What Cut Brush Does Around Herculaneum
Around Herculaneum, Missouri the land is wooded river hills, creek hollows, hillside pasture and rocky glade openings, and the growth that takes it over is bush honeysuckle under the trees and cedar in the open. Below are the four kinds of work our crew takes on here, with what each is good for and where it is the wrong tool: forestry mulching, full land clearing, honeysuckle and understory clearing, and getting a lot ready for a new house. After them come the smaller jobs people ask for by name.
For prices, see the Herculaneum pricing page; for slopes, permits and towns, see the Herculaneum land clearing page. Quotes are free: request one here.
Forestry Mulching
The machine runs on tracks with a spinning drum of teeth on the front. Our crew drives it into the honeysuckle, brush and young trees, and they leave as chips. Trunks to about eight inches across are ground standing; larger trees are felled first and their tops ground up where they land. There is no pile to burn and nothing to truck away.
The finish is walkable ground under a blanket of chips, stumps cut level and the root mat left in place. On a hillside or creek bank, roots remain in the soil and chips cover the surface. Slope and access still determine whether a machine can work safely.
Where it falls short: a builder who needs bare dirt will have to move the chips, very steep ground may be too much for the machine to work safely, and the head does not kill honeysuckle roots, so a mulched understory will refill unless the sprouts are cut again.
Land Clearing
A land clearing quote starts from the finish you want: which trees stay, where the clearing ends and how open you want the ground. Stumps are ground level with the soil; full stump removal below grade, or cutting and hauling very large trees, is discussed and priced in the quote. Our work ends at the surface, and grading is your builder's job. One property might combine a hillside pasture taken back from cedar, a woodlot thinned underneath and a building spot mulched to the soil.
It fits a wooded parcel about to become a house site, a hill pasture being reclaimed or a glade opening gone to cedar. A single brushy edge does not need it; the understory rate covers that for less. Trunk size, slope and the distance between work areas decide how long it runs.
Clearing and grubbing count as land disturbance, with Missouri DNR permit coverage required at an acre or more, and Herculaneum and Jefferson County each issue their own land disturbance permits. Requirements vary by parcel, scope and jurisdiction, and the governing authority makes the determination.
Honeysuckle & Understory Clearing
Bush honeysuckle is particularly a problem in the St. Louis region. It is a shrub that reaches about twenty feet, leafs out before the native plants in spring and stays green after they drop their leaves, and birds spread its red berries into every woodlot edge and fence row. Left alone, it fills the space under the oaks and hickories until nothing else grows there.
Under the canopy, the mulcher takes out the honeysuckle, brush and saplings and works around each flagged keeper. Afterward the woods open up: you can see the back of the lot, walk it and keep the edge mowed, and the good trees and soil are left as they were.
Plan for the regrowth. Cut honeysuckle resprouts with more branches, so return visits in the following seasons are written into the quote. Taking the trees out as well makes it land clearing, and soft growth below the knee is cheaper to mow.
Honeysuckle and understory clearing rate around Herculaneum.
Lot & Homesite Preparation
A homesite on a wooded lot needs space for the house and yard, a drive in from the road, paths for power, water and septic or sewer, and somewhere for delivery trucks to park. On a wooded hillside lot the slope shapes the layout as much as the trees do, so we look at where the ground is gentlest and where silt fence or other erosion control will go before the house spot is settled, and mark the trees you are keeping so the machine stays off their roots.
Timing sets the finish. A lot that will sit for a year is best left under chips, which hold the slope; a lot with a builder waiting is mulched right down for them. Grading, fill, foundations and build pads are not our work, and stumps out below grade are priced in the quote if the plan needs them.
A mulched lot is not a finished pad; the two are different jobs.
Jobs People Ask For by Name
These are the names people around Herculaneum tend to use for the work. Every one is done with the methods above; herbicide is a licensed applicator's work, and grading is for your builder.
Fence Line Clearing
Old pasture fences toward Hillsboro and De Soto disappear under honeysuckle, cedar and saplings. Grinding the line back to the posts gives you wire you can see and repair.
Brush Hogging
Grass and soft weeds in a hayfield are a job for a tractor and rotary cutter, and the quote will say so when that is the cheaper route. Woody stems past thumb thickness need the mulcher.
Invasive Species Removal
Around here that mostly means bush honeysuckle, particularly a problem in the St. Louis region, with cedar spreading over the glades. We do the cutting and grinding; herbicide, if you want it, is a licensed applicator's work.
Trail Cutting
Walking or ATV trails through wooded hillsides and down to a creek, routed along the contour where the grade is gentlest and around the wettest bottoms.
Commercial Clearing
Business and multi-lot sites along the I-55 corridor in Festus, Pevely, Arnold or Fenton, planned around the site plan and the land disturbance permit and erosion control the project already carries.
Property Maintenance
A planned trip back after the main clearing. Cut honeysuckle resprouts with more branches, and birds bring in new seed from the neighbors, so trimming the regrowth while it is knee high costs far less than a second full clearing.
Tick & Snake Habitat Reduction
Brush and honeysuckle crowding a house, shed or play area give ticks and mice cover. A wide strip cut back to mowable ground around the yard takes that cover away.
Defensible Space
Cutting back the cedar and brush that have crept up to a home or outbuilding on a wooded lot, leaving less fuel beside the walls and an edge you can keep mowed.
Selective View Clearing
Opening a view from a hilltop house toward the valley or the river, or a sight line along a drive, with the trees you want kept flagged first.
Food Plot & Shooting Lane Clearing
Plots and lanes on hunting ground in the hollows and ridges of Jefferson and St. Francois counties, laid out so the cover you want stays. We clear the ground; tilling and seeding are yours.
Horse Pasture & Paddock Reclamation
A paddock or hillside pasture whose edges have closed in with cedar and honeysuckle, opened back up to grass, with the debris ground in place instead of left in a pile.
HOA Compliance & Vacant Lot Clearing
A wooded lot in a subdivision around Imperial, Barnhart or High Ridge that has drawn a letter from the association or the city, or has a closing coming up, brought back to the property line.
Sell-Ready Lot Cleanup
Clearing the understory off a lot or a few wooded acres before listing, so a buyer can walk the house site, see the lay of the slope and find the corners.
Which Method Does Your Land Need?
Leave that to us. Request a free quote or call (919) 525-3950; we'll contact you to discuss your property, access and the clearing you need, and your written price spells out which method we will use and the finish you get.
Prefer to see prices first? The four bands are on the Herculaneum pricing page.
Let's Get Started on Your Land
Request a free quote. We'll contact you to discuss your property, access, and the clearing you need.
Get a Free QuoteOr call us directly: (919) 525-3950