$5,200
5 acres of palmetto flatwoods
Saw palmetto and slash pine. Two skid steer days. Three gopher tortoise burrows flagged and kept out.
Golden Gate Estates, Collier County
Statewide Florida · Since 2012
Forestry Mulching and Land Clearing in Florida: Lot, Brush and Palmetto Clearing Statewide
Ten years leading right-of-way clearing crews taught me what Florida ground does. It is sand, or it is soup. I started the company in 2012 and run it from Ocala, FL, with a second crew in Punta Gorda. Our skid steer forestry mulcher runs $2,600 a day, transport included within 75 miles of either yard. Saw palmetto, slash pine, scrub oak, Brazilian pepper: it all goes to mulch on-site. Call (352) 619-3597 or send the form. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within the hour.
Forestry Mulching Lot Clearing Palmetto & Pepper Storm Debris
Get Your Free Estimate
Brandi texts you a window within the hour
Since 2012
Own outfit after 10 years on FPL corridors
Text Within the Hour
Brandi sends your scheduling window
$2,600 a Day
Mulcher, transport in 75 miles
Two Yards
Ocala and Punta Gorda
Our Services
Forestry Mulching and Land Clearing Services Across Florida
Land Clearing
Mulch, grub or clear to dirt. Lots, acreage and commercial sites.
Lot Clearing
Platted GDC and ITT lots made build-ready for the surveyor.
Brush Clearing
Palmetto, gallberry, wax myrtle and Brazilian pepper mulched in place.
Tree Clearing
Pine out, live oaks kept. Trees cut, mulched or hauled.
Stump Grinding
$4.50 per inch, $150 minimum. Lots of stumps priced by the day.
Bush Hogging
Pasture and overgrown lot mowing at $65 to $95 an acre.
Site Prep & Dirt Work
Grubbing, house pads, fill and driveways after the clearing.
Cost Guide
Per-acre, per-day and per-load prices with a calculator.
Eight services, one phone number. Forestry mulching leads because most lots here need it. The rest cover what a mulching head cannot do alone.
- Forestry mulching service: pine understory and scrub ground to mulch in place, $1,500 to 2,500 an acre on flatwoods.
- Land clearing to dirt: trees pushed, roots raked, stumps out, $3,000 to 5,500 an acre.
- Lot clearing for a new home: quarter-acre infill lots $1,800 flat, half-acre lots one day at $2,600.
- Brush clearing and brush mulching on fence lines and trails.
- Stump grinding: $4.50 per inch of diameter, $150 minimum per stump.
- Tree clearing: standing dead pine, leaning laurel oak, storm blowdown.
- Site preparation and dirt work: dozer and root rake, $170 an hour, fill spread after.
- Bush hogging: $65 to 95 an acre, $450 minimum.
We do not pour concrete, drill wells, set septic or demolish houses. I know people who do. Pick the service page that fits your lot, or call and I will tell you which one you need. The estimate is a free service inside 75 miles.
Own Outfit Since 2012
About Pellegrino Land Works
Ten Years on the Corridors.
Our Own Crews Since 2012.
Marc Pellegrino, 44, owns Pellegrino Land Works and runs it from Ocala in Marion County, with a second crew in Punta Gorda. He spent 10 years as a right-of-way clearing crew lead for a utility contractor on FPL and co-op corridors across Florida, flatwoods to cypress strands to muck, and started his own outfit in 2012. After Hurricane Ian in 2022 he spent six months on debris in Charlotte and Lee counties. He knows the FWC gopher tortoise rule, the eagle nest buffer and the water management district permit thresholds by heart. Brandi runs the office and texts every scheduling window.
- Right-of-way background on FPL and co-op corridors
- Main yard in Ocala, second crew in Punta Gorda
- FWC tortoise and eagle buffer rules on every job
2012
Own outfit since
2
Yards in Florida
75 mi
Transport included
Service Area
Forestry Mulching by Region: Which Yard Serves You
Two yards cover the state. Transport is included within 75 miles of either yard and billed by the mile past that.
