# Clearing land in Denton, TX: what to know before the first machine arrives

> Clearing land in Denton, TX: methods, regrowth, stumps, debris and burn rules, city and county permits, ag valuation, price drivers and Denton clay timing.

URL: https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/clearing-land-in-denton/

Learn

Methods, regrowth, stumps, debris, permits, taxes and timing on Denton clay, answered in the order the questions come up.

Clearing land in Denton, TX starts with three questions: what the ground is for, which jurisdiction it sits in, and where the debris goes. Inside city limits, almost any machine clearing needs a permit, post oaks 6 inches across are heritage trees and burning is not allowed; outside, Denton County and TCEQ rules govern. [Post Oak Land Clearing Denton](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/) wrote this guide to answer the rest in order.

Key takeaways

- Inside Denton city limits, clearing more than 2,000 square feet or 25 cubic yards needs a $453 clearing and grading permit, and protected trees need a $425 tree removal permit.
- A post oak 6 inches or more across counts as a heritage tree in Denton; mesquite and honey locust are not protected.
- Forestry mulching leaves stumps and roots in the ground. A building pad needs grubbing, and grubbing deeper than 16 inches needs an 811 locate.
- Denton's Fire Marshal does not allow open burning in city limits; in the county, land-clearing burns are allowed only on a burn day and only when no practical alternative exists.
- Disturbing an acre or more of soil brings TCEQ stormwater permit coverage and erosion control.
- West and north of Denton the clay turns slick after rain; May and October are the wettest months.

## What land clearing includes, and what the words mean

Land clearing is the removal of trees, brush and surface vegetation from a defined area. It does not automatically include pulling stumps, removing roots or shaping the ground; those are separate steps with their own names, and a quote that uses one word for all of them is hard to compare with another.

- **Clearing** takes down trees and brush above ground. What is left depends on the method.
- **Grubbing** removes stumps, roots and buried organic material that would get in the way of a foundation, drive or grade. Denton’s development code defines it as removing stumps, underbrush and rocks before clearing and grading, with no change in grade. See [clearing and grubbing](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/clearing-and-grubbing/).
- **Forestry mulching** grinds standing brush and small trees in place with a mulching head and leaves the chips on the ground. Stumps stay at or near ground level. See [forestry mulching](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/forestry-mulching/).
- **Brush hogging** shreds grass, weeds and light brush with a rotary cutter. It is mowing at scale, not clearing. See [brush hogging](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/brush-hogging/).
- **Stump grinding** chews a stump down below the surface; **stump removal** pulls the stump and its main roots out of the ground. See [stump grinding and removal](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/stump-grinding-and-removal/).
- **Grading** changes the shape of the ground: cut, fill, slope and pad elevation. It follows clearing and belongs to earthwork, covered on [land clearing and grading](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/land-clearing-and-grading/).

People call the same job lot clearing, property clearing, brush removal or site prep. The useful question is what finish you need. A pasture needs grass to come back; a pad needs clean, root-free soil; a walking woods needs the understory gone and the big trees left. Each finish points to a different method and a different price.

### Who does what

A land clearing contractor handles the vegetation, stumps and debris. An excavation contractor handles cut, fill, trenching and structural earthwork. Plenty of jobs need both, one after the other, and the handoff point should be written down. Tree work around an occupied house that needs climbing or rigging belongs to an arborist, which is why trees tangled in power lines or leaning over a roof are not machine clearing jobs, and a single dead tree by the house that you want to keep as firewood is usually a tree service call.

## Choosing a method: mulch in place, push and pile, grub, or clear selectively

The method follows the finish you need, the size of what is growing, how wet the ground is and what happens to the debris. On land you want to use as pasture, trails or open woods, forestry mulching is usually the lightest touch. For a house pad, drive or pond, stumps and roots have to come out, which means clearing and grubbing.

| Method | What it does | Fits | Trade-off |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Forestry mulching | Grinds brush and trees in place into a mulch layer | Pasture, trails, fire breaks, wooded acreage, fence lines | Stumps and roots stay; not for a building pad |
| Clearing and grubbing | Fells or pushes trees, pulls stumps and roots | Pads, drives, ponds, roads | Debris to deal with and bare soil to protect |
| Selective clearing | Removes understory and chosen trees, keeps marked trees | Homesites under oaks, park-like lots | Slower; machines stay out of root zones |
| Brush hogging | Shreds grass and light brush | Maintained pasture, overgrown fields | Stops at small saplings |

