Forestry Mulching and Land Clearing in Hendry County, FL: LaBelle, Port LaBelle, Clewiston
Hendry is big, flat and mostly in bona fide agriculture, so the clearing calls come from two places: platted lots west of town and dead citrus going back to pepper along SR 80. Flatwoods soil, standing water June to October, muck toward the lake. LaBelle sits inside 75 miles of our Punta Gorda yard: skid steer mulcher, $2,600 a day, transport included. I walked these corridors for ten years before I owned a machine. Send the form or call (352) 619-3597. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within the hour.
Get Your Free Estimate
Brandi texts you a window within the hour
Forestry Mulching in Hendry County: Pepper, Palmetto and Old Grove
Forestry mulching covers most land clearing in Hendry County because nothing here can be burned on a schedule and a haul truck is a long trip. The skid steer grinds palmetto, slash pine, wax myrtle and Brazilian pepper into a mulch mat three inches deep, roots left to hold the sand against erosion. Pepper gets cut-stump treatment within minutes of the cut or the fence line is green again by spring. Dead citrus is a different job: trees pushed and roots raked with the dozer, not mulched. The tracks float on wet flatwoods where a wheeled machine stalls. Our mulching services reclaim overgrown land at stems to 8 inches. In Hendry the horizon is the only thing higher than the water table.
Land Clearing Services Available in Hendry County
Professional land clearing services in Hendry County, from a platted lot to 40 acres of agricultural land off SR 29, residential and commercial.
- Forestry mulching of pine and hardwood undergrowth, mulch left in place.
- Lot clearing and site prep for pad, driveway and drain field.
- Brush clearing and underbrushing along pasture edges.
- Selective clearing: pepper and dead pine out, live oak hammock kept.
- Grove removal: trees pushed, roots raked, $170 an hour with the dozer.
- Tree removal and stump grinding, $4.50 per inch, $150 minimum.
- Not our work services: pond excavation, septic, wells, concrete. I know people who do.
A land clearing service removes the regrowth and leaves the ground. We remove unwanted vegetation and stop there.
Lot Clearing and Acreage for New Homes in LaBelle, Port LaBelle and Clewiston
Hendry County's builders pulled 464 single-family permits in 2025 by the Census Building Permits Survey, down 9 percent, and most of them sit on the Port LaBelle grid. Those are small residential lots, pine and palmetto, a swale out front. Residential land clearing on one is a flat day: $2,600 for a half acre, $1,800 for a quarter-acre infill. Property development on 5 and 10 acre homesites off SR 80 runs by the acre. Low lots take fill after site preparation; the grading sends water to the swale or into your slab, one or the other. Two days transform an overgrown homesite into a pad. Homeowner or builder, send the parcel number.
How Much Does Land Clearing Cost in Hendry County?
$1,500 to 2,500 an acre for palmetto and pine flatwoods, $500 more where pepper has taken the lot, $3,000 to 5,500 an acre to bare dirt with stumps. Priced first: the gopher tortoise survey, $400 to 900, and the wet-season day, one extra on muck from June through September.
- Skid steer forestry mulcher: $2,600 a day, transport included within 75 miles of Punta Gorda. Clewiston carries a transport line.
- 300-hp mulcher: $4,000 a day plus transport.
- Dirt work, grubbing and root rake with the dozer: $170 an hour.
- Bush hogging on pasture: $65 to 95 an acre, $450 minimum.
- Haul-off: $700 to 1,300 per 10-yard load.
Same ground, one county over: 5 acres in Golden Gate Estates, two days, $5,200, three tortoise burrows flagged and kept out. The free quote is an on-site estimate inside the 75-mile circle. Call (352) 619-3597 or send the form. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within the hour.
Terrain, Soil and Vegetation Across Hendry County
Hendry drops from flatwoods along the Caloosahatchee River to muck near Lake Okeechobee, and the muck is the part that eats machines. Flatwoods soil here is Immokalee spodosol with a hardpan that holds water June to October; the Okaloacoochee Slough down SR 29 is cypress and wet prairie that never dries. Near Lake Okeechobee the ground is black muck over caprock, and a dozer leaves ruts you can lose a boot in. The woodland between is slash pine over palmetto with cabbage palm hammocks, and every abandoned grove will overgrow with pepper in three years. I check site conditions on foot and in the wet season when I can.
Development Orders, Wetlands and Protected Species in Hendry County
Hendry County ties clearing to a development order under its land development code, and land in bona fide agriculture under greenbelt classification is exempt, which is most of the county. Removing vegetation on a platted lot still needs the order. Gopher tortoise: survey within 90 days, no work within 25 feet of a burrow, FWC relocation permit if any turn up. Florida panther consultation hits larger tracts anywhere in Hendry; red-cockaded woodpecker lives in the mature pine. Bald eagle: 660-foot nest buffer. SFWMD holds the Environmental Resource Permit, and clearing is not the trigger: fill and drainage changes are. On our jobs in Hendry the panther paperwork is the long pole.
Storm Debris Cleanup After Ian
Ian crossed Hendry in 2022 after it was done with the coast and still laid down slash pine and grove trees from the river to Clewiston. FEMA cleared public right-of-way; the parcel was the owner's. Trees and branches go by the load, $700 to 1,300 per 10-yard load. Standing dead pine mulches for less than a haul. Count the brown crowns before June.
Areas We Serve in Hendry County
Our service area runs from the Punta Gorda yard out SR 31 and SR 80. Our crews work throughout Hendry County: Clewiston, Felda, Montura, and LaBelle, FL and the surrounding areas to the Glades and Collier lines. The Southwest Florida page covers the seven counties in Florida we serve from this yard.
City pages in Hendry County
Other counties in Southwest Florida
Ready to Clear Your Homesite?
Serving Hendry County from Punta Gorda, about an hour to LaBelle by SR 31. Send the form with the parcel number and a photo from the road. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within the hour, I walk the property and flag burrows, and the price comes in writing. Insured crews. Call (352) 619-3597 or get an estimate online.
Land Clearing Questions from Hendry Property Owners
How much does land clearing cost per acre in Hendry County?
$1,500 to 2,500 an acre for palmetto and pine mulched in place, $500 more under pepper, $3,000 to 5,500 to bare dirt with stumps. A half-acre lot in town is one day, $2,600. Expert land clearing on a dead grove is hourly dozer work plus haul.
Do I need a permit to burn cleared brush in LaBelle?
Yes, a daily Florida Forest Service burn authorization, and platted lots do not get one. On agricultural land outside town a pile can often burn under that authorization. Otherwise the trees and brush stay as mulch and the wood never leaves.
How long do land clearing projects take?
One day for a half-acre lot, two for 5 acres of palmetto, four for 20 acres of dead grove pushed and raked. Land clearing projects wait longer on the development order than on our crews.
Can you clear heavily wooded tracts and commercial land?
Yes. The 300-hp mulcher takes pine and oak to about 12 inches; tree clearing above that is the dozer with root rake. On the ROW we ran that pairing through cypress strands on every co-op corridor between the river and the lake. Commercial land clearing and site clearing for commercial development or master-planned communities run by the day, $4,000 plus transport.
Who do I call to clear land in Hendry?
Call (352) 619-3597 or send the form; Brandi texts you a scheduling window within the hour. Our crews have the experience and equipment to handle clearing brush and clearing land safely and efficiently on flatwoods and muck. Equipment and expertise matter; knowing where the water goes is the land clearing service you pay for. Residential jobs come first in dry season.
Get Your Free Estimate
Send the form or call. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within the hour.