Land clearing in
Central Virginia.
Land clearing is taking a piece of ground from grown-up woods, brush or scrub to something you can build on, farm, fence or see across. Call and we’ll come walk the property with you.
What we clear,
and what for.
David’s Tree Service clears lots and fields across Lynch Station, Lynchburg and Campbell, Bedford and Pittsylvania counties, and has been doing it since 1993.
Building lots
Clearing a house site, a driveway run and a septic area out of standing timber.
Fence lines
Cutting a clean line so fence can actually be run, which on an old boundary can mean years of growth.
Pasture and field reclamation
Fields that have gone to cedar, locust and briar come back with a lot of work, and that’s a common job around here.
Views
Selective clearing to open a sightline, especially on the slopes around Smith Mountain Lake.
Overgrowth around structures
Barns, outbuildings and equipment that the woods have crept up on.
Storm cleanup at scale
When a storm goes through a stand of trees rather than a single one.
Selective clearing is
usually the better answer.
Taking everything off a lot is sometimes necessary and usually a mistake. A lot cleared to bare dirt has problems that show up later.
The trees you leave are worth more than the ones you take.
We walk it with you and mark what should stay
Usually stays
- Sound hardwoods with good structure
- Mature hardwood near the house
Usually goes
- The locust
- The crowded pine
- The leaning cedar
- The understory scrub
What goes is the brittle stuff.
What goes wrong when you clear everything
Erosion
Bare slope in central Virginia moves when it rains, and lakefront lots move into the lake.
The one people don’t expect
Wind exposure
A tree that spent forty years in the middle of a stand has never had to stand up to wind on its own. Clear everything around it and you’ve left a tree with a canopy shaped for shelter and a root system that never needed to anchor. Those are the trees that come down in the first big storm after clearing.
Shade and value
Mature hardwood near a house is worth keeping. It’s also the thing you can’t buy back.
How it
goes.
You tell us what it’s for. That changes everything about how we clear it.
We walk it with you
You tell us what the land is for. That changes everything about how we clear it.
We mark it out
What stays, what goes, and where the debris will be handled.
You get a price
Clearing is priced by the job after seeing it.
We clear
Trees down, brush out, stumps ground if you need the ground workable.
We deal with the debris
Chipped, hauled, stacked as firewood, or piled for burning if that’s what you want and it’s permitted.
What drives
the cost.
Land clearing is hard to price from a description. Here’s what we look at when we walk it.
How thick it isOpen field with scattered cedar is a different job from closed-canopy woods.
Size of what’s standingMature timber takes longer and needs different equipment than fifteen years of scrub.
Terrain and accessSteep ground, wet ground and no way in for equipment are the three things that add the most time.
What happens to the materialChipping on site, hauling off and burning are all different costs.
StumpsIf the ground has to be workable or mowable, stumps have to be ground. If it’s going back to pasture and you can steer around them, sometimes they don’t.
Selective versus completeSelective takes longer per acre, because everything comes out around what’s staying.
Acreage alone doesn’t tell you much. Terrain, density and what happens to the material matter more, so we price it by the job after seeing it.
What our customers say
★★★★★ 4.8★ from 127 Google reviews
Related services
Stumps ground if you need the ground workable. Tell us what the land is for and we’ll tell you whether you need it.
Do I need a permit?
It depends on the county, the acreage, the slope and how close you are to water. Erosion and sediment control requirements can apply to larger disturbances, and lakefront and floodplain work has its own rules. Check with your county before you start. We’ll tell you what we know, but the permit is the landowner’s responsibility.
Can I keep the timber?
Yes. If there’s merchantable timber on the lot, say so early. It changes how we cut it and what it’s worth to you.
Can I burn the brush?
Sometimes, and Virginia has seasonal burn restrictions that apply for much of the spring. Check the current rules for your county before planning on it.
How long does an acre take?
There’s no honest average. A lightly grown field can go quickly; an acre of closed-canopy hardwood on a slope is a different proposition entirely. We’ll give you a real timeframe after walking it.
Will you grind the stumps too?
If you need the ground workable, yes. Tell us what the land is for and we’ll tell you whether you need it.
Can you clear just enough for a view?
Yes, and it’s worth doing carefully. Opening a sightline without destabilizing the trees you’re keeping takes some thought, particularly on a slope.
Call and we’ll
come walk it.
Land clearing is hard to price from a description. Call and we’ll come out, walk the ground with you, and tell you what it takes.
540-297-3454
Tree down right now? Call our 24/7 emergency line, 540-871-8338.