Land Clearing
Full-property and lot clearing: trees, brush, undergrowth, fence lines, and right-of-way, hauled off or mulched in place and left build-ready.
Learn More Home About Contact Call (251) 747-7839
Land clearing in Semmes runs under a tree ordinance that the city applies to all land inside its limits. A healthy native tree 30 inches or more across at breast height counts as a heritage tree here. Cutting protected trees brings replanting rules, so the plan for a lot starts with which trees stay. From our base in Elberta, we take on clearing wooded lots and acreage to the line that plan sets.
City curbside pickup in Semmes takes debris piles up to 3 cubic yards, about 3 by 3 by 9 feet. Clearing even a small wooded lot turns out far more brush than that, which is where mulching fits. Our track loader, a skid steer on tracks, does forestry mulching with a head that grinds brush where it stands. The chips stay as a mat over bare soil instead of a brush pile waiting at the curb.
Tell us about your project and we’ll get right back to you.
The city's protected tree list sets a minimum trunk diameter for each species, measured four and a half feet up. Oak, hickory, birch, magnolia and pecan count from 10 inches, while cypress and maple count from 6. Longleaf pine counts from 18 inches, and redbuds and dogwoods become heritage trees once they reach 10. You may still cut dead, diseased or overcrowded trees, and trees wrecked by a natural disaster are exempt.
Removing protected trees takes a Planning Department request with a site plan, a tree survey and a mitigation plan. Mitigation means replanting the same species, 2 inches or more each, until their diameters add up to the cut tree's. If the lot cannot hold them, you pay $20 per inch into the city's Tree Preservation Fund. Confirm your trees with the Semmes Planning Department first, since its approval sets what the machine may clear.
Clearing in Semmes can also call for a Land Disturbance permit, filed with the city's Public Works Department. Its application must carry a site grading and drainage plan, along with an erosion and sediment control plan. Before it issues, the city's inspector checks a construction entrance that keeps mud and debris off public roads. Even with the permit in hand, it is not approval to build, so zoning and ADEM rules still apply.
The Mobile area averages 66 inches of rain a year, and bare ground on a cleared lot sheds it fast. With the bucket, our track loader handles grading and dirt work to the slopes your drainage plan shows. Where your plan allows, we spread the mulch over bare ground as cover against the rain. The city also says curbside debris piles must stay out of the ditch, where they would block drainage.
Semmes incorporated as a city in 2011 and sits in west-central Mobile County, 15 miles northwest of downtown Mobile. Moffett Road, which is US 98, is the main highway through town and leads southeast into Mobile. At the 2020 Census, 4,941 people lived on about 14.5 square miles of land, roughly 340 per square mile. Four in five homes are detached houses, and Census estimates date about one in six to 2010 or later.
Semmes rules reach past the city limits, because the planning jurisdiction extends half a mile outside of them. Land in that outer ring still falls under the city's Subdivision Regulations, its Design Standards and its Building Codes. That means a tract along Moffett Road just past the city limits can still answer to Semmes rules. Farther out, our guide to clearing permits in Mobile and Mobile County lays out the rules that apply there.
Communities & areas we serve around Semmes: Moffett Road (US 98), Wulff Road, Morris Hill Road, Main Street, Big Creek Lake, Prichard.
Semmes ZIP codes served: 36575.
Free, no-obligation estimates throughout Mobile County and across South Alabama.
(251) 747-7839 Full-property and lot clearing: trees, brush, undergrowth, fence lines, and right-of-way, hauled off or mulched in place and left build-ready.
Learn More
Brush, underbrush, and small trees ground into mulch in a single pass. No burning, no hauling, and a clean natural finish left behind.
Learn More
Site leveling, slope and drainage correction, building pads, driveway base, and cut-and-fill, all shaped to drain and hold on the rainy Gulf Coast.
Learn More
Foundation and footing digs, drainage work, culverts, utility trenching, and ditch cutting, dug to line and grade and hauled off clean.
Learn More
Driveway culverts and cross drains sized to the ditch, set at the right grade, and backfilled so the drive holds through Gulf Coast rain.
Learn More
Structure teardown, mobile home removal, concrete and slab tear-out, and outbuilding demolition, knocked down and hauled off in one job.
Learn More5.0 on Google, from real reviews on our Business Profile.
“Will does great work and is very dependable. He knows what to do and the best way to get it done. I can’t recommend him and his crew enough!”
“Great service! Fair pricing! Highly recommend”
“Great service, very reasonably priced. Trustworthy and friendly”
“Great work, very professional and did the job right.”
A few of the questions we hear most around Semmes. Don't see yours? Call us, we're happy to help.
When land clearing needs a permit in Mobile: the City of Mobile land disturbance tiers, the clearing-only permit, the under-4,000-square-foot residential affidavit, and what applies in unincorporated Mobile County.
Read more →
What land clearing costs per acre in South Alabama in 2026, the price ranges for Baldwin and Mobile County lots, and what pushes the number up or down.
Read more →Need land cleared, a lot graded, a driveway put in, or a storm mess cleaned up? Reach out for a free, no-obligation estimate. We’ll look at the ground with you, give you a clear price, and get your job on the schedule.
Tell us about your project and we’ll get right back to you.