A skid steer with a mulching head handles most brush and trees up to mid-size on open ground. A dozer with a root rake pushes trees and pulls stumps when the goal is bare ground. An excavator with a thumb picks up and sorts debris, pulls individual stumps and works near things that must not be hit. Larger tracts often use two of these in sequence. The [land clearing assessment tool](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/tools/land-clearing-assessment/) walks through the choice for your property, and the [forestry mulching vs land clearing guide](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/forestry-mulching-vs-land-clearing/) compares the two main methods in detail.

### Keeping the trees you want

[Selective clearing](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/selective-clearing/) starts by marking keepers and setting a protection line around each one. Root damage, not the visible scrape on a trunk, is what kills a preserved tree a few years later: a heavy machine running inside the dripline compacts the soil the roots breathe through. Inside Denton city limits, tree protection fencing of orange mesh at least 4 feet tall has to be up before any permit is released and before grading or brush removal starts on regulated land. Clearing thick undergrowth also removes privacy, so if a screen matters, leave a strip of it on purpose.

### Doing it yourself or hiring it out

Homeowners report that a walk-behind brush cutter, a chainsaw and a rented skid steer handle a small lot of light brush over several weekends. The trade-off appears once trees get thicker than a few inches: felling them safely, dealing with the stumps and moving the debris become the slow, expensive part. The [clearing land yourself vs hiring guide](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/clearing-land-yourself-vs-hiring/) sets out where that line usually falls. Goats eat leaves and vines but leave stems and roots, which the [goats vs mulcher post](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/blog/goats-vs-mulcher-for-brush/) covers.

## Will the brush grow back?

Some of it will. Whether a plant comes back depends on whether it can resprout from what is left underground. Cutting or mulching removes the top; it does not kill a root system that can push new shoots. Lasting control comes from matching the method to the species and following up in the first seasons after clearing.

- **Eastern redcedar** does not resprout when it is cut below its lowest green branch, which is why mulching cedar low to the ground usually ends that tree. New cedars still come up from seed.
- **Mesquite and honey locust** resprout from buds on the root crown below ground, so shredding or mulching only the top usually produces a thicket of new stems. Removing the crown or treating cut stumps is what stops them. The [pasture clearing](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/pasture-clearing/) page covers mesquite on grazing land.
- **Chinese privet, greenbrier and briars** come back from roots and from seed already in the soil. City of Denton staff have documented privet along tributaries of Pecan Creek.
- **Callery pear** (Bradford pear) suckers from its roots after cutting. Denton’s code lists ornamental pears as non-protected.

Mulch left on the ground shades out some seedlings and holds the soil, but it does not stop root sprouts. A follow-up pass with a mower or brush hog, spot treatment of resprouts with herbicide applied according to the label, and seeding grass where you want grass all help. No method guarantees nothing returns. The [keeping brush from growing back guide](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/keeping-brush-from-growing-back/) goes through a first-year plan, and the [cedar clearing guide](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/clearing-cedar-on-your-land/) covers cedar in particular. If the brush you cleared was ash, mulch it on site: Denton County is inside the Texas Department of Agriculture emerald ash borer quarantine, which restricts moving ash wood out of the area.

### What happens to the ground after mulching

Grass usually returns where the mulch layer is thin, because light still reaches the soil. Thick spots slow it down: wood chips tie up some nitrogen where they touch the soil while they break down. Spreading heavy piles thinner and seeding in the right season speeds recovery. Mulched cedar is wood, and spread at a normal depth it does not ruin soil.

## Stumps and roots: grind, pull or leave

Stumps can be ground below the surface, pulled out with their main roots, or left to rot. Grinding is quick and tidy for a lawn or pasture. Pulling is what a foundation, drive or pond needs, because roots left under a structure rot and leave voids. Leaving them works in woods and pasture, as long as a mower can pass.

Stump grinding removes the stump, not the root system. Roots of most trees die and decay once the top is gone, but species that sucker, like mesquite, honey locust and privet, can send up shoots from roots a grinder never touched. Grinding depth is agreed per job. Below 16 inches, any machine that disturbs soil is excavating under the Texas Utilities Code, which requires an 811 locate at least 48 hours ahead, excluding weekends and legal holidays.

