Forestry Mulching and Land Clearing in Plant City, FL: Lot, Brush and Palmetto Clearing
Plant City is strawberry fields and dead citrus going back to Brazilian pepper and camphor, with live oak hammock along the Alafia and Cypress Creek. Our crews come down I-75 from Ocala, about 80 miles, so a short transport line goes on the estimate. Skid steer forestry mulcher, $2,600 a day. An old strawberry field grows pepper faster than it ever grew berries. Call (352) 619-3597 or send the form. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within the hour.
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Forestry Mulching and Brush Clearing Near Plant City
Forestry mulching takes a five-acre field edge back to clean rows in two days, $1,500 to 2,500 an acre by density, and nothing gets hauled. It is a land clearing method that uses specialized equipment to grind trees, pepper and vegetation into mulch where they stand. Three inches of mulch is the depth we leave.
Camphor and Brazilian pepper are the two problems on old fields here. Both resprout from the stump, so every cut gets herbicide within minutes. Palmetto on the hammock edges holds a root mat a bush hog never reaches, which is why a mowed lot will overgrow again by the second summer. Brush clearing on wet rows goes to the mulcher, which floats where a dozer ruts.
Land Clearing Services in Plant City, FL
Pellegrino Land Works provides land clearing here in six forms, a land clearing company serving Hillsborough County since 2012 with insured crews.
- Selective clearing: pepper and camphor out, live oak kept.
- Full site clearing to dirt for a pad: stump grinding, root rake, rough grading. Excavation for a pool is the builder's.
- Brush removal, tree removal and storm cleanup on overgrown land.
- Commercial land clearing services for commercial sites and commercial development along I-4 and SR 60: site work, site prep, haul-off. Commercial clearing on a field pad means pushing the berms flat too.
- Residential land clearing on infill lots and five-acre tracts toward Dover.
- Land improvement on acreage: bush hogging, fence lines, landscape clearing around a house that stays.
Residential and commercial properties run through the same professional land clearing service, one price sheet for both. Concrete, wells, septic and house demolition are someone else's trade.
Lot Clearing for New Homes in Plant City and Dover
Plant City pulled 517 single-family permits in 2025 by the Census Building Permits Survey, and most of them sit on ground that grew strawberries or oranges first. Most land clearing projects here start as an old field with a pepper hedge on the ditch line. One skid steer day clears a half-acre lot for $2,600. A quarter-acre infill lot in town is $1,800 flat.
Twenty acres of dead citrus in Lake Wales took us 4 days with the big mulcher and a dozer pushing trees and raking roots, $21,000 plus haul. Low rows along Cypress Creek hold water into October. Fill goes on after clearing, and the drainage question gets answered on the walk, not after the fill truck leaves. Site preparation waits for a dry week; property owners who book November to May skip the wet-season day.
How Much Does Land Clearing Cost in Plant City?
Land clearing costs in Plant City run from $1,800 for a quarter-acre infill lot to $5,500 an acre for full clearing to dirt with stumps. Transport from Ocala is one line on the ticket.
| Work | Price |
|---|---|
| Skid steer mulcher, stems to 8 inches | $2,600 a day |
| 300-hp mulcher for large acreage clearing and dead groves | $4,000 a day plus transport |
| Pepper and camphor regrowth over palmetto | $1,500 to 2,500 an acre; thickets add $500 |
| Full clearing to dirt with stumps, grading included | $3,000 to 5,500 an acre |
| Stump grinding | $4.50 an inch of diameter, $150 minimum per stump |
| Haul-off | $700 to 1,300 per 10-yard load |
The price depends on the size and the pepper. Ten or more stumps and we grind by the day. June through September adds one day on muck or wet flatwoods. The gopher tortoise survey, $400 to 900 by a licensed agent, goes on the estimate ahead of the clearing number. Call (352) 619-3597 and the figure you hear is the figure on the invoice.
Permits, Gopher Tortoises and Drainage Before You Clear Land in Plant City
Hillsborough County requires a Natural Resources Land Alteration and Tree Removal permit before clearing on unincorporated ground, with protected trees at 5 inches DBH and grand trees at 34. Fill needs a county Land Excavation permit. Professional clearing starts at that counter.
- Gopher tortoise: FWC survey within 90 days of clearing, no work within 25 feet of a burrow without a relocation permit. We tape the line 25 feet off every apron.
- Bald eagle: a 660-foot nest buffer. Nests sit in tall pines around Lake Thonotosassa.
- Water: SWFWMD holds the Environmental Resource Permit. Clearing is not a trigger; filling a wet row or moving the ditch is. On the ROW, flagging the wet crossings was the first job of the morning.
Urban Hillsborough is no-burn, and a pile on acreage still needs a Florida Forest Service burn authorization the morning you light it. Everything we cut is mulched in place or hauled. Send the parcel ID first, and the permit history is read before I show up for the site visit.
Land Clearing Plant City Area: Services Across Dover, Lithia and Valrico
Our land clearing service in Plant City runs out of the Ocala yard, 80 miles up I-75, and one trip covers Plant City, FL and the surrounding area.
- Dover and Thonotosassa: strawberry fields and nursery ground north of I-4, pepper on every ditch.
- Valrico and Lithia: hammock lots along the Alafia going back to palmetto and wax myrtle.
- Commercial properties in Plant City along I-4, SR 60 and US 92.
We run land clearing services across Tampa Bay from the same yard, with services throughout the Tampa metro on the county pages. The Tampa area pulled 4,295 county permits last year.
Land clearing near Plant City
Nearby city pages
Request a Free On-Site Estimate on Your Field or Lot
Send the form with the parcel address and what you want back: a pad, pasture or a clean field to sell. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within an hour. The free on-site estimate ends with a written number before I leave the site. Call (352) 619-3597 if you would rather talk the field through first. Every project starts with that walk; the frequently asked questions below cover the rest.
Land Clearing FAQs for Plant City Property Owners
How much does land clearing cost in Plant City, FL in 2026?
$1,800 for a quarter-acre infill lot, $2,600 for a half acre, and $3,000 to 5,500 an acre to dirt with stumps. Pepper thickets add $500 an acre, and transport from Ocala moves depending on site conditions. Call (352) 619-3597 for the written number after the site visit.
What is the cheapest way to clear an old strawberry field?
Mulching, because nothing leaves on a truck and the mulch stays as ground cover. The land clearing process on a field is one machine and one or two days. Property clearing to bare dirt costs two to three times more. Either way to clear it will make your property buildable.
Do you check for pipelines and utilities before you remove brush?
Yes. Sunshine 811 gets the call before every job; once the paint and flags are down we walk the property. Old field ground here carries irrigation mains, a gas pipeline easement along parts of SR 39, and power at the road.
Can you work ground that is still wet?
Yes, on the mulcher. It floats on wet sand where a dozer sinks, and June through September adds one day on muck. Areas with dense pepper on the low rows get a second look before I set the day count.
Do I need a permit to burn cleared brush in Plant City?
Inside town and across urban Hillsborough, no burning at all. Out on acreage you need a Florida Forest Service burn authorization, issued daily. We mulch everything or haul it at $700 to 1,300 a load.
Get Your Free Estimate
Send the form or call. Brandi texts you a scheduling window within the hour.