East Texas land clearing for pine, yaupon and sandy ground
9 Arrow Land Service is taking land clearing jobs in East Texas. We are working in Henderson County now, have Pittsburg work coming up and serve the Tyler area, grinding pine, hardwood brush and yaupon in place on sandy ground.
- Working in Henderson County now
- Serving the Tyler area and Pittsburg
- Mulching in place during burn bans
- Selective clearing keeps the pines you want
Does 9 Arrow do land clearing in East Texas?
Yes. 9 Arrow Land Service does land clearing in East Texas, with work in Henderson County now, Pittsburg work coming up and the Tyler area on our service map. Forestry mulchers grind pine, sweetgum, yaupon and brush where they stand on sandy East Texas soil, leave root balls in the ground to hold it, and leave no burn piles behind.
East Texas land, from the Piney Woods to post oak country
East Texas is the wooded side of the state. The Handbook of Texas draws its western edge from the Red River in Lamar County southwest to Limestone County, then southeast to Galveston Bay. The Piney Woods cover about 23,500 square miles of it and take in Tyler, Longview, Lufkin, Nacogdoches and Texarkana.
Post oak country sits just west of the pines, with oak woodland broken up by grassland. Henderson County lies in that transition between East and Central Texas. Smith County, around Tyler, is about two-thirds post oak, blackjack oak and tall grass and one-third pine and hardwood.
Most of this ground is working land. Timber and cattle are major industries, pine plantations are common, and more than 90 percent of the state's productive timberland is privately owned. Pastures of bahiagrass and bermudagrass are grazed or cut for hay, and hardwood bottoms of sweetgum, tupelo, elm and ash line the larger streams.
Know the ground
East Texas, in one card
East Texas trades Hill Country rock for sand, rain and pine.
- Where
- East of a line from the Red River in Lamar County to Limestone County, then southeast to Galveston Bay
- Rain
- About 36 to 50 inches a year in the Piney Woods, spread fairly evenly through the year
- Soil
- Mostly acidic gray sands and sandy loams, with clay loams in the river bottoms
- What grows
- Loblolly and shortleaf pine, post and blackjack oak, sweetgum, yaupon and greenbrier
- Land use
- Timber and cattle, with more than 90% of the state's productive timberland privately owned
- Watch for
- Chinese tallow on about 673,000 acres of East Texas forestland, county burn bans, and wet bottomland
Why forestry mulching fits sandy East Texas ground
East Texas ground is wetter and sandier than the Hill Country we call home. The Piney Woods average about 36 to 50 inches of rain a year, against 15 to 34 inches on the Edwards Plateau. Tyler averages about 45 inches. Boerne, near our Spring Branch base, averages about 37.
Piney Woods soils are generally acidic, mostly gray sands and sandy loams, where Edwards Plateau soils are usually shallow. River bottoms run to clay loams.
That is where forestry mulching and land clearing earns its place. Texas A&M Forest Service says mulching is best on highly erosive sites, where the leftover mulch helps stabilize the ground, and it discourages blading with a dozer because blading strips topsoil and increases erosion. Our mulchers grind trees and brush where they stand, leave root balls in the ground and lay down a fine finish you can drive over.
On timber tracts, GPS survey line clearing follows your licensed surveyor's files to open property lines and future road corridors through dense timber, with less pre-staking by a survey crew.
Brush and invasives East Texas landowners fight
Left alone, East Texas woods and pastures fill in with shrubs, vines and thickets. Brush clearing with a mulcher opens that ground in one pass, and selective clearing takes the understory while leaving the pines and hardwoods you want.
Mulching does not kill every root, so plan on follow-up. A Texas A&M AgriLife Extension specialist calls mechanical yaupon control a temporary fix, and scheduled grounds maintenance keeps a cleared pasture or fence line from closing back in. These are the plants East Texas landowners most often want gone.
- Yaupon, a common shrub under loblolly pine that grows back from any live root left in the ground
- Sweetgum, which fills the canopy gaps in pine and hardwood stands
- Greenbrier, a thorny vine that can be the only thing growing on a shaded forest floor
- Chinese tallow, an invasive tree found on about 673,000 acres of East Texas forestland in 2017, with new pockets south of Tyler
- Chinese and European privet, invasive shrubs found on forest survey plots in 40 East Texas counties by 2012, up from 25 in 2004
Where we are working in East Texas
We are working in Henderson County now, between the Trinity and Neches rivers, where post oak country meets the pines. See land clearing in Henderson County.
The Tyler area is on our service map, with its own page on land clearing in Tyler, TX. We have work coming up in Camp County (land clearing in Pittsburg, TX) and two jobs in North Texas (land clearing in North Texas).
Home base is still Spring Branch, about 250 miles from Tyler in a straight line. We are a service-area business, so the machines come to your land: compact track machines for tight access, and large articulated wheel machines for open acreage. Estimates follow a discovery call and a site visit, by the day or by the acre.
Serving East Texas
East Texas is part of our service area now. Our crew is based in Spring Branch, in the Hill Country, and the machines come to your land. We're working in Henderson County now, with Pittsburg coming up soon and work going in North Texas.
Nearby areas we serve
Five-star Google reviews
John is one of the best in the business. 9 Arrow has cleared over a dozen properties for me, and every project has been handled with exceptional attention to detail.
We exclusively use 9 Arrow for all land clearings, lot lines, and site prep scopes for our Texas projects. They are exceptional, keep up with our overwhelming volume, and deliver a level of quality and responsiveness we haven't seen anyone else rival.
Questions from East Texas landowners
Which parts of East Texas does 9 Arrow serve?
9 Arrow serves East Texas from our base in Spring Branch. We are working in Henderson County now, have work coming up in Pittsburg and Camp County, and serve the Tyler area. If your land is elsewhere in East Texas, call (210) 247-8410 and we will tell you if we can get there.
Who sets burn bans in East Texas counties?
Each county sets its own. County judges and commissioners courts issue burn bans, and under state law a commissioners court order can run up to 90 days. Texas A&M Forest Service posts a statewide burn ban map daily. Forestry mulching grinds brush in place, so a ban does not leave burn piles stranded on your land.
Do I need a federal permit to clear East Texas bottomland?
Sometimes. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act regulates discharging dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers handles the permits. Some farming and forestry activities are exempt, but not all. Check with the Corps before clearing wet ground. This is not legal advice.
How much should I clear around an East Texas home for wildfire?
Texas A&M Forest Service guidance works out from the house. From 5 to 30 feet out, remove brush under trees that acts as a ladder fuel and space tree crowns at least 18 feet apart. From 30 to 100 feet, remove small conifers between mature trees. A mulcher grinds that material small and leaves it in place.
How much East Texas forestland has Chinese tallow?
A lot. Texas A&M Forest Service estimated Chinese tallow on about 673,000 acres of East Texas forestland in 2017, with about 566 million seedlings on the ground and new pockets found south of Tyler. Mulching opens a tallow thicket in one pass, but a tract with that many seedlings needs a follow-up plan.
Related services
Have land in East Texas?
Book a discovery call. We'll talk through the property and your goals, walk it with you, and price the work by the acre or by the day.