- Northeast: Palm Coast, Daytona Beach, DeLand, Deltona. Transport from Ocala, Palm Coast about 95 miles out.
- Central: Ocala, Lake, Polk, Osceola, Brevard. The main yard sits in the middle of the greater Central Florida area.
- Southwest: Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, Port Charlotte, Sarasota. The Punta Gorda crew.
- Tampa Bay: Pasco inside the Ocala circle. Hillsborough carries transport, Plant City about 90 miles.
- North and the Panhandle: Gainesville inside the circle. Tallahassee, Panama City and Pensacola carry transport, quoted per job.
- Southeast and the Treasure Coast: Port St. Lucie, Vero Beach, Loxahatchee. Transport from Punta Gorda on SR 70 and SR 80.
Near one of the yards, the estimate is free and in person. Past 75 miles I come out when the acreage pays for the drive.
Vegetation
Saw Palmetto, Pine Flatwoods, Oak Scrub and Brazilian Pepper: What Florida Owners Mulch
Density and exotics set the price, not the acre count. Four grounds cover most of the Florida land we mulch, and each one behaves differently under a mulching head. Palmetto has two settings: too thick and on fire.
- Pine flatwoods: slash pine over a saw palmetto root mat, with gallberry and wax myrtle. The mat is why a bush hog alone fails. It shears fronds and the crowns push back in a season. A mulching attachment grinds the crown into the mat.
- Oak scrub and sandhill: scrub oak and sand pine on sugar sand. $1,200 to 1,800 an acre. Gopher tortoise country, every lot of it.
- Brazilian pepper and melaleuca: two invasive species that resprout from any stump left alive. The crew treats each cut within minutes, before it seals. Add $500 an acre.
- Cypress strands and heads: we leave them alone. Wet, protected, and the water sitting in them is not on your pad.
Dead citrus groves are a fifth ground, pushed and root raked, not mulched. Overgrown vegetation that stood 15 years is a different job than a lot mowed last spring. Lots here overgrow in three seasons. Tell me the last year anyone cut it and I can price it within $500 an acre.
Why mulch
The Benefit of Forestry Mulching Over Traditional Land Clearing: Erosion, Soil Health and Fuel Load
Mulching leaves the root mat and the topsoil where they are, and that is the whole argument against traditional land clearing on sand. A dozer scrapes the top six inches off a flatwoods lot into a land-clearing pile you then pay to burn or haul. The first June rain moves bare sugar sand into the ditch, and erosion on a sand lot is the ditch filling, not a gully. Forestry mulchers grind brush and small trees into a mulch layer two to four inches deep. The layer holds the sand, shades out regrowth, and feeds soil health as it rots.
Fuel load is the other half. Flatwoods unburned for 20 years carry a wildfire load I saw ignite twice on the ROW in a dry March. Mulch burns slow and low. Selective clearing is the third reason: a track loader steers around the live oaks you want. Land managers who want pasture or a homesite pick this land clearing method. Those who need a pad to pour on next week need the dozer. Traditional clearing methods still have a place, and I run both.
Lot clearing
Lot Clearing for New Homes on Platted GDC and ITT Lots
A half-acre platted lot is one day with the skid steer, $2,600. A quarter-acre infill lot is $1,800 flat. Those two numbers cover most of the lot clearing we do, from Palm Coast and Deltona to Palm Bay, Port St. Lucie, Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres and North Port. GDC and ITT platted them in the 1960s, and the slash pine on them is 50 years old now.
Low lots are the catch. A flatwoods lot that holds water in June needs fill, and the pad has to sit above the crown of the road. You want the land cleared and a dry pad before the rains start. We mulch first, then the dozer spreads fill where the builder wants the pad. The water has to go somewhere, and I will tell you where before we start.
Lee County pulled 9,962 single-family permits in 2025 by the Census Building Permits Survey. Manatee 7,014, Polk 6,725, Pasco 6,191, Marion 5,420. Every one of those pads started as a lot like yours. Send the parcel ID and the site plan and I will price it from the plan.
