Land Clearing in Houston, TX: Lot Clearing, Brush Removal & Forestry Mulching
I've cleared lots from Dayton to Fulshear for twenty years. Two machines, two prices. A skid steer mulcher is $3,000 a day with transport. The big mulcher is $4,000 a day plus transport. Half an acre of tallow and yaupon is one day. Turner Land & Pine is a Houston TX land clearing company, not a tree service, and our crews are insured. Call (713) 587-6978 or send three photos of your place. Janine will have a number back to you by tomorrow.
HOLLIS · JANINE · DOZER
Bad news first.
It's the ground.
The equipment is not the hard part. Wet clay, tallow, buried stumps, and the wrong grade are what cost you days.
That's why I sketch your lot first. You'll see what stays, what goes, and what the day costs.
Land Clearing Services in Houston: What We Do and What We Don't
Seven kinds of ground work. One number to start with.
Seven services, one crew, two machines. Residential and commercial, from stump removal to full-scale timber clearing with haul-off.
- Land clearing. Trees, brush and roots taken to bare dirt, $1,500 to $4,000 and up by density.
- Forestry mulching. Everything ground where it stands, $1,000 to $2,500 by density, no burn piles.
- Lot clearing for new homes. Small residential lots in one day, $3,000.
- Underbrush and brush clearing. Yaupon and privet under the canopy, trees kept.
- Stumps. Ground 6 inches below grade, $150 to $400 each by diameter.
- Site preparation services and dirt work. Rough grading and house pads above base flood elevation.
- Tree clearing. Pine and hardwood cut, mulched or hauled.
- Fence line clearing. An 8-foot path, 2,400 feet a day with the skid steer, $3,000.
We don't pour concrete, set septic or demolish houses. I know people who do. The skid steer head runs carbide teeth that take 8-inch stems clean; anything thicker is a job for the big drum. Pick the service that fits and send photos.
Land clearing
Brush, timber, stumps, and a clear route to the next job.
Forestry mulching
Grind brush in place. Keep the soil covered.
Lot clearing
Open the ground for a home, shop, or building pad.
Brush & underbrush
Keep the good trees. Cut the growth between them.
Stump grinding
The tree is gone. Finish the job below ground.
Site prep & dirt work
Grade the pad. Watch the water. Build on sound ground.
Tree clearing
Pine, hardwood, and wooded acreage. Plan what stays.
Who We Clear Land For
One machine is not right for every lot. We start with your next use.
Five kinds of people call Janine. Homeowners with a wooded lot and a house plan. Builders who need residential land clearing done before the slab crew shows up Monday. Ranch and acreage owners with pasture going back to tallow. Developers who need commercial land clearing on 20 acres off the Grand Parkway. Hunters who want shooting lanes and a road in before November. Different clearing needs, same two machines. We don't mow or sell maintenance services after the clear. Professional land clearing is a pencil sketch before and an invoice after. Trusted land clearing is the same thing with the dates filled in. On our jobs in Montgomery County the builders learn fast that pine chips on sand hold a pad through the first storm; bare sand doesn't. Tell Janine which one you are and she'll know which machine to send.
Homeowners
House lots, backyards, old fence lines. We leave room for the next step.
Builders
New builds and pads. Clear access and sensible timing before the trades arrive.
Acreage owners
Pine rows, pasture edges, and trails. Work that keeps the useful ground useful.
Developers
Larger sites and haul-off plans. Make the access and drainage part of the job.
Lot Clearing for New Homes in Houston's Growth Corridors
Harris County pulled 16,940 single-family permits in 2025 by the Census Building Permits Survey, Montgomery 11,597, Fort Bend 9,638. That's a lot of residential lots waiting on a machine. Most are a half acre to two acres of tallow, yaupon and a few trees worth keeping. One day, one skid steer, $3,000. A woodland lot in loblolly pine takes two. Land in Houston's new corridors sits in two places: the Grand Parkway ring and the Highway 290 side out to Waller. Land clearing projects for a new build need three things. The slab area cleared to dirt. The drive cleared to the road. The trees you keep flagged in orange tape, and I flag them with you. The pad gets roughed in 18 inches above the crown of the road so the form crew isn't pouring in a bowl. By Friday you'll see the sky from where your kitchen will be. Send the plat and three photos.
Forestry Mulching and Underbrush Clearing Around Houston
Two acres of mulching run $2,000 to $5,000, by density. A skid steer does 1 to 3 acres a day. The big mulcher does 4 to 8. Forestry mulchers grind trees and brush where they stand and leave a 2 to 4 inch layer of chips. No burn piles. No haul-off. Mulching equipment floats on wet clay where a dozer sinks, because a wide track spreads 20,000 pounds over a footprint a dozer can't match. Land clearing and forestry mulching are not the same job. Mulching leaves the roots. Clearing takes them. We cut brush up to 8 inches with the skid steer; the big machine eats anything. Houston land clearing jobs on two acres of yaupon are mulching jobs nine times in ten. Tallow doesn't die. It waits. Mulch it in August and hit the sprouts next spring. Walk the lot with me and I'll show you where the chip layer will sit.
