Mulching, Clearing, & Brush Removal

Clearing the Property

• Work in the area most important to you first. Mark trees you wish to leave standing so they are not mistakenly taken out. Remove “cash trees” such a good walnut and other saleable woods before clearing the brush. Clear the major trash trees, stumps and rocks before proceeding to other parts of the property. Pile the brush into several manageable portions. Though twigs and small limbs are light singly, when stacked on top of one another, the weight adds up and the limbs entangle. Pulling on a tangled mess of limbs may create a backlash of debris that can hurt you. Always wear gloves and protective eye gear when working with brush.

Brush Removal

• Once the unwanted growth and debris is cut and stacked, begin with brush removal. You can pay to have it taken away or get a permit to burn what you can. If you’re not recycling burnable trash, things to burn include paper, wood and leaves. Items such as metal and old batteries are saleable and depending on the area you’re in, could bring enough money to defray the cost of hired labor and equipment. If hauling brush away for disposal, make certain it cannot blow out of your truck or trailer while being transported.

  Avoid wildfires by watching your controlled burn closely. Planning to burn when rain is in the near forecast will further protect against runaway sparks. The “greenest” way to dispose of unwanted scrub and other organic waste is to create brush piles in an unused area of the land. Birds and other animals will move into these areas.

Mulching the Property

• Add mulch to your property to raise the organic content in the soil. A lot of organic matter in the soil feeds microbes and helps create a healthy soil ecosystem for future garden plants. You can buy or rent a garden chipper to turn limbs and roots into small, easily broken down pieces of mulch. Mulch the entire property or concentrate on the areas where you know your plants will be. The plants you take out while clearing the land offer a free source of mulch.

Possible Problems When Clearing Land

• The dust created from large-scale land clearing may bother your neighbors. The noise from heavy machinery running at very early or late hours could also raise complaints. The odor from using certain types of fertilizer, gas, smoke and poorly managed compost piles would be of concern as well.