You choose the finish: everything hauled off, brush chipped and spread on site, or larger wood cut to length and stacked. That single decision moves the price more than anything else on a clearing job.
What's included
- Walking and flagging the clearing line with you before work starts.
- Removal of brush, vines, saplings, and standing trees inside that line.
- Selective clearing when you want specific trees kept — we tag those first.
- Chipping on site, or haul-off by the load.
- Stumps cut flush; grinding priced separately if the ground needs to be usable.
- A raked and blown edge where the cleared area meets lawn, drive, or fence.
What it costs
Clearing is priced by the acre or by the day depending on density, and a walk of the site is usually worth doing before we commit to a number.
$1,800 – $6,000 per acre for typical residential brush and light tree cover
What moves the number:
- Density — light brush versus a mature closed-canopy tree line.
- Total area and whether equipment can move freely across it.
- Slope, wet ground, and creek buffers that limit machine access.
- Debris destination: chipped on site is cheapest, hauled off costs more.
- Stump grinding and grading if you need a buildable, mowable surface.
Buffers and setbacks in Wake County
A lot of land around Apex, New Hill, and Holly Springs carries riparian buffers along creeks, plus HOA tree-save areas and town landscape setbacks that appear on the recorded plat rather than on the ground. Those are exactly the strips people accidentally clear. Pull your plat or check with the town before the machines arrive — we will flag anything that looks protected.
Questions about land & lot clearing
Do I need a permit to clear my own land?
Small brush clearing on a residential lot usually needs nothing. Clearing an acre, disturbing more than a fraction of an acre of soil, or touching a stream buffer or tree-save area can trigger town or county review. Check before you start; it is a short phone call.
Can you clear around a septic field or well?
Yes. Mark the tank, lines, and well head, or point us at your permit drawing, and we keep machinery off the field. Drain lines are shallow and a loaded machine is how they get crushed.
What happens to all the debris?
Your choice, decided before we start. Brush chips on site and can be spread as mulch, or every stick leaves by the load. Larger trunks can be cut to firewood length and stacked wherever you want them.
Can you clear just part of a lot and leave the good trees?
That is most of what we do. Walk the property with us and tag the trees you want kept, and we clear around them. Keeping mature shade in the right spots is usually worth more than a clean sweep.