Land Clearing Cost in New Orleans, LA
Clearing around New Orleans is mostly lot work. A vacant lot in Chalmette gone past mowing, a tallow thicket behind a house in Harvey or the wooded back of a parcel outside Hahnville is often a fraction of an acre, so three things drive most bills here: how small the job is, how easily the machine reaches it from the street, and our $1,500 project minimum. The minimum is a minimum charge for the whole job, not a fee added on top of the rate. Larger ground prices from the per-acre rates below.
Your quote comes back as one figure for the whole lot, with the method and the finish written beside it. Forestry mulching grinds brush, small trees and stumps into mulch on site, leaves the stumps flush with the ground and hauls nothing away. If you need full stump removal below grade or very large trees cut and hauled off, that is discussed and priced in the same quote. Grading and build pads are not part of our price: we clear to the ground so a builder can grade. Treatment of tallow regrowth is listed as left out, because a licensed applicator does it. The figure does not change once work starts unless you add to the job.
Request a free quote; we'll contact you to discuss your property, access and the clearing you need. More reading: the New Orleans services page, the New Orleans land clearing page and the Louisiana land clearing cost guide.
New Orleans Rates by Type of Work
Forestry Mulching
$1,500 – $4,000 / acre
Brush, vine and small trees ground to mulch where they grow. An overgrown lot of young growth on firm ground prices low; a dense wooded stand on soft ground with large stems prices high.
Tallow & Understory Clearing
$1,500 – $2,500 / acre
Chinese tallow, vine and brush cut out from beneath the oaks and other trees you keep. Back halves of lots, fence lines and lot edges gone to tallow usually fall in this row.
Land Clearing
$1,500 – $4,500 / acre
A whole parcel taken to the finish written into the quote. Scattered saplings on open ground land near the bottom; heavy trees felled and mulched down to ground level land near the top. Stumps are ground flush; full stump removal below grade and cut-and-haul of very large trees are priced in the quote when you need them.
Lot & Homesite Prep
$1,500 – $4,500 / acre equivalent
A house footprint, drive and utility path opened on a wooded or overgrown lot. Coastal and city permit questions are settled first. Fill, grading and build pads are not part of our price: we clear to the ground so your builder can grade.
An acre lands anywhere in its band depending on what is growing and how firm the ground is. Small lots are different: bringing the mulcher to a lot in Metairie or Meraux costs the same for two hours as for eight, so a job below the bands is priced at the $1,500 project minimum. Grouping a neighbor's lot into the same visit is the simplest way to get more from that minimum.
Five Factors Behind a New Orleans Price
Soft ground and the weather
Much of the south shore sits low, and federal land cover data puts about half the ground near the city in wetland. After a run of rain a tracked machine on saturated soil slows down and can rut a yard, so a flexible start date is often worth more than any discount. The per-acre rate does not change with the weather; the start date can.
How long the lot has been left
A lot that went unmowed for one summer is grass and soft brush. One left for years is saplings, vine and Chinese tallow, often several stems from each old cut, and the head works through them one by one. Our figure covers knocking the tallow down; treatment of the regrowth by a licensed applicator is separate and is not part of our price.
Getting the machine onto the lot
A trailer that can unload at the curb beside open ground keeps the hours on cutting. A narrow lot between two houses, a fence that has to come down and go back up, a soft driveway or a culvert at the street all add time. We will ask about the way in and any ground that holds water when we contact you.
The trees you keep
Oaks and other large trees are worth keeping on a city lot, and working around a trunk and its roots is slower than running straight through. Trees in the right of way or on a neutral ground belong to the city and need a Parks and Parkways permit before anyone works on them, so they are left alone unless that permit exists. Point out every tree you want kept when we discuss the job.
Permits, coastal review and the brush
Low ground in all five parishes can need a coastal answer before clearing, and New Orleans development sites of an acre or more come under the city's Stormwater Code. None of this changes our rate, though it can move a start date; the New Orleans land clearing page sums up each rule. Mulching leaves no pile, so there is no burn or haul cost to add.
New Orleans Pricing Questions
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