Lot & Land Clearing in Gainesville, FL

Clearing jobs come in a few common shapes. A fence line has disappeared under twenty years of volunteer trees and vines. A back acre has filled in with saplings, brush and a few big dead trees. A vacant lot needs to be opened up before someone can build, sell or simply see it. Each is different from a single tree removal, on a city lot or on rural acreage, because the work is measured in area, not trees, and the decisions are about what stays as much as what goes.

This page explains how we approach clearing, what rules apply in the city and county, and what affects the price. If you only need a few specific trees removed, the takedown methods page is a better starting point.

• Selective clearing. Together we tie ribbon on every tree you plan to keep, usually healthy live oaks, longleaf pines and other good specimens. Everything else in the target area, brush, saplings, invasive trees and dead wood, comes out. This leaves a cleaner, more open lot that still has shade and character.
• Full clearing. Everything in a defined area is removed, typically for a building pad, a driveway, a pasture or a garden. Even then, we flag edge trees that should be protected.
• Fence-line clearing. A narrow strip along a property line is cleared so a fence can be repaired or replaced. This is one of the most common jobs on older lots.

Larger trees in a clearing area are taken down using the same methods as individual removals. Brush and small trees are cut and chipped. Stumps can be ground, left, or, for construction, pulled. See stump grinding for details on stump options.

Many overgrown lots here are full of invasive trees that spread quickly and crowd out native ones. Camphor, Chinese tallow, mimosa and chinaberry are the usual suspects, often tangled with invasive vines. The City of Gainesville's Urban Forestry page says the city's tree regulations do not apply to invasive tree species, which makes removing them simpler inside city limits.

Invasive trees often come back from roots and seed. Cutting them is the first step. For the most aggressive species, follow-up treatment of stumps or sprouts is often needed to keep them from returning. We will tell you which trees on your lot are likely to resprout so you can plan for it.

Clearing triggers tree rules more often than single removals because it involves more trees, and often larger lots.

• City of Gainesville. On land other than existing single-family homes, the city requires a permit to remove any living tree 8 inches or larger in diameter. On single-family lots, the trigger is 20 inches, rising to 30 for sweetgum, laurel oak, water oak, slash pine and loblolly. Invasive species are not covered.
• Unincorporated Alachua County. On single-family lots over one acre, and on commercial, multifamily and HOA land, the county regulates trees over 8 inches in diameter plus specimen trees. The county's page is blunt on this: no zoning district or land use is exempt from getting approval first. The permit fee is $90, and the county can order twice the usual replacement planting when regulated trees are cut without one.
• Towns. Places like Hawthorne and Waldo have their own codes. We check with the town before work starts.

If the clearing is part of a construction project, tree removal is usually reviewed along with the building or site plan, so start with the planning office. We can work from an approved plan and the trees it marks for removal, and we keep the trees it marks for protection fenced off from equipment for the whole job.

State law protects gopher tortoises, and the dry sandy ground around Gainesville suits them well. Their burrows have a half-moon-shaped opening with a mound of sand at the entrance. FWC rules say that before any clearing comes within 25 feet of a burrow that might be occupied, the landowner needs an FWC permit to move the tortoises. If all burrows can be avoided by 25 feet in every direction, no permit is needed.

FWC also warns that clearing within 25 feet of a burrow on a neighbor's property can still create liability if it collapses the burrow or harms the tortoise. Before clearing a sandy lot, walk it or have it surveyed for burrows. We flag any we see and keep equipment well away from them.

1. Walk-through. We mark the boundary of the work area, flag keeper trees, and note burrows, wells, septic systems and any fences that must stay.
2. Rules and locates. Any tree permits, tortoise permitting and 811 utility locates are taken care of before equipment arrives.
3. Brush first. Vines, brush and small saplings come out first, which opens up sight lines and access to the larger trees.
4. Larger trees. Bigger trees are felled where there is room or pieced down near fences and structures, just like an individual removal.
5. Debris. Material is chipped as we go. Chips are spread or hauled, and logs are hauled or stacked, as agreed on the estimate.
6. Stumps and final pass. Stumps are ground if that was included, and the area gets a final cleanup so you can see the ground you paid to open up.

Clearing is usually priced by area for brush and small trees, with large trees priced individually on top. Density, terrain and what happens to the debris are the main factors.

Properties with many dead trees or old hazards may also involve dead tree removal pricing for those trees.

Clearing work is most common on the larger lots west and north of town and in the outlying communities. Around Newberry, acreage and older homesteads often have overgrown fence lines and pasture edges. In Tioga and other western subdivisions, clearing is usually more selective, focused on brush and invasive trees under a canopy that owners want to keep. For more on what a removal visit looks like, read what happens on tree removal day.

Walk the property with us and we will mark what stays, explain what rules apply, and give you a written price. For more about tree removal in Gainesville, see the homepage, or book a walk-through.