Permits and wildlife
Wetlands, Gopher Tortoises and County Clearing Permits Before You Mulch
Clearing is not what triggers a state permit. Fill is. FDEP delegates the Environmental Resource Permit under Chapter 62-330 to the five water management districts: SJRWMD, SWFWMD, SFWMD, NWFWMD and SRWMD. Mulch a dry flatwoods lot and nobody at the district cares. Fill a cypress head or ditch water off your parcel and you need an ERP. Anything wet gets a wetland delineation under Chapter 62-340 first. Federal wetlands sit with the USACE Jacksonville District.
FWC gopher tortoise rules apply on every upland lot in the state. A licensed agent surveys the parcel within 90 days of clearing, $400 to 900. Burrows found means a relocation permit before we start. No work within 25 feet of a burrow without one. We flag that line with pink tape and the machine stays outside it.
Bald eagle nests carry a 660-foot buffer under the FWC Eagle Management Plan. Florida scrub-jay zones in Palm Bay, Port Charlotte, Palm Coast and the Lake Wales Ridge need FWS consultation. County codes come first on any lot without a building permit: Lee County Vegetation Removal permit, Collier VRP, Brevard Land Clearing permit, Hillsborough Land Alteration permit, Leon EMP, Palm Coast tree code. I check the county code before I quote, so you do not pay a fine after you pay me.
Pricing
Forestry Mulching and Land Clearing Cost per Acre
$2,600 a day for the skid steer is the number most of the state pays. Transport is included within 75 miles of Ocala or Punta Gorda. The dedicated 300-hp machine is $4,000 a day plus transport.
- Pine flatwoods: $1,500 to 2,500 per acre by density.
- Oak scrub and sandhill: $1,200 to 1,800 per acre.
- Brazilian pepper or melaleuca: add $500 per acre for treating the cuts.
- Full clearing to dirt with stumps: $3,000 to 5,500 per acre.
- Stumps: $4.50 per inch, $150 minimum. Ten or more, by the day.
- Bush hogging: $65 to 95 an acre, $450 minimum.
- Dozer with root rake: $170 an hour with operator.
- Haul-off: $700 to 1,300 per 10-yard load.
Two rules come before the price. June through September adds one day on muck or wet flatwoods, because the machine floats on the mat and the trailer does not. The tortoise survey happens before the trailer leaves the yard.
Two jobs show how it adds up. Five acres in Golden Gate Estates, flatwoods under slash pine, three gopher tortoise burrows flagged and kept out: two days, $5,200. Twenty acres of dead citrus in Lake Wales, pushed and root raked with the big machine and a dozer: four days, $21,000 plus haul. Call (352) 619-3597 with your acreage and what grows on it. I will put a price in writing the same day.
Storm debris
Storm and Hurricane Debris Clearing, Priced by the Load
Hurricane debris is $700 to 1,300 per 10-yard load, hauled and dumped. After Ian we hauled 9 loads off one acre in Punta Gorda, $8,100, mostly snapped slash pine and a melaleuca wall that came down in one piece. I spent six months on Ian debris in Charlotte and Lee.
Milton and Helene in 2024 put oaks and pines down from Tampa Bay across the Lake Wales Ridge. Idalia in 2023 hit the Big Bend. Michael in 2018 snapped millions of pines in Bay County.
FEMA pays for debris on the public right-of-way. Your lot is yours. A standing dead pine is a tree clearing job, a blowdown tangle is a load count. Send one picture of the pile and I can count loads from it.
Field Cases
Six Florida Jobs, Real Numbers
$2,600
1.25-acre lot, scrub and palmetto
Scrub oak and palmetto on a platted lot. One day with the skid steer.
Palm Coast, Flagler County$21,000
20 acres of dead citrus grove
Trees pushed, roots raked. Four days with the big mulcher plus a dozer. Haul billed on top.
Lake Wales, Polk County$6,700
2.5 acres of Brazilian pepper
Pepper thicket, two days, the $500 an acre pepper surcharge included.
Port Charlotte, Charlotte County$9,500
10 acres of cutover pine
Understory mulched for a homesite and pasture. Two days with the big mulcher. Transport on top.