A forestry mulcher can take a stump down close to ground level but is not a stump grinder, and running its head into the dirt wears the teeth and throws rock. On ground with hundreds of stumps, such as an old cedar break being turned into pasture, a root rake or grubbing pass is often the practical answer. Stump grindings make decent mulch for beds and paths; under a slab they are just another organic layer that has to come out.

## What to do with debris after clearing land

Debris has four destinations: mulched in place, chipped and spread or hauled, hauled whole, or burned where the rules allow. Inside Denton city limits burning is not an option, so jobs there are mulched or hauled. In the county, burning is legal only on burn days and only when no practical alternative exists, which leaves mulching or haul-off as the default on most jobs.

### Mulching and chipping in place

Mulching in place costs the least to handle because nothing is loaded. The chips cover bare clay, slow runoff and break down over time. On a building pad they are a problem, because organic material under a slab settles, so pad areas are usually stripped and the chips moved to where they help. [Land clearing debris removal](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/land-clearing-debris-removal/) covers the haul-off side.

### Hauling to the landfill or the curb

The City of Denton Landfill at 1527 S. Mayhill Road takes brush and green waste at $30 a ton for a Denton customer with pieces up to 12 feet, $35 for longer pieces and $40 for non-Denton customers, with a $26.50 minimum a load. Bagged material is not accepted. For Denton residential customers, curbside brush pickup takes up to 4 cubic yards a week at no extra charge, roughly the size of four washing machines, cut to 4 to 8 foot lengths. Larger piles are billed to the utility account. That is enough for yard trimming, not for a cleared lot. Krum’s city brush service is similarly limited to small bundles. After a major storm, check City of Denton Solid Waste notices before hauling, since collection plans can change.

### Can you burn brush in Denton?

Not inside the city. The Denton Fire Marshal’s Office states that it does not allow open burning within city limits. In unincorporated Denton County, the Fire Marshal allows land-clearing burns only under the TCEQ exceptions and only on a burn day, decided each morning between 8 and 9 a.m.; call [940-349-2840](tel:+19403492840) to check. Unincorporated residents need a Controlled Burn Permit and should log each burn, and the county asks for the burn site to sit at least 300 feet from residential, recreational, commercial or industrial areas.

Denton County sits in the Dallas-Fort Worth ozone nonattainment area, so under TCEQ rule 30 TAC 111.209 a land-clearing burn is allowed only when no practical alternative to burning exists. The fire must start no earlier than an hour after sunrise, be out an hour before sunset, be attended the whole time and burn with winds between 6 and 23 mph, which rules out leaving a pile smoldering overnight. Lumber, construction material, tires, plastic and rubber cannot be burned; the county lists fines of $250 to $2,000 for burning prohibited materials. Drought burn bans recur in late summer and can block burning for weeks.

Towns add their own layer. Sanger issues a city open-burn permit and still sends permit holders to the county burn-day line. Justin allows burning weeds or grass off a vacant lot only with a fire-chief permit and the fire department in attendance. Roanoke runs its own burn permit with an inspection, and its form makes the applicant liable for suppression costs and damage. The [burning brush in Denton guide](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/burning-brush-in-denton/) covers each step.

### Burying debris and selling timber

Burying brush and stumps in a pit is cheap on paper and expensive later, because the wood rots, the ground settles and the soft spot stays for years. It never belongs under anything you plan to build.

Timber rarely pays for clearing around Denton. Most trees on these lots are post oak, cedar elm, hackberry and cedar of mixed size and form, which sawmills seldom want, and ash cannot leave the quarantine area untreated. Whether a particular stand has value takes a local evaluation; firewood for your own use is the realistic value on most lots. The [can timber pay for land clearing guide](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/can-timber-pay-for-land-clearing/) explains what makes a stand worth an evaluation.

## Do I need a permit for land clearing?

Inside Denton city limits, almost certainly. The Denton Development Code requires a permit for any clearing, grading, grubbing or other site earthwork unless the work disturbs no more than 2,000 square feet and 25 cubic yards and stays out of a floodplain or sensitive area. Outside the city, the answer depends on the town, the county and how much soil you disturb.

