Three acres near Somerville, in Burleson County, where the understory had closed in hard enough that you could not see or walk through your own woods. The oaks and elms worth keeping were still in there. One day with the Tigercat put them back on show.
Open ground with the legacy oaks left standing after selective underbrush clearing near Somerville Texas
What the property looked like
Burleson County grows understory fast. Between the rainfall this country gets and the shade the canopy throws, yaupon, elbowbush and volunteer saplings fill in the space underneath the oaks until the woods stop being woods and start being a wall.
That is what this three acres had become. The trees the owner actually valued were still there, they just could not be seen, and the ground under them was doing nothing.
Selective, not a scrape
The whole job was defined by what stayed. Underbrush and the small stuff came out, everything of size stayed, and the machine worked around the trunks rather than through them.
Mulching does that better than a dozer can. The material goes down as a layer instead of into a pile, there is nothing to burn and nothing to haul, and the root systems of the keeper trees are not being torn up by a blade passing next to them.
Challenges on this Somerville property
Selective work with no room for error. Every larger oak and elm had to come through untouched, which means the operator is reading the stand constantly rather than just covering ground.
Cost of selective clearing in Somerville, TX
- How thick the understory is
- How many trees have to be worked around
- Terrain and access
- How clean a finish you want
That range comes off our published day rate rather than a per acre guess. Selective work runs slower per acre than open clearing because the machine spends time threading between keeper trees instead of just moving forward, and that is the honest reason three acres took a full day.
Before and after
Selective clearing vs full clearing
On wooded acreage in this part of the country the choice usually comes down to these two.
Selective clearing, what we did here
- Keeps the trees that give the place its value
- Shade, wildlife and the look stay intact
- Opens the ground back up for use
Full clearing
- Takes nearly everything down
- Maximum open acreage
- Right for pasture or a building site, not for woods
Frequently asked questions
Will the underbrush come back?
Some of it will try. Mulching does not kill the root systems of everything it takes, so expect regrowth over a few seasons on the more determined species. Most owners find a maintenance pass every few years holds it easily once the first heavy clearing is done.
Can you really work around the trees I want kept?
Yes, and it is most of the skill in the job. The operator works the machine around trunks and under limbs rather than driving through, which is slower but is the entire point of a selective job.
Do I have to haul the material off?
No. It goes down as a mulch layer and breaks down where it lies, which is one of the reasons this approach suits wooded property. Nothing burned, nothing stacked, nothing to deal with afterwards.
How much can you do in a day?
This was three acres in a day. Thicker understory or more trees to protect will slow that down; open, lighter brush will speed it up.
Land clearing around Somerville
We work the country around Somerville regularly, across Burleson County and the counties next to it.
Lost your woods to underbrush?
Tell us the acreage and which trees matter to you, and we will walk it with you.
Call 512-400-2693