jacksonville Chapter 656 protects trees at 11.5 inches DBH on a residential lot and 6 inches on commercial sites, with mitigation into the Tree Protection Trust Fund. St. Johns, Clay and Nassau County protect at 8 inches, with specimen or heritage oaks on top; Nassau heritage oaks start at 36. I pull the COJ permit for you, fee at cost. Laurel oak is the one to watch: it looks like live oak, lives half as long and hollows out at 60 years. Irma dropped them on houses from San Marco to Mandarin. A laurel oak over the pad is a bad trade.
Camphor, Privet and Brazilian Pepper: Why Exotic Tree Clearing Costs More
Exotic trees cost more because they come back. Camphor, Chinese privet and, on the coast, Brazilian pepper resprout from any stump you leave. Our crews cut and treat the stump within minutes, before the cambium seals, or the lot is a thicket again in two seasons. A camphor wall on a quarter-acre infill lot runs the $1,900 flat price plus a treatment line. Mulching alone does not kill it; mulching plus cut-stump treatment is the only vegetation management I will put my name on for these three. Unwanted vegetation that is native, palmetto and gallberry, gets mulched and stays down under a pad. Let a lot overgrow with camphor for ten years and the price doubles.
Storm-Killed Pine and Leaning Oaks: Clearing Irma and Matthew Debris
Storm debris is a haul job first and a clearing job second. Irma in September 2017 put the St. Johns at a record and dropped pine and laurel oak across every county; Matthew in October 2016 did the same on the coast from Fernandina to Flagler Beach. Case 6: 2 acres in Julington Creek after Irma, 11 loads hauled, $9,350. Leaning oaks get pushed from the root side so they fall where we want. Snapped pine gets felled at the break and the stump ground or raked. Haul-off runs $650 to 1,200 per 10-yard load. FEMA pays for public roadside debris only; your lot is yours. Pine standing dead in year two is a saw job, not a mulcher job; the crew treats every trunk as hollow.
Stump Grinding vs. Stump Removal After Land Clearing
Grinding costs $4.25 an inch of diameter, $160 minimum per stump. Pulling the stump costs $165 an hour on the root rake, plus the hole to fill. Grind when the stump sits in a yard and the ground stays. Pull when it sits inside the pad footprint, because a slab over a rotting pine stump settles. A 24-inch slash pine stump grinds for $102. Lots with 10 or more stumps go by the day. Call Sunshine 811 first: a grinder wheel finds a water service line faster than a locator does. Stumps out on a full clearing to bare ground are built into the $2,800 to 5,000 per acre price; on a mulching job they are a separate line.
Protected Trees, Eagle Nests and Gopher Tortoises on Jacksonville Land
Three things stop a clearing crew in Northeast Florida: a protected oak, an eagle nest and a tortoise burrow. Bald eagles nest thick along the St. Johns, Black Creek, Doctors Lake and the Guana; the FWC Eagle Management Plan sets a 660-foot buffer around an active nest in season. Gopher tortoises live on every sandy lot. FWC requires a survey within 90 days of clearing, no work within 25 feet of a burrow, and a relocation permit if burrows are found. The survey runs $400 to 900. Case 1: 3 acres off CR 218 in Middleburg, two burrows flagged at 25 feet, the rest mulched in 2 days, $5,400. Palm Coast allows no clearing without a building permit. Osceola National Forest longleaf in Baker adds red-cockaded woodpecker rules. The State of Florida fine for burying a burrow runs past the price of the job.
Tree Clearing Cost per Acre in Jacksonville, FL
- Palmetto and pine flatwoods mulching: $1,400 to 2,300 an acre by density.
- Sandhill and scrub on Trail Ridge or the coastal ridge: $1,100 to 1,700 an acre.
- Live oak hammock, selective, county-protected oaks kept: $2,000 to 3,200 an acre.
- Full clearing to bare ground with stumps: $2,800 to 5,000 an acre.
- Skid steer forestry mulcher: $2,700 a day, transport included across Duval, St. Johns, Clay, Nassau, Baker and Flagler north of Palm Coast. Dedicated 300-hp mulcher: $4,100 a day plus transport.
- Half-acre lot: one day, $2,700. Quarter-acre infill lot: $1,900 flat.
- Wet season, June to September, adds a day on flatwoods.
Free estimate on-site in all six counties. Fully insured crews. We assess your land, stake the keep trees, and the price goes in writing before the trailer leaves Middleburg. Grab a walk-through slot on the calendar or call (904) 406-7990. The confirmation comes by text the same evening, from me.
Land Clearing Across Northeast Florida Communities
Land-clearing services throughout Duval, St. Johns, Clay, Nassau, Baker and Flagler from our Middleburg yard: Oceanway, Baldwin, Mandarin, Nocatee, CR 210, St. Augustine, Fleming Island, Green Cove Springs, Keystone Heights, Yulee, Wildlight, Callahan, Macclenny, Palm Coast and Bunnell. Services in Jacksonville and surrounding areas carry no transport charge; south of Palm Coast adds a transport line. Services for residential and commercial lots, large commercial tracts, large jobs for developers, and utility and road right-of-way clearing for builders are quoted the same way: by the acre, in writing. Land clearing contractors who quote by phone are guessing. We have the equipment and expertise for the big tracts and the time for a quarter-acre. If you need land cleared in Northeast Florida, schedule a free walk-through. Land clearing services available year-round.
Tree Clearing Questions From Property Owners
How much does it cost to clear 1 acre of trees in Florida?
$1,400 to 2,300 for palmetto and pine flatwoods mulched in place, $2,800 to 5,000 for full clearing to bare ground with the stumps out. Live oak hammock where the county keeps the oaks runs $2,000 to 3,200, selective. Transport is included across the five counties.
How many acres per day can a forestry mulcher clear?
One to two acres per day on palmetto and slash pine with the skid steer, two to three with the 300-hp machine on pasture. Case 3: 12 acres near Callahan, 3 days, $12,300 plus transport. The cheapest way to clear land here is mulching, wherever the mulch can stay.
Do you offer brush clearing without taking the trees?
Yes. Clearing brush under a pine stand is the most common job clearing we do: palmetto, gallberry and wax myrtle mulched, the pine and oak left standing. Brush clearing runs the same $1,400 to 2,300 an acre. Our forestry mulching services leave a 2 to 4 inch mulch layer that holds the sand and slows resprout.
Do I need land clearing before I build?
On any lot with pine or palmetto, yes, under a county clearing permit or the building permit. Professional land clearing before the site prep crew arrives means the stumps are out of the footprint and the keep trees are staked. Land management after the build is yours; we hand the lot over squared away.
Do you take excavation or forestry work on residential or commercial acreage?
Both. Excavation services here mean footing cuts, pond cuts and pad fill on a residential or commercial parcel. Forestry services mean thinning planted pine and cutting fire lines on timber acreage in Nassau and Baker. Expert land clearing on a half-acre lot gets the same crew and the same service as 12 acres.
How do I book a land clearing company for my lot?
Pick a walk-through slot on the online calendar or call (904) 406-7990. I confirm by text the same evening. The land services we quote in writing: mulching, felling, grubbing, stump grinding, haul-off, pad. A land clearing company that quotes by phone is selling clearing solutions it has not seen. Property owners clear your land to raise the value of their land.