Crawfordville, Wakulla County$8,100
Hurricane Ian debris, 1 acre
Nine 10-yard loads hauled off one acre after Ian.
Punta Gorda, Charlotte CountyOur Process
Send the Form, Walk the Lot, Mulch and Haul: How the Mulching Process Runs
Four steps. The first takes you two minutes.
- Send the form or call (352) 619-3597. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within an hour, not a voicemail.
- I or a crew lead walk the lot with you. Free on-site estimate within 75 miles of a yard. We flag burrows, find the wet corner, and note where the water goes.
- You get a written price with the wet-day rule and the tortoise survey spelled out. No change orders for ground I should have read.
- The crew mulches, hauls what has to go, and logs the days and loads on the invoice. The mulching process leaves a layer of mulch two to four inches deep that holds the sand through the June rains.
Insured crews on every job. Ten years on the ROW taught me to put the hard parts in writing first. That is the land clearing process.
Counties
Land Clearing Services and Land Management by County: 37 Pages
Thirty-seven county pages carry local rates and permits. Pick yours.
- Northeast: Flagler (Palm Coast), Volusia (DeLand, Deltona, Daytona Beach), Duval, St. Johns, Clay and Nassau.
- Central: Marion (Ocala), Polk (Lakeland), Osceola (Kissimmee), Orange (Apopka), Lake (Clermont), Brevard (Palm Bay), Sumter, Citrus, Hernando, Highlands.
- Southwest: Lee (Cape Coral, Fort Myers), Collier (Naples), Charlotte (Punta Gorda), Sarasota (North Port), Manatee (Bradenton), DeSoto, Hendry.
- Tampa Bay: Pasco (Wesley Chapel), Hillsborough (Plant City).
- North and the Panhandle: Alachua (Gainesville), Leon (Tallahassee), Wakulla, Santa Rosa, Escambia, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay.
- Southeast and the Treasure Coast: St. Lucie (Port St. Lucie), Palm Beach (Loxahatchee), Martin, Indian River (Vero Beach).
Jacksonville gets a short page here and a full site of its own. We have trailered to most of the state since 2012, and a central Florida property is rarely more than a morning from the yard.
FAQ
Forestry Mulching Questions Property Owners Ask
What are the downsides of forestry mulching?
Stumps stay in the ground, cut flush, and the lot is not ready to pour on. Mulch sits on the surface for a year or two, so a builder who needs bare dirt next week needs the dozer. Sheared crowns come back, so on our jobs we grind the crown into the mat.
How much does forestry mulching in Florida cost per acre?
Flatwoods under pine run $1,500 to 2,500 an acre, oak scrub and sandhill $1,200 to 1,800, and Brazilian pepper or melaleuca thickets add $500. The day rate is $2,600 for the skid steer with transport inside 75 miles. Five acres took two days in Golden Gate Estates.
Do trees grow back after forestry mulching?
Pine and oak do not. They are dead once the stem is cut and ground, and the roots dry out under the mulch. The crowns, Brazilian pepper and melaleuca do grow back unless the cut is treated, which is why pepper carries a surcharge and gets herbicide within minutes. Ten feet of overgrowth comes back as grass you can mow.
Is forestry mulching better than using a bulldozer?
For a homesite or an overgrown lot you want to walk, yes. It costs less per acre, leaves the topsoil, and finishes in one pass with no pile to haul or burn. A bulldozer wins when the stumps must come out for a slab, a septic field or a road. Most lots here get both: mulch the acreage, dozer the pad.
Can I clear land myself in FL?
You can, on your own upland lot, if you hold the county permit and a gopher tortoise survey first. Lee, Collier, Brevard, Hillsborough, Pasco and Palm Beach all require a vegetation or clearing permit without a building permit, and FWC fines for a buried burrow fall on the owner. Anything wet needs a delineation first.
How do I get a quote to reclaim overgrown land?
Call (352) 619-3597 or send the form with the county, the acreage and what grows on it. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within an hour. Inside 75 miles of Ocala or Punta Gorda the on-site estimate is free, and you get a written price the same day with the wet-season rule and the tortoise survey noted.