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Land Clearing & Forestry Mulching in Waterford & Commerce, Michigan
Forestry mulching, brush hogging and lot clearing in Waterford, Commerce Township, West Bloomfield, Walled Lake, about 35 to 40 minutes from our base in Royal Oak.
This corner of Oakland County is lake country. Waterford Township alone has thirty-four named lakes on thirty-five square miles, with Cass Lake, the largest and deepest in the county at about 1,280 acres, reaching into West Bloomfield and Keego Harbor as well; Elizabeth, Williams, Loon, Maceday, Watkins and Lotus lakes fill in around it, and Oakland County International Airport sits in the middle of the township. Commerce Township to the southwest has Union Lake at the corner where Commerce, Waterford, West Bloomfield and White Lake townships meet, the Village of Wolverine Lake, the Huron River running north to south through the township, and Proud Lake Recreation Area, three thousand acres of the Huron valley, along its west side next to Milford. West Bloomfield calls itself the lake township, and Walled Lake the city takes its name from the lake it shares with Novi.
The lake lot is the job here. A cottage lot bought for the water comes with a bank between the house and the dock that fills in with buckthorn, box elder and grapevine until it is a wall, and the wooded ground back from the water, toward Proud Lake and along the township lines, fills in with honeysuckle under the oaks the way every lake township in the county does. We work the banks from the top down, holding the slope with a chip layer as we go, and clear the wooded back lots the same way we would anywhere else.
One tracked machine does the lake-country work: a high-flow skid steer carrying a FECON forestry mulcher, with a brush hog attachment for the open ground, driven by the owner from Royal Oak, which is about thirty-five minutes to Waterford and forty to the center of Commerce Township. The bank, the back lot and the drive are quoted together as one flat project price. Call (810) 776-8524, 8 AM to 8 PM every day, or send photos through the quote form.
Where we work in Waterford, Commerce Township, West Bloomfield, Walled Lake: Waterford Township, Commerce Township, West Bloomfield and Walled Lake, around Cass, Elizabeth, Williams, Union, Commerce, Wolverine and Walled lakes, along Dixie Highway, M-59, Cooley Lake, Union Lake, Commerce, Elizabeth Lake, Williams Lake, Cass Lake and Pontiac Trail road corridors, and the Proud Lake Recreation Area edge.
Common Jobs in Waterford, Commerce Township, West Bloomfield, Walled Lake
- Lake lot banks and shoreline brush on Cass Lake, Elizabeth Lake, Union Lake, Commerce Lake and Walled Lake, taken down to a chip layer that holds the slope.
- Wooded lots and backyards toward Proud Lake Recreation Area, honeysuckle and buckthorn ground out from under the oaks.
- New-build and backyard clearing on the remaining wooded parcels around Commerce and Waterford townships, with the building envelope and drive line opened and keeper trees flagged.
- Fence lines and property edges on the larger West Bloomfield and Commerce Township lots, opened for a new fence or a clear line.
- Subdivision outlots and pond banks in the newer developments off Union Lake Road and Cooley Lake Road.
What We Do in Waterford and Commerce
Each service, and why it comes up on this ground.
Lake lot banks and shoreline brush
The signature job: a bank between the house and the water that has grown shut on Cass, Elizabeth, Williams, Union or Walled Lake. We walk it first, work from the stable ground above the slope, grind the brush to a chip layer that holds the bank, and leave the shade trees over the water. Lakefront and creek bank clearing explains the method; the hillside clearing guide covers steep banks.
Wooded lots and backyards
Back from the water, toward Proud Lake and along the township lines, the lots are oak woods with honeysuckle and buckthorn underneath. The forestry mulcher grinds the understory flat around the trees you tape, and the woods open back up. Forestry mulching in Oakland County covers how it goes on this ground.
Lot clearing for a rebuild
Cottage lots get rebuilt as year-round houses, and the lot is opened to the stakes with the keeper trees taped and the drive line cleared. Lot clearing in Oakland County and the lot clearing guide cover the order of work with the builder.
Fence lines and property edges
On the larger lots in Commerce and West Bloomfield the back line has grown shut with brush from both sides. We clear to the stakes or flags you set, open the sight line, and leave a strip you can mow; the neighbor's side can be done in the same visit. Fence line clearing and the overgrown fence line guide cover widths and timing.
Subdivision outlots and pond banks
Developments off Union Lake Road and Cooley Lake Road carry outlots, retention ponds and buffer strips that fill in between mowings. We clear them on a schedule set with the association and leave a chip surface the landscaper can keep. HOA and retention pond clearing covers the scheduling.
Brush hogging the open ground
Where a parcel still has open ground, the brush hog attachment on the same tracked machine mows the goldenrod and light brush in one pass, and the mulcher follows for the thickets along the edges. Brush hogging covers the timing.
Invasive brush
Buckthorn, bush honeysuckle and box elder along the water are the Waterford and Commerce mix. Mulching grinds them to the ground and shreds the root crown; a mowing or spot follow-up in the first two summers finishes the job. Invasive growth removal and the worst invasive plants guide cover identification and regrowth.
How a Job Goes in Waterford and Commerce
From the first call to the finished chip layer.
1. The bank from the top
Lake lot quotes start with two pictures: one from the deck looking down the bank to the water, one of the side yard the machine would use. Those show the slope, the brush and the route; on a steep or long bank we come out and plan the passes on the ground with you.
