Chipping and mulching in Wimberley, TX
Branches and brush chipped on site and left as ground cover, stacked where you want it, or hauled away. Spreading the chip is not included. Available with a tree job or on its own, and a practical alternative to burning.
ISA Certified Arborist, Santos BonillaFree estimates$1M liability insuredLocally owned and operatedRated 5.0 across 96 Google reviewsBrush piles, storm debris and burn bans
Cut material has to go somewhere. Chipping turns it into something useful and keeps it on your property instead of paying to move it twice.
- Brush piles left from your own clearing work
- Storm debris across a property
- Material we did not cut, hauled off or chipped
- Burn ban in force and a pile that cannot be burned
- Ground cover wanted for beds, paths or around trees
- Fence line and driveway trimmings
It goes back on the ground
Chip spread as cover holds moisture, suppresses weeds and breaks down into thin Hill Country soil that badly needs the organic matter.
Our process
No call center and no chasing. Santos walks the property himself, and the written price covers the work described in it.
Tell us what is there
Rough size of the pile and how close a truck and chipper can get to it.
We check access
Gate widths, ground conditions and turning room decide how the day runs.
We chip it
Fed through on site rather than loaded and moved twice.
You choose where it goes
Left as cover, stacked, or hauled away entirely.
What chipping costs
Priced on volume and access. A pile a chipper can be backed up to is quick. The same volume dragged three hundred feet from the back of a property is not.
Chipping and spreading on site is nearly always cheaper than haul-off, because nothing has to be loaded, hauled and disposed of. Haul-off is there when you want the material gone completely.
What to do with the chip
Fresh wood chip is one of the better things you can put on Hill Country ground, provided it goes in the right place.
Spread it as cover, not as a pile. Two to four inches around trees and beds holds moisture, keeps soil temperature steady and suppresses weeds. Keep it back a few inches from trunks and stems, because chip banked against bark holds damp and invites rot.
It does not steal nitrogen from your trees. That worry comes from mixing wood into soil. Laid on the surface, the nitrogen effect is limited to the top inch or so and the tree roots underneath are unaffected.
Cedar chip is a good path and bed cover and breaks down slowly, which is exactly what you want on a walkway. It is less suited to a vegetable bed.
Give a big pile some room. Fresh chip heats up considerably as it composts, which is why a big pile wants room away from structures and fences.
Burning versus chipping
Piling and burning is still the default on a lot of Hill Country properties and it has two problems. The first is that Hays and Comal counties spend a large part of most years under a burn ban, so the pile sits there through the season you wanted it gone. The second is that burning turns the material into nothing. Chipping keeps it, and on thin limestone soil that organic matter is genuinely worth having on the ground rather than in the air.
What makes a chipping job quick or slow
Almost entirely access and how the material is stacked. Brush laid butt ends the same way, near something a truck can reach, feeds straight in. The same volume tangled in a heap three hundred feet from the nearest hard ground takes several times as long, because most of the work becomes dragging rather than chipping.
The other one that catches people out is material that has been pushed into a pile with a tractor or a skid steer. Once brush has been driven over and compacted it knits together, comes apart a piece at a time and holds dirt and rock that we do not want going through the chipper. A pile that took an afternoon to push up can take days to clear. If you are thinking of stacking it before we arrive, lay it loose with the butt ends the same way rather than pushing it.
What chipping and mulching does
Chipping reduces tree debris into manageable mulch on site, which means no burn pile, no dump runs and no waiting on a skip. Chipping services help clear land for new projects and turn what would be a disposal cost into something useful.
Mulching improves soil health and moisture retention, and mulch can suppress weed growth in landscaped areas. In a Central Texas summer, on thin soil over limestone, moisture retention is the part that matters most.
How to apply mulch properly
Two to four inches deep, extended outward toward the drip line, and kept three to six inches clear of the trunk. Piling mulch against the trunk traps moisture against bark and causes decay. A donut, never a volcano, so the root flare can breathe.
Applied that way it regulates soil temperature, holds water through drought, cuts competition from grass, and protects roots from compaction.
What we can do with your material
Chipped and spread where you want it, stockpiled for you to move later, or hauled away entirely. Say which at the estimate. Most people take the mulch once they realize what the equivalent volume costs by the bag.
One exception worth knowing: oak material from a tree suspected or confirmed to have oak wilt is handled separately, because fungal mats form on infected red oak wood. See what oak wilt looks like.
Further reading
More on using the material rather than paying to remove it.
- Spring prep for Hill Country trees – Mulch, watering strategy and inspection before the heat arrives.
- Clearing brush around the house – What happens to the material once it is cut.
- The mulch mistake almost everyone makes – Why a mulch volcano against the trunk causes decay.
What often goes with this job
Most chipping happens as part of another job: removal, trimming, land clearing or cedar clearing. It is also worth booking on its own after a storm, alongside emergency work.
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 ReviewsWhere we chip and haul
Wimberley and the surrounding Hays, Comal and Blanco county communities.
Chipping and mulching questions
Straight answers, including what the work actually costs.
Will you chip brush I cut myself?
Yes. It does not have to be our material. Stack it somewhere a truck can reach and it goes faster and cheaper.
Can I keep the mulch?
Yes, and most people do. We leave it in a pile where you want it. Spreading is not part of the price.
Is chipping cheaper than hauling it away?
Usually, because nothing gets loaded and transported. Haul-off costs more and is the right call when you want the material completely gone.
Is cedar chip any good as mulch?
It works well as a path and bed cover and breaks down slowly. Keep it off the base of young plantings.
Can you do this during a burn ban?
Yes, and that is often exactly when people call. Chipping is the practical alternative when a pile cannot be burned.
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.
Cedar management. Cedar management includes removing dead cedar trees and thinning dense stands, and cedar clearing promotes proper growth in landscapes and of surrounding vegetation by taking the competition for water off your oaks. Cedar management helps maintain healthy landscapes in Texas, is essential for site preparation in construction and for fence lines, and cedar management services are available for residential and commercial properties.
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.
Brush Chipping 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.
Got a pile that needs dealing with?
Chipped on site, spread where you want it, or hauled away entirely. Tell us which.