Clearing ranges from thinning a wooded acre to open a view, to taking a building lot down to bare ground for construction. The right approach depends on what you want the land to be afterward.
Selective clearing
Removing undergrowth, invasive species, dead trees and poorly formed trees while keeping the best specimens. It is popular on wooded residential lots and on hillside property where existing trees help hold soil. Mark the trees you want kept with ribbon, and walk the property with the crew.
Full clearing for construction
Building sites, driveways, and utility corridors usually need trees, stumps and roots removed. Coordinate with your builder on what the site plan requires, and on which trees will be protected during construction. Root zones of trees you keep should be protected from grading, trenching and heavy equipment, which can kill a tree years later.
Permits and plans
Clearing tied to construction often falls under development review. In the City of Roanoke, the zoning code's tree canopy and landscaping provisions apply when a lot goes through a basic or comprehensive development plan, and the city code calls for a basic development plan for new or expanded one- and two-family dwellings "including associated grading and clearing." Roanoke County, Salem, Vinton and Botetourt County have their own rules. Land disturbance above certain thresholds can also trigger erosion and sediment control requirements. Ask the locality before you start; we do not want you to clear first and ask later.
Steep ground and erosion
Much of the land around the valley is sloped. Removing vegetation and roots from a slope can lead to erosion and runoff onto neighbors or into streams. Plan for stabilization, such as seeding, mulch, silt fencing or leaving buffer strips, as part of the job.
What happens to the material
Options include chipping on site and spreading chips, hauling everything off, leaving logs for firewood, or, for larger tracts with good timber, consulting a forester about whether a timber sale makes sense before clearing.
Pasture, fence lines and trails
Overgrown fence rows and pasture edges are a common Botetourt and Roanoke County request. Clearing a strip along a fence line makes fence maintenance possible and keeps falling limbs off the wire.
Planning a clearing project
Start with a walk-through and flags. Mark property lines, trees to keep, the building envelope, the driveway route and any septic area, well or utility lines. Decide what happens to the material: chipped and spread, hauled away, logs left for firewood or sold, or brush piled for wildlife. Each option changes the price. Ask whether stumps will be ground, pulled or left, since that affects grading. If the clearing is part of a construction project, check with your locality about any land-disturbance or erosion control requirements before work starts.
Protecting the trees you keep
Keep equipment out of the root zones of trees you plan to save. Compaction and root cuts during construction are a leading cause of tree decline years later, as described on our Daleville and Cave Spring pages.
Use our free quote form with the acreage, the goal, and access details for a site visit.