Pasture reclamation

What it is

The work takes out the woody plants that have filled old pasture. Seeding, discing, and fertilizer are separate. Clearing brush does not plant grass. Texas Parks and Wildlife names ranching as the land use on the Edwards Plateau and cattle ranching on the Post Oak Savannah. Bermudagrass is the introduced grass named in that savannah account, along with native grassland. Those are regional land uses. Stocking the field comes after forage, fencing, and water are in place.

When a landowner needs it

Use it when former pasture has filled with Ashe juniper, mesquite, or other woody brush and the next use is grazing, hay, or simply keeping the field open. If the ground was never pasture, brush clearing or selective clearing may describe the job better. The walkthrough looks at what is growing through the grass.

Process and machines

Walk the field, mark oaks to keep, and note fences, water, and wet spots. Mulching in place is the usual way to open woody stems and leave the sod. The common carrier is a skid steer or compact track loader with a forestry mulching head, or a purpose-built forestry mulcher. Wet clay and deep sand, both in the Guadalupe and Wilson surveys, can rut under a carrier. That is checked on site.

What changes the price

Brush density and stem size drive the hours. So do slope, rock, access, and how much open grass the machines must stay off. Haul-off takes more time than leaving mulch.

Season

Pasture work that cuts oak limbs or pushes into oak motts is still oak wounding. Schedule that part outside February through June when you can, and paint any wound the same day.

Do not wound oaks from February through June. Sap beetles that spread oak wilt are most active then, and a fresh cut is how the fungus gets in. Paint every oak wound immediately, in any month. Texas A&M Forest Service counts land clearing and cedar clearing as wound sources, the same as pruning. Texas Oak Wilt sets the window as February 1 through June 30 and includes fresh stumps and damaged roots.

Mulching leaves chips on the ground. If that material is piled to burn later, a county burn ban can stop the burn. A county judge or the commissioners court sets the ban, and Texas A&M Forest Service posts a statewide map of which counties are under one.

On the Edwards Plateau, golden-cheeked warblers nest in juniper-oak woodland. They return in early to mid-March, lay eggs in April, and leave from late June to mid-August. If the tract is that woodland, look at the calendar before opening it in spring.

Hill Country and South Texas ground

Plateau pasture is shallow and rocky, and the woody plant that fills it is Ashe juniper. South Texas pasture in Medina County is the mesquite, acacia, and prickly pear mix, including huisache on disturbed ground. Post Oak Savannah pasture is sand or clay with oak woodland.

Kendall, Bandera, and Comal counties sit on the Eastern Edwards Plateau: shallow soil over limestone, with Ashe juniper, honey mesquite, Texas red oak, and yaupon. Ashe juniper is the tree people call cedar. Guadalupe and Wilson counties are Post Oak Savannah, oak woodland and grassland on sand and clay. Medina County is South Texas Plains, where the brush is mesquite, acacia, and prickly pear. Huisache (Acacia farnesiana) is on the South Texas browse list, and it sprouts again on disturbed ground. The town pages describe the soils in each place.

What the land looks like afterward

Texas Parks and Wildlife notes that mesquite can fill open rangeland and old fields where cover is reduced. That is the pattern this service opens. The field is more open, with mulch and stumps still in it. Forage, fencing, and water are separate from the clearing pass. Mesquite sprouts from a buried crown if only the top is cut, so a mulched stem can grow back. Follow-up is part of keeping a field open.