2. Priced as one job
The bank, the back lot and anything else on the list go into a single flat project price, with the drive out from Royal Oak and the slope already in it, written down before the trailer is hooked up. The phone is answered 8 AM to 8 PM all week, and a form or text reply comes back within one business day.
3. Down the side yard to the water
Lake lots are narrow, so the machine comes in beside the house, through a gate if there is one, and works the bank from the stable ground at the top, pass by pass, never from the water side. It crosses the lawn without ruts and fits a standard gate opening.
4. A bank that holds
The brush is ground into chips where it stood and the chips stay on the slope over the roots, which is what keeps the bank from washing while grass comes back through. Nothing is piled on the lawn or burned, and the shade trees over the dock are left standing.
The Waterford and Commerce Calendar
What suits each season on lake-country ground.
Winter
Lake banks and soft shorelines are winter jobs: frozen ground under the tracks where April would rut, and bare branches that let us see the whole slope from the top.
Spring
Rebuild lots go in first so the builder has the season; saturated banks and low ground are left to firm, and upland backyards start as soon as the frost is gone.
Summer
Wooded back lots, association outlots and property lines carry the summer, late August reaches wet ground without a freeze, and bank work is planned around the dock season.
Fall
With the leaves down every bank and lot line is in plain view; a bank cleared in October holds through the thaw and is green again by June.
Where We Work Around Waterford and Commerce
Waterford Township covers about thirty-five square miles, more than a tenth of it water, with Dixie Highway and M-59 crossing it and the county airport in the middle. Cass Lake, on the main branch of the Clinton River, is the biggest of its thirty-four lakes, with Dodge No. 4 State Park on its northeast shore; Elizabeth, Williams, Loon, Maceday, Watkins, Lotus, Silver, Crescent, Scott and Otter lakes follow, and the township shares Pontiac Lake with White Lake Township, where Pontiac Lake Recreation Area sits just west of the line. Commerce Township, about thirty square miles, has the Huron River running through it, Union Lake, 465 acres and one of the deepest in the county, at its northeast corner, the Village of Wolverine Lake inside it, and Proud Lake Recreation Area along its west side.
West Bloomfield Township, with Cass, Pine and Orchard lakes, borders both; the City of Walled Lake sits north of Novi and east of Wixom. Waterford is about nineteen miles and thirty-five minutes from our shop in Royal Oak and the middle of Commerce Township about forty, so White Lake, Milford, Novi and Farmington Hills are the same trip and a job that sits on a township line is still one project price.
Questions We Hear in Waterford & Commerce
Can you clear a lake lot bank without hurting the shoreline?
Yes. The bank is walked and planned before the machine goes near it, the tracks stay on stable ground above the slope, and the chip layer left behind holds the bank while grass comes back through it. Shade trees over the water stay, and the same walk-first approach applies whether the lot is a quarter acre or five.
Do you work on a lot that touches more than one township, like around Union Lake?
Yes. Union Lake sits right at the corner of four townships, and a property line rarely matches a township line. We price the job by the lot, not by which township it happens to sit in.
Will the machine fit down a narrow lake lot?
Nearly always. Side yards on the cottage lots are tight, but the carrier is about six and a half feet wide, clears a standard gate and leaves no ruts on turf. Two pictures, the side yard and the top of the bank, let us confirm the route before we commit to a date.
How much time does a lake lot take?
A bank or a backyard is normally done in one day. An acre or two of wooded ground toward Proud Lake is a day or two of heavy brush, and the quote spells out which.
Which season is right for a lake bank?
Frozen ground in winter, or the dry weeks at the end of summer, when the slope carries the machine without rutting and the whole bank is visible through bare branches. An October bank holds through the thaw and greens up by June.
What happens to the chips on the slope?
They stay there, a few inches deep over roots that remain in the ground, and they are what holds the bank until grass takes over. Our mulch guide follows the chip layer through its first three years.
Does the bank grow back?
Buckthorn and honeysuckle send up a few shoots from the roots in the first summer. A single mowing or a spot follow-up that year usually ends it; the buckthorn guide shows what the regrowth looks like.
Do you clear outlots and pond banks for a subdivision association?
Yes. Outlots, retention ponds and buffer strips are cleared on a schedule set with the board, in sections if the area is large, and one written price covers the whole plan.
What should I have ready for a Waterford or Commerce job?
The address, the two photos (side yard and top of the bank), tape on the trees that stay, and the property line flagged if it is part of the work. Everything else gets settled on the call or the walk-through.
Nearby Areas We Also Serve
See everything we do in Oakland County or browse all service areas.
Services in Oakland County
- Land Clearing in Oakland County
- Land Clearing in Southeast Michigan
- Forestry Mulching in Oakland County
- Lot Clearing in Oakland County
- Lot Clearing
- Brush Hogging in Oakland County
- Brush Hogging
- Brush Clearing & Brush Removal
- Lakefront & Creek Bank Clearing
- Fence Line Clearing
- HOA & Retention Pond Clearing
- Land Clearing for New Construction
- Invasive Growth Removal
- Site Preparation
- Commercial Land Clearing
Overgrown Ground in Waterford & Commerce?
Send the address and a few photos through the quote form, or call. You will get one project price for the whole job, travel included.