Brush clearing in Inverness, FL is mostly about getting ground back without losing the trees on it: saw palmetto, vines, saplings and the fallen limbs that build up under an oak canopy. Broadway Tree Care works out of Inverness and does lot and brush clearing across Citrus County. This guide covers what is particular to an Inverness property before a crew starts.
Town facts here come from the Inverness, Florida article on Wikipedia. The shoreline rule is section 369.20 of the Florida Statutes.
Brush clearing or land clearing?
If the trees stay and the low growth goes, that is brush clearing. If trees come out as well, it is land clearing, and both the quote and the permit question change. Our guide to brush clearing services in Citrus County, FL sets out the difference, including the Florida Forest Service guidance on clearing dense growth close to a house.
Inside the city or out in the county
Inverness is an incorporated city and the Citrus County seat, and it has its own tree ordinance. Inside city limits, check with the City of Inverness before any tree comes out, including during a clearing job. Outside the city, the Citrus County ordinance applies. It protects woody plants four inches or more across, measured four and a half feet above the ground.
Most brush stays under that size, but an overgrown fence line often hides saplings that have grown past it. Our guide to tree removal permits in Citrus County covers the county side, and the Citrus County Building Division can tell you whether an address is in the city or the county.
Lakefront lots on Tsala Apopka and Henderson
Inverness sits on the western shore of the connected Tsala Apopka and Henderson lakes, and a lot of the brush we get asked about runs down toward the water. Brush on dry ground above the shoreline is ordinary clearing. Growth at the water's edge falls under a separate state rule.
Under section 369.20(8), a riparian owner on a freshwater body can remove herbaceous aquatic plants and semiwoody plants, such as shrubs and willow, by hand or by machine and without a permit. The limit is a corridor no wider than 50 percent of the owner's frontage or 50 feet, whichever is less, running out far enough for a boat or a swimmer to reach open water. Any stretch of shoreline that is already open counts toward that width.
The exemption does not cover chemicals. It does not apply in aquatic preserves or Outstanding Florida Waters, and work that needs a permit under part IV of chapter 373 is outside it too. If you want more than an access corridor opened up, ask the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission before the work is booked.
Getting a crew to the back of a lakefront lot
Lakefront lots in Inverness are often long and narrow, with the house between the road and the water and the overgrowth at the back. The usable route is usually a gap down one side of the house. Its width decides whether a machine can reach the brush or the material gets carried out to the road, and that changes the time on the job.
If you can, measure that gap before we come out to quote. It also helps to know where the septic drainfield and any irrigation lines are, so the crew can plan its route around them.
What happens to the cleared brush
The debris is removed as part of the job, not pushed into a pile at the back of the lot for you to deal with. If you are clearing part of it yourself and plan to burn, the Florida Forest Service yard-waste rules are set out in our brush clearing guide linked above. Your city or HOA can add restrictions of its own.
Getting to you in Inverness
U.S. 41 is the main north-south road through Inverness, and State Road 44 is the east-west road, running 17 miles west to Crystal River. With the two highways crossing in town, getting a crew and a chip truck to the street is rarely the hard part. The lot itself usually is.
What to have ready when you call
Tell us the address, whether it is inside Inverness city limits if you know, roughly how much ground needs clearing, which trees you want to keep and how a machine gets to the back of the lot. We walk the property with you, flag the trees that stay and write the price down before any work starts. We take cards and cash, and there is no financing.