Land & Lot Clearing in Middle Tennessee
Land in Middle Tennessee does not stay cleared. Between honeysuckle, privet, briars, volunteer cedar, and the growing season we get here, an open acre that goes unattended for three or four years becomes something you cannot walk through. And a lot that looks like it just needs a bush hog run over it usually has stumps, root balls, buried debris, and old fence wire under the green.
Dunnebacke Constructors clears lots and land across Hendersonville, Gallatin, Goodlettsville, White House, Springfield, Portland, and the surrounding counties — building sites, pastures, fence lines, and properties that simply got away from their owners. We clear to the depth the intended use actually requires, and the debris leaves with us.
Our Clearing Services
Building Lot Clearing
Clearing a lot down to workable ground for construction — trees, brush, stumps, and roots removed, with the building envelope opened up and the debris hauled off the property.
Brush & Undergrowth
Honeysuckle, privet, briars, saplings, and the wall of undergrowth that takes over a Middle Tennessee property in about three unattended seasons. Cleared back to open, usable ground.
Tree & Stump Removal
Trees taken down and removed, stumps pulled or ground out depending on what is going on top of the ground afterward. A stump left in a future building pad or driveway is a future settlement problem.
Grubbing & Root Removal
The step that separates real clearing from mowing it down. Root balls and root systems pulled out so the ground is actually buildable and the brush does not come straight back.
Fence Line & Pasture
Overgrown fence lines opened back up, pasture reclaimed from encroaching brush and cedar, and access lanes cut through property that has become impassable.
Debris Haul-Off
The debris leaves. We haul it off rather than leaving a burn pile or a windrow of stumps and root balls along the back of the lot for you to deal with later.
Clearing vs. Grubbing — and Why It Matters
These are two different operations and the difference is what separates a lot that is ready to build on from a lot that only looks like it is.
Clearing removes what is above the ground: trees, brush, saplings, undergrowth. After clearing, a lot looks open. It photographs well. What remains in the ground is every stump, root ball, and root system that was under the vegetation.
Grubbing removes what is below: the stumps, root balls, and root mass, along with the organic material and topsoil layer that came with them. Grubbing is the step that makes ground actually buildable, because organic material left buried under fill decomposes, loses volume, and settles — and it settles unevenly, which is worse than settling uniformly. A slab, a pad, or a driveway built over a buried stump will find it eventually.
Grubbing is also what keeps brush from coming back. Cut honeysuckle and privet at the ground and it will re-sprout from the root crown, often thicker than it was before. Pull the root and it does not.
Not every job needs grubbing. If you are reclaiming a pasture or opening a fence line, clearing plus stump grinding is often the right and cheaper call. If you are building on it, grubbing is not optional. We will tell you which one your project actually needs rather than selling you the bigger operation by default.
What Happens to the Debris
This is the question worth asking every contractor who bids your clearing job, because it is where the quotes diverge and where the cheap one is usually cheap.
Haul-off means the material leaves the property. It costs more on the invoice and it is the only option that leaves you with a genuinely clear lot. This is our default.
Burning is common in rural Middle Tennessee and it is regulated. Tennessee requires a burn permit for most open burning during the state’s permit season, and municipalities including Hendersonville and Gallatin have their own restrictions that can be more limiting than the county’s. Burning is not available on every site or in every season.
On-site burial or a back-lot pile is the cheapest bid and the one that comes back on you. Buried organic debris settles. A stump pile at the back of the property is a permanent feature until somebody pays to remove it, and it is a snake and rodent habitat in the meantime. If a clearing quote is meaningfully below the others, this is usually why, and it is worth asking directly.
Our Process
Free On-Site Walk-Through
We walk the property with you and mark what stays and what goes. Clearing estimates given from a satellite image are guesses — what is actually under the canopy, how big the stumps are, and whether a truck can reach the back of the lot are things you have to see.
Written Estimate, Debris Included
You get a specific price that states plainly what happens to the material. Haul-off is itemized rather than hidden, so you can compare our bid against others honestly instead of finding out later where somebody was cheaper.
Clear and Grub
Vegetation removed, stumps and root balls pulled where the intended use requires it, and the site opened up. Anything you asked us to save — a tree line, a specimen hardwood, a screen along a property line — gets protected and stays.
Rough Grade, Seed, and Straw
Ground smoothed out, erosion control set where the site needs it, and disturbed soil seeded and strawed. We do not leave bare cleared ground exposed to the next storm. Owner Austyn Dunnebacke is on every job site.
Owner on every job. Austyn Dunnebacke personally assesses and works every project. You are not dealing with a salesperson and a crew you have never met — the same person who looks at the work is the one who does it.
How Much Does Land Clearing Cost?
Pricing on this kind of work is job dependent. Every property is different — the price comes down to how dense the vegetation is, tree size, terrain, access, and how much debris has to be hauled off — so we don't publish price ranges that may not fit your job.
We're happy to give a free quote to anyone interested. Call (615) 887-1194 or request a free estimate — we'll come look at the property, tell you what's going on, and give you a specific price before any work begins. No obligation.
Permits, Erosion Control, and Clearing
Clearing land strips the vegetation that has been holding the soil in place, and in Middle Tennessee’s clay that matters immediately. A cleared slope with no cover can lose a meaningful amount of topsoil in a single heavy storm, and the sediment it loses ends up in a ditch, a neighbor’s yard, or a stream — which is both a practical problem and a regulatory one.
Land disturbance permitting depends on your jurisdiction and the area being disturbed, and larger disturbances can trigger state stormwater requirements including erosion control measures. Sumner County, Hendersonville, Gallatin, White House, Springfield, and Robertson County each have their own rules — check with your local codes department before clearing a substantial area.
Regardless of what is required, we seed and straw disturbed ground after clearing and install silt fence or other erosion control where the site calls for it. Erosion control is the work we are known for, and we are not going to create an erosion problem clearing your lot.
Areas We Serve
We work throughout Middle Tennessee, with quick response times across Sumner, Davidson, Robertson, Wilson, Montgomery, and Williamson counties.