Cedar Tree Removal in Mountain Home, AR

Why is cedar such a problem around here?

Eastern redcedar is native, but it used to be kept in check by wildfire. Without fire, birds spread the berries along every fence line and the trees fill in old fields within twenty years. A cedar thicket shades out grass, soaks up water, and turns pasture into brush. Ranchers in the county have been fighting it for decades.

Cedar also burns hot because of the oil in the needles. A wall of cedar close to a house is fuel, and that matters in a dry fall when grass fires start.

What does cedar removal involve?

For yard trees, we cut them close to the ground and chip the limbs. Cedar doesn't resprout from the stump, which makes it easier than most species. For pastures and fence lines, we cut the trees and either chip them, pile them for you to burn when it's allowed, or haul them off.

Big old cedars near a house are handled like any other tree removal, with rigging if needed.

What affects the price?

Number and size of trees, how dense the thicket is, how far we are from the truck, and what you want done with the wood. Chipping on site costs more than piling. A few yard cedars is a short job. Ten acres of thicket is a bigger project, priced by the area.

Clear them all or just thin them?

A few cedars make good windbreaks and winter cover for birds. If you like that, we'll leave the best-shaped ones and take out the rest. If the goal is pasture, clearing everything is the only way to keep them from coming back, followed by mowing or a burn every few years.

Where cedar shows up on local properties

Drive any county road out of Mountain Home and you'll see the pattern. Old pastures that haven't been grazed or bush-hogged in a few years turn into rows of young eastern redcedar, first along the fences where birds perch and drop seed, then spreading out across the field. Lake lots near Norfork and Bull Shoals often have cedar crowding the hardwoods on the slope down to the water, blocking the view and adding fuel close to the house.

In town, the issue is usually a single big cedar planted decades ago as a windbreak or privacy screen that has now outgrown the yard. Those trees are dense, heavy and often lean toward the open side where the light is. Taking one down near a house or fence takes the same rigging and care as any other removal.

Dealing with what's left behind

Cedar doesn't resprout from the stump the way some hardwoods do, so a cut cedar stays dead. That makes the stump question simpler. In a pasture, low flush cuts are often enough. In a yard or anywhere a mower will run, we recommend stump grinding so there's nothing to catch a blade. The aromatic wood also makes good fence posts and decent kindling, so some customers ask us to set aside straight trunks. Tell us at the estimate and we'll stack them for you.

Keeping cedar from coming back

Removing the trees you see is only part of it, because seedlings will keep coming wherever birds roost. Regular mowing, grazing or a pass every few years to pull out new seedlings while they're small keeps a field open. Catching them while they're knee high is much cheaper than paying to clear a thicket again in a decade.