### Inside Denton city limits

The clearing and grading permit costs $453 and runs one year. A tree removal permit costs $425, plus mitigation where it applies, and the city states that any tree to be removed requires a permit submittal, though exemptions may apply. An existing single-family or duplex lot, agricultural operations and trees on the state noxious and invasive plant list are among the exemptions; exemption claims go through Building Safety on eTRAKiT, and a substantiated exemption carries no fee. Note the split: tree rules exempt agricultural operations, but the clearing permit exemption covers normal crop soil work and excludes tree removal.

On regulated land, Denton’s tree classes decide the plan. Post oaks 6 inches or more in diameter at 4.5 feet are heritage trees, other healthy trees 6 to 18 inches are quality trees, and mesquite, honey locust, crepe myrtle and ornamental pear are not protected. A redcedar 6 to 18 inches across on regulated land counts as a quality tree. Development must keep at least 30% of heritage and quality tree diameter inside the development impact area, and mitigation paid in lieu runs $200 per caliper inch. The city is reviewing changes to these tree rules, so the [Denton tree removal permit guide](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/denton-tree-removal-permit/) is kept to the current text.

Creeks and floodplains are restricted outright, not just mitigated. Riparian buffers run 50 feet from the stream for channels draining 1 square mile or less and 100 feet for larger ones, and tree and understory removal is prohibited in undeveloped floodplain except approved invasive removal. A mapped Environmentally Sensitive Area needs a field assessment, which costs $1,118, before land disturbance. The [clearing near creeks and floodplains guide](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/clearing-near-creeks-and-floodplains/) explains how to tell whether a lot is affected.

### In the ETJ and unincorporated county

Much of the acreage around Denton is in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, where Denton’s subdivision and platting rules apply but its city-limits tree preservation rules generally do not, and where floodplain standards still reach. ETJ boundaries shift as tracts petition for release, so status is checked per tract. In unincorporated Denton County, a county development permit is required for digging, fill, culverts, ponds and creek work in a flood zone; plain brush clearing outside the floodplain is not on that list.

### In Justin, Argyle, Roanoke, Sanger, Krum and Ponder

- **[Justin](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/service-areas/justin/):** no dirt work, grading or earth disturbance without a city permit, and erosion control kept up at all times.
- **[Argyle](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/service-areas/argyle/):** listed trees 3 inches and up are protected, the rule reaches easements, payment in lieu is $350 per caliper inch, and fines run up to $2,000 per tree. An owner-occupied homestead is excepted.
- **[Roanoke](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/service-areas/roanoke/):** clear-cutting is not allowed, development needs a council-approved tree preservation plan, and removing 10 or more protected trees without a permit freezes a site’s development applications for 36 months.
- **[Sanger](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/service-areas/sanger/):** clearing or grading before construction approval needs an early grading release with an engineer-sealed erosion plan and a stormwater plan.
- **Krum:** a city land development permit is required for clearing and grubbing.
- **Ponder:** the town’s permit forms list no clearing or tree permit; rules are confirmed per address.

### Stormwater, erosion and soil loss

Yes, clearing can cause erosion, and Texas regulates it at a set size. Under the TCEQ construction general permit, activities that disturb 1 acre or more need stormwater coverage and a stormwater pollution prevention plan; sites of 5 acres or more also file a Notice of Intent. Grubbing, root raking and grading strip soil and clearly count. Whether forestry mulching that leaves roots and groundcover counts is a site-specific question. [Erosion control](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/erosion-control/) covers silt fence, cover and seeding after clearing.

### Property lines, roads and ditches

Clear to a surveyed line, not a fence that may sit a few feet off. Work along a county or city road frontage, a ditch or a new culvert for a driveway entrance involves the road’s owner, so those rules are confirmed per address before work. [Fence line clearing](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/fence-line-clearing/) and [easement clearing](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/easement-clearing/) cover strips along boundaries and access routes.

### Power lines overhead, utilities underground

Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 752 bars anyone, or any tool, machine or material, from coming within 6 feet of a high-voltage overhead line unless the operator has been notified at least 48 hours ahead and a safety arrangement is in place. Inside Denton, Denton Municipal Electric prunes trees within at least 10 feet of its lines and asks residents not to trim around them; call DME at [(940) 349-7000](tel:+19403497000). CoServ trims trees along its lines on a three-year cycle across much of the rural county. A tree leaning toward a line is the utility’s call. The [clearing near power lines guide](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/clearing-near-power-lines/) covers the rest.

