Forestry Mulching & Land Clearing in Jefferson City, MO
Steep, rocky lots on the edge of the capital city, cleared of cedar and honeysuckle. The mulch stays on the slope.
Land clearing in Jefferson City, MO means hillside lots and timber off Highways 50, 54 and 179, plus the Moreau River draws south and east of town and the river hills running toward the Osage.
Forestry mulching around Jefferson City, Missouri clears cedar and bush honeysuckle from the steep, rocky ground of Cole County, where the Ozark hills come up to the Missouri River. The brush gets chewed into mulch on the spot and stays on the hillside. We don't burn anything, and we don't haul anything through town.
Chert rock and steep timber south of the river
Jefferson City sits on the south bank of the Missouri River. The ground around it is nothing like the flat farm country up by our shop in Salisbury. This is the north edge of the Ozarks. The soil is thin and full of chert, and the hills are steep. The timber is oak and hickory, with cedar in every open spot. Jefferson City is a newer part of our service area. It is about an hour and a half from the shop, so we come down for jobs big enough to make that drive worth it.
In Cole County the rocky soil decides a lot. Run a dozer here and it scrapes off what little topsoil there is and turns up rock. A forestry mulcher works on top of the ground instead. The head chews cedar and brush down to a low stump, and the roots stay in the hill. On a thin, rocky slope, those roots are what keep the hillside from ending up in the ditch after the first hard rain.
Bush honeysuckle is the other big one. A town this size has had it in yards for decades. Birds have carried it into just about every wooded lot and creek bank around. Under the oaks it gets so thick you can't see the house next door, or walk to the back of your own lot. We grind it out and leave the big trees you want to keep. It does come back from the root, though. Plan on a follow-up treatment.
South of town on the Ozark side, a lot of the open ground is glade country. These are rocky, open hillsides that face south and west. Without fire or grazing, cedar moves in and shades out the grass. Plenty of landowners around Jefferson City want those openings back. Some want them for the wildlife. Others just liked how the hill used to look. Getting the cedar off is where that starts.
Burning in and near a city this size is a hassle. Houses are close, and smoke drifts out over the roads. City rules on open burning can depend on your address. Mulching skips the whole question, since there is no pile to light and no smoke for the neighbors to call about. Check the current Jefferson City or Cole County rules for your place anyway. With mulching, odds are you won't need them.
Hilltop lots on both sides of the bridge
Highway 50 runs west toward California and east toward Linn. Highway 54 cuts southwest toward the Lake of the Ozarks, and Highway 63 heads north to Columbia and south toward Westphalia. Along all of them you see five- to forty-acre lots up on hilltops, with timber falling away on every side. Most of those owners don't farm. They want a view off the deck, a path down the hill, or a driveway that doesn't scratch up the truck.
Across the river, Holts Summit and the ground along Highway 94 are in Callaway County, but they feel like part of Jefferson City. North of the river the land is flatter. There is river bottom near the Katy Trail and wooded hills behind it. We work both sides of the bridge. If we can line up a Holts Summit job and a Cole County job on the same trip, it helps cut the travel part of your quote.
Dry hilltops and wet Moreau draws
Cedar owns the dry, rocky hilltops. It loves thin soil, and on these slopes it can turn an open hillside into a dark thicket in about twenty years. Walk into one of those thickets and you find bare rock and dead needles where the grass used to be. Once the mulcher takes the cedar down, the grass and wildflowers finally get some light again.
Down in the draws along the Moreau River and its creeks, the soil is deeper and wetter. That is where you find honeysuckle, multiflora rose and buckbrush, along with thick young elm and ash. All of those come back from the roots, so one clearing won't finish them. What the mulcher does is open the ground so you can mow it or treat the sprouts while they are small. Let it go a few summers and it starts closing back in.
Backyard woods in town, bigger ground toward Russellville
Close in to Jefferson City, a lot of the work is the land right around a house. People want the honeysuckle and cedar out of the woods behind the yard. Some want a fire break around the house, or a view opened down the hill. These are careful jobs. The machine works in between the trees you marked to keep. The mulch it leaves behind breaks down into the soil over the next couple of years.
Past the edge of town, out toward Russellville, Eugene and the Osage River hills, the jobs get bigger. Hunters want trails and shooting lanes cut through the cedar. New owners want a building site and a lane opened on wooded ground. Then there is old pasture that went back to brush and needs clearing before anybody can mow it again. A tracked mulcher handles that kind of steep, rocky ground well.
Services in Jefferson City
Forestry Mulching
Standing brush, saplings and undergrowth ground down into mulch where they stand. No burn piles, nothing hauled off.
Building Site Clearing
House pads, shop sites, barn sites and access lanes cleared and opened up so your builder or excavator can start on schedule.
Brush Clearing
Fence lines, field edges, ditch banks and pasture reclaimed from honeysuckle, cedar, multiflora rose and volunteer brush.
Trail Clearing
Shooting lanes, ATV and UTV trails, walking paths and access lanes cut through timber at the width you want.
Fire Breaks
Fire breaks mulched around structures, timber stands and property lines ahead of prescribed burns or fire season.
Small Tree Pulling
Small trees and cedars pulled root ball and all where a stump left behind would be a problem later.
General Land Clean Up
Storm debris, dead falls, old brush piles and the leftovers of a logging job cleaned up and the ground put back in order.
Communities We Serve in Cole County
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Free on-site estimates for all Cole County properties. One crew, one machine, done.
Jefferson City FAQ
Common questions from property owners in Jefferson City, Missouri.
Our shop is in Salisbury, up in Chariton County, so Jefferson City is about an hour and a half away. That drive goes into your quote. It makes the most sense on jobs of a half day or more. It also works out if you and a neighbor line up work for the same trip.
Yes. A tracked forestry mulcher handles slopes well and doesn't dig into the ground. It grinds the brush down and leaves the roots and a layer of mulch on the hill. Cole County soil is thin and rocky, and that cover is what keeps the slope from washing out after we leave.
It will try. Bush honeysuckle sprouts back from the root. Mulching gets you started, and you will still need to follow up. Once the machine opens things up, the new sprouts are small and easy to get to. Spray the regrowth, or keep it mowed where the ground lets you, and it won't take over again.
Not for the whole job. We meet you at the free on-site estimate, walk the lot and mark which trees stay. After that, most owners just go about their day. If you live in town and the lot is near a road or a neighbor's line, give the neighbors a heads-up about when we are coming.
Yes. We pick out the trees to keep at every estimate. The mulcher can grind the cedar and brush out from under big oaks and hickories and leave them standing. That is what a lot of owners around Jefferson City are after: woods they can see into from the house and walk under again.
We stay off ground that needs a permit we don't have, like work in a creek channel. Some jobs are better suited to a dozer or a tree crew, and we will tell you so. Big trees near houses or power lines belong to a tree service. We would rather say that at the estimate than guess.
Nearby Service Areas
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