Clearing Yaupon, Chinese Tallow, Privet, Pine and Hardwood in the Houston Area
FM 1960 is the line. South of it, Houston-area land grows Chinese tallow, yaupon, privet and hackberry on gumbo clay. North of it, loblolly pine, sweetgum and water oak on sand, the south edge of East Texas timber. Texas Parks and Wildlife lists Chinese tallow among the worst invasive trees on the Gulf Coast, and I believe them. I've cleared more than a thousand acres of it since 2018. Vegetation sets the price more than acres do. Brush and small trees under 8 inches are skid steer work, $3,000 a day. Trees and brush over that, or dense pine, call for the big mulcher at $4,000. Texas land clearing is mostly knowing the plant before you price it. Yaupon mulches clean. Tallow sprouts back from a root crown 6 inches down and wants a second pass the next spring. Pine clears clean and the chip layer holds the sand through the first storm. Tell me what's growing and I'll name the machine before I see the lot.
Land Clearing Cost in Houston: Day Rates, Per Acre and Three Real Jobs
I tell you about the wet ground, the extra machine, and the haul-off before work starts. Not after.
Two day rates and three clearing ranges.
- Skid steer mulcher: $3,000 a day, transport included. Eats anything under 8 inches.
- Dedicated high-horsepower mulcher: $4,000 a day plus transport. 11 feet wide. Eats anything.
- Full clearing, light brush: $1,500 to $2,000 per acre.
- Full clearing, medium brush, yaupon, tallow thickets, small pine: $2,500 to $3,500.
- Dense timber or clear-cut with haul-off: $4,000 and up.
- Stumps: $150 to $400 each by diameter. Lots with many stumps are priced by the day.
- Minimum trip: $1,200 to $1,500 for one machine, one short day.
- Haul-off: $600 to $1,200 a load. Wet ground adds a day. Tallow thickets add a day.
Land clearing cost per acre falls as acres rise, because transport is paid once. Here is a Field Sketch from the book. Three acres in Magnolia, Montgomery County. Selective clearing, keep the oaks, open the view to the pond from the porch. Two days with the big mulcher, $8,400 with transport. The sketch and the invoice are on the page, before next to after. One more: Katy, Fort Bend side, a small lot of tallow and yaupon for a custom build, one day, skid steer, $3,000. Clearing jobs here price on brush, not on the complexity of the terrain, because Houston is flat. The full pricing guide and cost guide, with the calculator, are on the cost page. Call (713) 587-6978 or send photos and get your own number.
Skid steer mulcher
Per day. Transport included. Trees under 8 inches.
Dedicated mulcher
Per day. Transport is additional. Large timber and dense ground.
Field sketches. Ground cleared.
A pencil sketch tells you what should stay. The finished view tells you what got done.
01 / FIELD SKETCH02 / AFTER CLEARINGThree acres. Magnolia. Selective clearing.
The plan was simple. Keep the oaks. Open the pond view. The owner brief calls for two days with the big mulcher.
Wet Ground, Flood Debris and TCEQ Burn Rules: What's Different About Clearing Near Houston
Houston and the Gulf Coast get about 50 inches of rain a year, and the clay holds all of it. Gumbo clay swells shut when wet, so water sits on top instead of soaking in, and from November to March the ground south of FM 1960 stays soft. Mulchers float on it. Dozers don't. Wet ground adds a day to any job. Soil conditions change the method: on sand up north we can doze in January; on clay in Manvel we mulch or we wait. Burning is the other difference. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality sets the outdoor burning rules, every county runs its own burn ban, and inside Houston city limits open burning is not allowed at all. Drainage matters most. I spent 19 years on Harris County Flood Control District detention ponds, and I don't cut a ditch line or fill a swale without knowing where the water goes next. The chip layer is erosion control for the first year, and it's included. After Harvey we cleared storm debris for a year straight, and still do: Crosby, 1.5 acres of downed hackberry and tallow after a May storm, mulched on site, one day, $3,200. If your ground is wet now, send photos anyway and we'll set the date for when it drains.
Photo Quote, On-Site Estimate, Then We Clear and Mulch
A form to Janine. A number from Hollis. Then our crew gets to work.