### When the city says a lot is overgrown

Denton code keeps grass and weeds at 12 inches or less and tree limbs at least 7 feet over sidewalks and 13.5 feet over streets. On tracts of 5 acres or more, the rule applies within 100 feet of an open street or a neighbor’s improved property, and areas that must stay natural are exempt. A lot past mower height is a job for [overgrown lot clearing](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/overgrown-lot-clearing/) or [brush clearing](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/brush-clearing/).

## Clearing land to build a house

Clearing is the first step of a build, not a finished pad. After the trees come down, the house footprint, drive and septic area usually still need stumps and roots grubbed out, topsoil stripped, the pad graded and compacted, and erosion control in place before a builder can start. Cleared land is not build-ready land.

Inside Denton, the order matters: no protected tree may be removed for development until the final plat is approved and the tree removal permit is issued, and an early clear-and-grade permit can come before the building permit once the plat is filed. The usual sequence is survey, tree survey and plan, permits, protection fencing, clearing, grubbing of the structural areas, 811 locate, erosion control and the handoff to grading. A mobile home site follows the same path at a smaller scale. [Lot clearing](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/lot-clearing/) covers the work, and the [clearing land to build a house guide](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/clearing-land-to-build-a-house/) covers the sequence and the timing.

### Does clearing add value?

It can, but there is no reliable percentage. A lot cleared and ready for a pad shows a buyer what is possible, and an overgrown tract hides its most usable ground. Removing every tree can also cost value: shade, privacy and mature oaks are part of what people pay for on Cross Timbers land, and inside Denton the trees you remove carry mitigation. Clearing selectively around the house site and leaving a wooded buffer often protects both. Larger site work for builders is covered on [commercial land clearing](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/commercial-land-clearing/).

## Ag valuation, taxes and clearing

Clearing can change your property taxes if it changes how the land is used. Texas Tax Code 23.55 imposes a rollback tax when land appraised as 1-d-1 open-space agricultural land changes to a non-agricultural use: the difference between the taxes paid and market-value taxes for each of the three preceding years. Clearing for a homesite can trigger it; brush management that keeps grazing going is a different situation.

Wildlife management use under Tax Code 23.51(7) requires land already appraised as open-space land and active use in at least three of seven listed practices, including habitat control and erosion control. Brush management can be part of a wildlife plan filed with the appraisal district. What land qualifies, how much acreage is needed and how a partial clearing is treated are decided by the Denton Central Appraisal District, so ask before clearing ag-valued land. Whether clearing costs are deductible or subject to sales tax is a question for your tax adviser. Cost-share programs such as NRCS EQIP and the Texas A&M Forest Service grants are covered in the [cost per acre guide](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/land-clearing-cost-per-acre/) and the [ag exemption and land clearing guide](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/ag-exemption-and-land-clearing/), and the [EQIP brush management post](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/blog/eqip-brush-management-for-denton-county-landowners/) explains the application pattern.

## What drives the price

Land clearing is billed by the hour, by the machine day, by the acre or by the project. Whatever the unit, the same handful of things move the total: how thick and how big the growth is, whether stumps and roots come out, how far the debris travels, how wet and reachable the ground is, and what permits and erosion control the location requires.

Small jobs cost more per acre because moving a machine to the site costs the same for a quarter acre as for ten. Typical per-acre ranges, the public fees inside a Denton price and illustrative budgets are all in the [land clearing cost per acre guide](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/land-clearing-cost-per-acre/), and the [cost calculator](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/tools/land-clearing-cost-calculator/) gives a range for your acreage. Payment terms, including whether a large job can be paid in stages, are set out in the quote.

## Hiring a contractor and getting a quote

A useful quote starts with good information. Send the address, so the jurisdiction is clear, the rough acreage, photos from a few corners, the gate width, what you want the land for and which trees must stay. Homeowners report that bids are hard to get on small lots and that some contractors never call back, so clear details help.

When quotes come in, compare them line by line. Each should name the method, the finish level, how stumps are handled, where the debris goes, which permits and erosion control are included and what is excluded. A price that leaves out debris or stumps is not cheaper; it is a different job. The [what a land clearing quote should include guide](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/what-a-land-clearing-quote-should-include/) has a checklist.

