What to Keep, What to Cut
Usually cut: - Cedar crowding the drip line of a live oak or Spanish oak - Cedar within your fire-safe space around the house - Dense thickets of young cedar choking grassland - Cedar along fence lines and drives that you need open
Often worth keeping: - Large, old cedars with shaggy bark, especially in mixed stands with oaks - Cedar on steep slopes or creek banks where roots hold soil - A screen of cedar along a road or neighbor for privacy and wind - Cedar shading young oaks that are still getting established
Clearing everything rarely works out. The ground bakes, erosion starts on slopes, and new cedar seedlings come right back into the bare spots. Selective clearing leaves a healthier stand. Which cedar to clear
Ways the Work Gets Done
| Method | Best for | Trade-offs |
|---|---|---|
| Hand crew with chainsaws | Small lots, cedar near the house or oaks, steep ground | Slower, but gentle on soil and the trees you keep |
| Skid steer with mulching head | A few acres of thick cedar on fairly level ground | Fast, leaves mulch in place; heavy on wet ground |
| Cut and chip | Lots where you want brush gone, not left as mulch | Needs truck access for the chipper |
| Cut and stack | Acreage where piles are allowed and burning is legal | Piles take time to dispose of; burn bans may stall it |
Cedar doesn't resprout from a stump cut below the lowest green branch, so cut stumps can be left low or ground where mowing matters.
Got acreage or a lot to clear?
Call (877) 674-2213Please stay on the line while your call connects.Getting Rid of the Brush
Inside San Marcos city limits, open burning of brush isn't allowed, so the brush gets chipped or hauled.
In unincorporated Hays County, burning is allowed only when there's no burn ban and only under the county's rules: at least 300 feet from structures on neighboring property unless they agree, starting no earlier than an hour after sunrise and finished an hour before sunset, in winds within the county's limits, with someone watching the fire and water on hand. Burn bans go on and off with dry weather, and a pile can sit for months waiting.
On the edges of 78666 that fall in Caldwell, Guadalupe or Comal County, that county sets its own bans. Check before burning.
Mulching in place avoids all of that and puts the material back into the soil. More brush disposal options
A Note on Wildlife
The golden-cheeked warbler is a federally endangered songbird that nests only in mixed Ashe juniper and oak woodlands of Central Texas, in ravines and canyons, and builds its nests with strips of cedar bark. It arrives in March and leaves in July. If your property has tall, mature cedar mixed with oaks, especially in the canyons and ravines on the west side of San Marcos, check with Texas Parks and Wildlife or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before clearing, and avoid clearing that kind of woodland during the March through July nesting season.
Cedar Fever
Cedar pollen peaks in winter, roughly December through February, and makes plenty of people miserable. Clearing cedar close to the house can cut down the pollen right outside your windows. It won't stop the pollen blowing in from the next hill.
Cedar Clearing Questions
How much can be cleared in a day?
That depends on how thick the cedar is, the slope, and the method. A mulcher on open ground covers far more than a hand crew on a steep hillside. The person who looks at the property can say.
Will clearing cedar help my oaks?
Usually. Oaks crowded by cedar get more light and water once the cedar around their canopy is gone. Leave cedar where it shades very young oaks.
Can you clear around a building site?
Yes. Building pads, driveways and septic fields are common clearing jobs. If the property is inside San Marcos city limits and tied to construction, the city's tree rules may apply, so check with the Permit Center first.