Cedar clearing and pasture clearing in Wimberley, TX
Ashe juniper takes water, light and ground from everything around it. We thin and remove cedar selectively to bring back pasture, protect the oaks and cut the fire load around your buildings.
ISA Certified Arborist, Santos BonillaFree estimates$1M liability insuredLocally owned and operatedRated 5.0 across 96 Google reviewsWhat cedar is costing you
A mature Ashe juniper drinks a serious amount of water a day and shades out everything under it. Left alone it turns open pasture into a thicket and runs fuel straight up into the tree line.
- Cedar crowding out mature live oaks
- Pasture closing in and grazing ground disappearing
- Dense cedar tight against a house or outbuilding
- Fire fuel running from ground level up into the canopy
- Cedar pollen load through the winter months
- Access and sight lines lost across acreage
Thinned, not clear cut
Cedar is not the enemy everywhere. On a slope it holds thin soil together. We take out what is causing the problem and leave what is doing a job.
Our process
No call center and no chasing. Santos walks the property himself, and the written price covers the work described in it.
We assess density
How thick the cedar is, what it is crowding, and what the ground needs to hold.
We pick the removals
Which stems come out, which stay for soil and cover, agreed with you first.
We cut and drop
Safe removal tight to structures and around the hardwoods being kept.
We process the material
Chipped on site and spread, or hauled away. Cedar posts cut to length if you want them.
What cedar clearing costs
Priced on density, acreage, terrain and how selective the work is. A thin stand on flat ground moves quickly. Heavy cedar on a rocky slope with oaks to protect is slower and costs accordingly.
Bigger acreage jobs run over several days and we price them as a project rather than by the hour. Chipping on site normally beats hauling on cost, and it puts the material back on the ground as cover.
Why cedar is such a problem here
Ashe juniper, which everyone here calls cedar, is a native tree and it is not the villain it is often made out to be. What has changed is the balance. Without periodic fire, cedar has spread across ground that used to be open savannah, and a closed cedar stand behaves very differently from a scattered one.
A mature cedar uses a serious volume of water on a hot day, and in a closed stand the canopy also intercepts light rain before it ever reaches the ground. It shades out the grasses underneath, and without grass cover the thin soil starts moving. Then the fuel problem: cedar carries fine, volatile material from ground level right up into the canopy, which is exactly the ladder a grass fire needs to get into the tree line.
Where cedar earns its place
On a steep slope, cedar roots are frequently the main thing holding the soil together, and clearing it wholesale there causes more damage than it prevents. It gives cover for wildlife, and a screen of it along a boundary or a road is often worth keeping deliberately.
This is why we thin rather than clear. The question is never whether cedar is good or bad, it is which stems on your particular piece of ground are causing a problem and which are doing a job.
What happens after the cedar comes off
Selective thinning can reduce competition for water and light around desirable trees and vegetation.
Grass returns where the seed bank is still there, which on most Hill Country properties it is. Where cedar has been closed over the ground for decades you may need to reseed, and it is worth waiting a season to see what comes up on its own before spending money on it.
What cedar management involves
Cedar management includes clearing dead cedar trees and thinning dense stands, and cedar clearing promotes proper growth of surrounding vegetation by freeing up water and light. Cedar management services are available for residential and commercial properties, and cedar management helps maintain land for construction projects where a footprint has to be opened up.
Why density is the problem, not cedar itself
Ashe juniper is native and belongs here. Grown densely it competes hard for water in shallow soil over limestone, shades out native grasses, and builds heavy fuel loads that raise wildfire risk. Thin it and the oaks around it visibly improve within a season or two.
On steep slopes, complete removal causes erosion. The cedar roots may be the main thing holding thin soil in place, so selective thinning is the right call even though it costs more per acre than clearing everything.
Defensible space
Dense cedar carries fine, volatile fuel from ground level straight into the canopy, which is exactly the ladder a grass fire needs to reach the tree line. Thinning under and around mature oaks and raising the canopy on what stays breaks that ladder, and that thinning is work we do. How far out to clear and to what standard depends on your slope, your structure and local requirements, so take the specification from Texas A&M Forest Service or your local fire department rather than from us.
What happens to the material
Chipping reduces cedar debris into manageable mulch, and mulching improves soil health and moisture retention while suppressing weeds. Cedar chip makes good path and bed mulch, and it is already on your property. See chipping and mulching or land clearing for wider work.
Further reading
Cedar is the subject we get asked about most. These go deeper.
- Finding the right balance with cedar – Where cedar earns its place and where density becomes the problem.
- Fire mitigation and defensible space – Breaking the ladder fuel that carries a grass fire into the canopy.
- Raising the canopy on cedar – What a canopy lift does for clearance, visibility and how a place feels.
- Cedar fever, and what actually helps – The honest answer about whether clearing helps your allergies.
What often goes with this job
Broader clearing that is not mostly cedar is on the land clearing page. Once the cedar is off them, the oaks underneath usually want trimming. Large individual trees come out under tree removal, and the cut material is handled through chipping and mulching.
What Hill Country property owners say
Rated 5.0 across 96 Google reviews. Homeowners and acreage owners on the crew, the cleanup, and the price holding to the quote.
Read Our Google ReviewsCedar work across the Hill Country
Wimberley, Blanco, Spring Branch, Canyon Lake and the surrounding ranch country.
Cedar clearing questions
Straight answers, including what the work actually costs.
Is this the same as clear cutting?
No. We thin selectively. Cedar holds thin soil on slopes and gives cover, so taking every stem off a property is usually the wrong answer.