Ask any contractor for a certificate of insurance and who will be on site. Post Oak Land Clearing Denton offers and manages land clearing across Denton and the west and north of Denton County, with the work done by licensed and insured contractors. The [service areas page](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/service-areas/) lists where that applies, and the [planning checklist](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/resources/) is a printable version of this section. For an easy first job, the [small backyard lot post](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/blog/clearing-a-small-backyard-lot-in-denton/) walks through a typical in-town clearing.

## Working on Denton clay: timing, wet ground and access

Clear when the ground is dry. West and north of Denton, around Krum, Ponder, Sanger, Justin and Roanoke, the soils are mostly clays such as Sanger and Slidell clay: high shrink-swell, slow to drain and slick for days after a heavy rain. The sandy Cross Timbers soils toward Argyle drain fast but wash once their cover is stripped.

Sanger clay has a linear extensibility of up to 9.1% and Slidell clay up to 10%, and both sit in hydrologic soil group D, the slowest-draining class. A tracked machine on that clay after a soaking rain leaves ruts that dry into ridges, compacts the soil and can bury mulch into mud. A week of dry weather usually firms it up enough to work. Frequently flooded creek bottoms, such as Frio clay loam, stay soft longest.

NOAA’s 30-year normals for Denton Municipal Airport show about 35.6 inches of rain a year, with May at 4.52 inches and October at 4.17 inches the wettest months, and July at 1.77 inches the driest. That makes late spring and October the most likely times for weather delays and erosion on freshly cleared ground. Midsummer gives the firmest clay but also the highest odds of a burn ban. Late fall and winter, with brush dormant and fewer storms, are a practical window for many jobs; Denton averages about 52 nights a year at or below freezing. The [when to clear land in North Texas guide](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/when-to-clear-land-in-north-texas/) and the [rain on Denton clay post](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/blog/what-rain-does-to-a-clearing-job-on-denton-clay/) cover scheduling in more depth.

Access is the other half. A backyard behind a narrow gate limits the machine to what fits, fences may need a panel removed, and a soft driveway apron may need mats. Say so in the first call so the quote can match the machine to the gate.

Ready to clear? or [request an estimate](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/contact/) with your acreage, photos and what you want the land to become.

## Questions about this guide

### Can I bury brush and stumps on my property instead of hauling them?

It is possible on open acreage, but buried wood rots and leaves soft pockets that settle for years, so it never belongs under a house pad, drive or anywhere you will build. Inside Denton city limits, digging a burial pit is excavation and needs the same permit as other site earthwork. Mulching or haul-off is usually the safer route.

### Will clearing my land change its agricultural tax valuation?

It can. Under Texas Tax Code 23.55, changing land appraised as 1-d-1 open-space agricultural land to another use, such as a homesite, triggers a rollback tax for the three preceding years. Brush management that keeps the land in agricultural use is a different matter. Confirm your situation with the Denton Central Appraisal District first.

### Do I need to call 811 before land clearing starts?

Texas law requires an 811 locate request when mechanized equipment disturbs soil 16 inches deep or more, which covers grubbing, root raking, grading and deep stump removal. The request goes in at least 48 hours ahead, not counting weekends and holidays. Surface mulching stays shallower, but a locate before any ground work is sensible.

## More guides

- [How much does land clearing cost per acre in Denton?](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/land-clearing-cost-per-acre/): Typical per-acre ranges, the public figures inside a Denton price, and why the same acre can cost twice as much on a different lot.
- [Forestry mulching vs land clearing: which does your property need?](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/forestry-mulching-vs-land-clearing/): Two methods, two very different finishes. What a mulcher and a dozer each leave on Denton-area ground, what that costs, and when one tract needs both.
- [Do you need a City of Denton tree removal permit?](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/denton-tree-removal-permit/): Which Denton properties the tree code reaches, which trees it protects, how preservation and mitigation are counted, and what to file before a saw starts.
- [Can you get a burn permit for brush in Denton?](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/burning-brush-in-denton/): Where burning land-clearing brush is allowed around Denton, who you call on the morning of a burn, what can never go on the pile, and what to do when burning is off the table.
- [What does clearing land to build a house involve?](https://postoaklandclearingdenton.com/guide/clearing-land-to-build-a-house/): The order a homesite is cleared in, from staking the footprint to the grading handoff, and why cleared ground is still not a building pad.