Brush hogging, forestry mulching or land clearing: which does your land need?
Grass, weeds, brush and saplings need cutting, and that’s brush hogging. If trees and stumps have to go, that’s forestry mulching or land clearing, which we don’t do. Here’s how to tell which job your land needs.
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Three jobs that look alike from the road.
All three leave overgrown land looking cleaner, so they get mixed up. The difference is what each one does to the plants and to the ground.
Brush hogging cuts what’s growing and leaves the ground as it is. Forestry mulching grinds brush and standing trees into chips where they stand. Land clearing takes trees, stumps and the rest off the land, usually so it can be used for something new.
We do field mowing and brush hogging, through dense brush, palmetto and saplings up to 3 inches across. Forestry mulching, land clearing, tree or stump removal, grading and excavation are outside what we do.
What each one actually does.
Here’s each job in plain terms, from the lightest work to the heaviest.
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Field mowing and brush hogging
A tractor pulls a heavy rotary cutter across the land. Field mowing keeps grass under about a foot. Brush hogging takes on taller grass, thick weeds, brush, palmetto and saplings. Either way, trees, stumps and the lay of the ground stay as they are.
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Forestry mulching
A forestry mulcher is an attachment that grinds standing trees, brush and stumps into mulch in one pass. One kind, the drum mulcher, is a spinning drum set with cutting teeth, mounted on a skid steer, track loader, excavator or tractor. A USDA Forest Service fact sheet says the chopped and ground material is left on the soil surface, and calls the work “more than simply mowing.”
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Land clearing
The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service defines land clearing as removing trees, stumps and other vegetation from wooded areas. It’s done to make way for a change in how the land’s used. Grading, which reshapes the ground itself, can follow.
Start with the thickest stems on the land.
Walk the property and look at the heaviest growth on it. Grass and weeds, even well over a foot tall, are brush hogging work. So are brush, palmetto and saplings up to 3 inches across, which is our dense brush tier.
A wider trunk than that counts as tree work, and we leave it standing. Land with a few trees scattered through the brush can still be brush hogged. Your scope lists each area and whether it gets field mowing or brush hogging, and the trees stay put.
It’s a different story if young trees have filled the land in, or you want the trees and stumps gone. That’s forestry mulching or land clearing, not a brush hog.
Not sure which you’ve got? Get your acreage price in our quote tool, then text us photos of the thickest areas. If anything’s past what a brush hog can take, we’ll tell you before any work starts.
Then decide what the land is for.
The second question is what you want the land to be after the work. If it’s staying a pasture, a field or an open lot, cutting is the job.
Federal conservation standards draw the same line. The NRCS treats brush management and weed treatment as their own practices, and sends clearing for a new land use to its land clearing standard.
Planning to build, lay a driveway or turn woods into pasture? Then the trees, stumps and roots have to come out, and that’s clearing work, sometimes with grading after it.
Forestry mulching sits between the two. It takes out brush and trees without hauling them away, and leaves a layer of chips on the ground.
Cutting is a start, not a cure.
Saw palmetto is a shrubby palm native to Florida, with extensive stems underground. UF/IFAS counts it as a real problem in pastures, and notes that controlling it often takes follow-up treatment for resprouts.
The reason is where it grows from. Its growing point sits inside the top of its rhizome, near or below the ground, so a cutter takes the top and it regrows quickly.
Weeds work the same way. UF/IFAS calls dogfennel Florida’s most common pasture weed, and it spreads from underground rootstocks as well as seed. The NRCS brush management standard says it plainly: follow-up treatments may be necessary.
So the first brush hogging is rarely the last cut. Regular cuts afterward keep the land at the kept-up rate, with field mowing from $75 an acre. When to cut, and how often, is covered in our guide to mowing pasture and acreage.
Ask before clearing or removing trees.
If you’re weighing clearing, tree removal or grading, check with the county before any work starts. Taking trees out is regulated in both counties.
In unincorporated Hillsborough County, a natural resources permit covers land alteration, which the county lists as grubbing, tree removal, clearing, grading, filling or excavating. Wetlands and ponds can bring in the Environmental Protection Commission as well. The county’s tree removal page says you may need a permit to remove a tree.
Pasco County’s tree removal checklist says many native trees need a permit to remove, and wetlands come with conditions of their own.
Inside city limits, ask the city instead, and don’t go by the mailing address to decide. Only the county or the city can tell you what applies to your parcel.
What we cut, and what stays.
Our acreage work is field mowing and brush hogging: tall grass, weeds, brush, palmetto and saplings up to 3 inches. Trees, stumps and the shape of the ground stay as they are.
We don’t do forestry mulching, land clearing, tree or stump removal, grading or excavation. Stumps, debris or holes we spot when we review the land are flagged with you before we cut.
If your land needs heavier work than a brush hog, we’ll say so once we’ve seen it. That way you know which kind of job to ask for.
About cutting and clearing.
Can a brush hog cut small trees?
Ours takes palmetto and saplings up to 3 inches across, at the dense brush rate. Anything thicker is tree work, and we leave it standing.
Does brush hogging remove stumps?
No. Brush hogging cuts what’s growing and leaves the ground as it is, so stumps and roots stay where they are. Stump removal and land clearing aren’t part of our work.
Is forestry mulching the same as brush hogging?
No. A forestry mulcher grinds standing trees, brush and stumps into mulch. Brush hogging cuts grass, weeds, brush and saplings, and leaves trees and stumps alone. We do brush hogging, not forestry mulching.
Will one brush hogging get rid of palmetto for good?
Usually not. Saw palmetto regrows from its rhizome, near or below the ground, after it’s cut, and UF/IFAS notes that controlling it often takes follow-up treatment. Regular cuts afterward keep it down.
Match the job to the land.
If the land holds grass, weeds, brush, palmetto and saplings, and you want it kept open, brush hogging is the job. Tall grass and weeds with no brush start at $100 an acre. Thick weeds and light brush start at $150 an acre. Dense brush and palmetto start at $250 an acre. All brush hogging carries a $300 job minimum.
Those are starting prices, confirmed once we’ve seen the land. Our brush hogging cost guide explains what moves them, and our brush hogging page covers how the work runs.
Find out what your land needs.
See your starting price online, or call or text us a photo or two. You’ll hear back within one business day, and the price is confirmed once we’ve seen the property, in person or from your photos.
More answers on mowing, brush hogging and overgrown lots are in our other guides.
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