Will clearing cedar help my allergies?
Clearing cedar close to the house reduces what is right on top of you. It will not stop cedar fever, because the pollen travels for miles from December through February.
Will the pasture actually come back?
Reducing dense cedar can create better conditions for grasses and other vegetation to recover. Results depend on existing vegetation, seed availability, soil conditions, rainfall, and past land use, and some areas may require reseeding.
Can you work close to the house?
Yes. Clearing by hand rather than by machine is exactly what lets us work tight to structures.
What happens to the cedar?
Chipped on site and spread, hauled off, or cut into posts if you have a use for them.
What to ask before you hire any tree service
Most of the difference between a good outcome and an expensive one is settled before anyone climbs. These are worth checking whoever you hire, including us.
Ask who is assessing the tree. Certified arborists can assess tree health and conditions, and on a borderline tree that judgment is the whole job. If the credential matters to you, ask directly whether the person quoting holds an ISA certification and ask for the number. Plenty of companies imply it without holding it, so it is a fair question to put to anyone. Santos is an ISA Certified Arborist and his number is TX-390690A.
Ask for the insurance certificate, and read it. General liability is what stands behind damage to your property if something goes wrong during the work. Ours is $1,000,000 general liability ($2,000,000 aggregate) through American Builders Insurance Company, and we send it before we start. Ask any company you call to send theirs.
Ask what equipment the job needs. Proper equipment is essential for removing trees in challenging locations, and professional-grade equipment is most of what separates a controlled job from a hopeful one. On a steep or tight Hill Country site the honest answer is sometimes that the job needs kit a particular crew does not own.
Get it in writing. A tree job needs a clear, written estimate detailing all services included: which trees, whether the stump is included, whether wood is hauled or left, whether brush is chipped on site, and the job site clean-up standard.
Check reviews and references. Reviews and references are important for choosing a reliable tree service, and satisfied customers in a place this size are easy to check. Ask for addresses of recent jobs nearby.
Ask about oak wilt protocol. Texas Hill Country tree services follow oak wilt prevention protocols, or they should. That means sealing oak cuts promptly, cleaning saws between properties, and disposing of oak debris properly. Material from an oak suspected of oak wilt is handled separately, because fungal mats form on infected red oak wood.
Tree care services that often come with the job
Very few properties need only one thing done, and handling them on one visit costs less than bringing a crew back.
Land clearing. Land clearing removes brush, overgrowth and debris efficiently and can create more usable outdoor spaces on a property that has closed in. It prepares sites for construction projects, driveways and septic fields, can involve cedar removal and site preparation, and involves clearing out unwanted vegetation rather than scraping a slope bare. Land clearing services are available for both residential and commercial properties.
Emergency and storm work. Emergency tree services respond quickly to storm damage and are essential for safety after severe weather, and storm damage cleanup includes clearing fallen trees and branches. Dead and hazardous trees can pose risks to people and property, and removing them can reduce those risks. Emergency tree services are available for residential and commercial properties, and professional-grade equipment is used for emergency tree removal.
Removals. Tree removal is necessary for diseased or storm-damaged trees and is essential for property safety and management, and trees in the wrong location may require removal for safety. Professional tree removal uses equipment for safe extraction where the drop zone is tight. Tree removal processes typically involve on-site assessments and cleanup rather than a price over the phone, and specific precautions are necessary for dealing with oak wilt during tree removal.
Oak work specifically. Wimberley faces severe pressure from oak wilt, a fungal disease that kills oak trees, so how an oak is cut matters more here than the date on the calendar. Every oak cut is painted on the spot, tools are disinfected before we work on an oak, and oak brush is chipped rather than left on site. Oak wilt treatment itself requires licensed professionals, which is separate work we do not take on.
Health and ongoing care. Proper tree care improves safety and long-term health, and catching a problem early is almost always cheaper than the removal it turns into. Oak wilt treatment requires licensed professionals for effective management, so the useful first step is an honest diagnosis rather than a product.
Cedar Clearing Wimberley TX
Wimberley Tree Service is a locally owned tree service company, owner operated, and the same small team does the work on every job. We are based in Wimberley TX and cover Hays County and the surrounding areas, including Dripping Springs, Driftwood, San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Blanco, Bee Cave and Austin, with nearby areas across Comal and Blanco counties served on the same terms.
We work for homeowners, ranch and acreage owners, builders, clients and property managers, on both residential and commercial properties. Whether it is one dead tree in a back yard, dead limbs and branches over a driveway, or a whole fence line that has disappeared into cedar, the process is the same: we come out, look at it, and give you a written price that fits the unique needs of the property.
Every estimate is a free estimate, and we will tell you when we can get out to look. Scheduling the work itself is a separate thing: we run about a month booked out, and we will give you a real date rather than a hopeful one. Emergencies are the exception and are fitted in as soon as the crew can get there. We are $1M liability insured, we take great care to leave the job site clean, and we will tell you when a tree does not need the work you asked about.
A four person crew, and years of Hill Country tree work. The business has run under this name since April 2025. Orlyn and Matt climb, Aurelio works the ground, and Santos comes out on the jobs that need him. That is who turns up: the same small crew every time, not a subcontractor you have never met. Our minimum charge for a job is $500.
You get options, not one number. Every estimate is itemised and normally comes with three to five ways to approach the job, priced separately, so you can see what each part costs and choose the scope yourself. Most people find one of the middle options is the job they actually wanted. We work in English and Spanish.
Cedar taking over?
We will walk it, tell you what is worth keeping, and put a price in writing.