Three steps, and the first two are free. Step one: send three photos of your place and the address through the form. Janine reads every one and calls back, usually within the hour. You'll have a free quote by tomorrow. Step two: if the number works, I come walk the lot. The on-site estimate is free inside Greater Houston. I draw the sketch, you mark the trees that stay, we set the date. I check the lot against the FEMA flood map too, because a pad in the floodplain changes the whole plan. Step three: the crew shows up with the right machine and clears it. One day for a small lot, two to four for bigger tracts. The clearing process ends with the sketch on the invoice, after drawn next to before. Peace of mind, if you want the phrase, is a date on the calendar and a price that doesn't move. Fill out the form tonight and Janine will call tomorrow morning.
Show us your lot
Send an address, a short note, and three photos. Janine reads every request.
Get a straight number
I look at access, brush, and wet ground. We tell you if a site visit is needed.
Clear it right
Our crews bring the right machine. We agree on what stays and what goes.
Floodplain, Drainage, HOA and Harris County Permit Rules Before You Clear
Most clearing on your own land outside the mapped floodplain needs no permit at all. Inside the floodplain it's different. Harris County Flood Control District maps it, and Harris County Engineering issues a development permit before dirt moves in unincorporated Harris County. Liberty County has the Trinity River floodplain. Brazoria and Galveston have wetland buffers that need a USACE delineation before construction for land near the marsh. Inside the City of Houston the tree ordinance protects certain trees on commercial sites. Fulshear, Sugar Land, Pearland and League City each have their own tree rules for new builds, and most HOAs and MUDs want a letter before a machine rolls in. Grading and excavation that change where water leaves your lot are what the county cares about. Safe land to build on starts with the floodplain map, not the house plan. I've sat across from county drainage reviewers for 19 years and I know what they ask for. Land clearing contractors who skip this step hand you the fine. Ask Janine to pull the floodplain map for your address before we quote.
Service Area: Counties and Communities We Serve
Our equipment yard is in Hockley. Send the address and Janine will confirm the route.
Seven counties: Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend, Waller, Liberty, Brazoria and Galveston. The yard is in Hockley off Highway 290, so Waller County and northwest Harris see us most. Serving Houston and the Greater Houston area means a 60-mile ring: Cypress, Tomball, Spring, Conroe, Magnolia, Montgomery, Willis, New Caney, Crosby, Dayton, Waller, Hockley, Fulshear, Richmond, Rosenberg, Pearland, Manvel, Iowa Colony, Alvin, and down the coast through Galveston County. Past that ring in the Houston, Texas area, transport gets added to the quote and I'll say so up front. Find your county above and send the photos.
Questions People Ask About Land Clearing in Houston
If your question is about wet ground, Janine will ask me.
How much does it cost to clear an acre of land in Texas?
$1,500 to $2,000 for light brush around Houston, $2,500 to $3,500 for yaupon and tallow thickets, and $4,000 and up for dense timber with haul-off. Statewide averages mean little; Hill Country cedar and Gulf Coast tallow are different animals. Price 1 acre alone and transport eats a third of it. Price five and the number drops.
What is the cheapest way to clear land?
Mulching, for anything under 8 inches, because there's no haul-off and no burn pile. A skid steer mulcher at $3,000 a day clears a small lot of tallow and yaupon in one day with nothing left to pay for. Dozing costs less per hour and more per job once you count the hauling.
Do I need a permit to clear my lot in Harris County?
Not outside the mapped floodplain, on your own land, for clearing alone. Inside the floodplain, Harris County Engineering wants a development permit before any dirt moves, and HCFCD reviews drainage. Inside the city limits the tree ordinance covers commercial sites. Janine pulls the floodplain map for every address before we quote.
How do I get a land clearing quote near Houston?
Call (713) 587-6978 or send three photos of your place and the address through the form. Janine will have a number back to you by tomorrow, usually within the hour on weekdays. The number is a price, not a range. If it works, I come out, walk the lot, draw the sketch and set the date. The on-site estimate is free inside the seven counties.
Do I need a permit to burn brush in Houston?
Inside Houston city limits you can't burn at all, permit or not. Outside the city, TCEQ outdoor burning rules apply and your county may be under a burn ban, which Harris, Montgomery and Waller post online. We mulch instead, so there's no pile and nothing to permit. If a tree removal crew left you a pile, we can grind it where it sits.
HOLLIS · JANINE · DOZER / FAMILY OWNEDYou'll know who picks up.
I'm Hollis. My granddad cut pine. My dad ran a dozer. I spent nineteen years on drainage and detention pond jobs before starting Turner Land & Pine.
My daughter Janine reads the forms and keeps the crew calendar. Our people clear the ground. Dozer supervises the truck seat.
“I don't do house demolition. I know a man who enjoys it.”— HOLLIS TURNER
Send three photos.
Get a straight number.
Janine reads each request and manages the schedule. I check the photos. If I need to see the land myself, I will tell you.
Tell Janine about your lot.
The address. The growth. Three honest photos.
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