Annual Wildfire
Maintenance in
the Texas Hill Country
Annual maintenance sends a crew back to your cleared Central Texas property to remove cedar seedlings, re-check the defensible space zones and update your photo record. Plans run $2,000–$12,000 per year, or $2,000–$3,500 per visit for a single visit. Most visits are booked for spring.
Cedar grows back, mostly from seed. One clearing job without a follow-up plan is a temporary fix. Maintenance keeps your defensible space working and your records current.
Why does cleared
ground need
a yearly visit?
Ashe juniper (cedar) does not resprout once it is cut below the lowest green limb. What comes back after cedar work is mostly seedlings from seed already in the soil and from neighboring trees. Seedlings are small, and small cedar is cheap to remove.
Other brush behaves differently. Mesquite, redberry juniper, huisache and shin oak do resprout from the roots. If your property has them, maintenance runs heavier, and root extraction may be worth pricing.
Your photo record is a snapshot of the day we finished. A yearly visit updates it, so what you show an insurer, HOA or buyer matches what is on the ground.
Why does an old
clearing record go stale?
Cedar grows and conditions change. A record from an earlier year says little about the ground today. Each maintenance visit adds a new dated set of photos, so your file stays current. Read our wildfire insurance guide for what carriers ask for. Whether a carrier credits any of it is the carrier's decision.
Some insurers ask for recent photos at renewal. Photos from your most recent visit shows what the property looks like now. We cannot promise any outcome with your insurer.
Every visit adds a dated entry showing the defensible space has been kept up, not just cleared once. An HOA or community wildfire program may ask for that history.
A buyer sees a maintained property with dated photos from each visit, not a single clearing invoice. It gives a buyer or lender something to look at.
Spring visits clear the prior season's growth before the dry months. Your property goes into summer with fresh work behind it.
What does a yearly
maintenance plan cost?
Three plans by property size, or a single visit at $2,000–$3,500 per visit. Your site walk confirms which one fits.
- Cedar seedling removal in the 0–30 ft zones
- Ground fuel and deadfall cleanup
- Before and after photos each visit
- Visits booked ahead of fire season
- Everything in Buffer
- Seedling removal through the 30–100 ft zone
- Fuel break edge maintenance
- Drainage path check
- Updated photo record each visit
- Everything in Protection
- Full property zones and fuel breaks
- Quarterly photo record
- Oak health watch for oak wilt symptoms
- One account contact at Clear Ground
| Plan | Price per year | Visits | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer | $2,000 per year | 1 visit per year | Coverage is set at the site walk |
| Protection | $4,800 per year | 2 visits per year, spring and fall | Coverage is set at the site walk |
| Estate | $12,000 per year | Quarterly visits | Coverage is set at the site walk |
| Single visit | $2,000–$3,500 per visit | One visit | Any size; priced at your site walk |
Prices reviewed: September 2026. Ranges for Austin and Central Texas; your site walk sets the final number. Larger or heavier properties are scoped individually. See all pricing.
What happens
on each visit?
Every maintenance visit follows the same four steps as the first job.
We walk the cleared zones. We compare them to the last visit's photos and flag where the seedlings are thickest. Scope is confirmed from what we see.
The FAE mulching head works the contracted zones: the zone nearest the structure first, then the outer bands and fuel break corridors. Young cedar is quick work, because there is far less to process than in an initial clear.
We deal with dry grass and deadfall that has collected in the cleared zones. Ground fuel builds under the seedlings, so it gets handled each time.
We photograph the site again and update your record. Your file gains one dated entry per visit. Photos are a visual record and not a survey. An optional drone scan and 3D surface model of the site is $500–$1,500 per scan.
Annual Maintenance
Program — FAQ
Do I need to be a Clear Ground clearing client to join the maintenance program?
No. If another contractor did the clearing, we walk and fly your property, look at current conditions, and scope a plan from where it stands. That becomes the new baseline.
How much does annual maintenance cost?
Plans run $2,000 to $12,000 per year by tier: Buffer $2,000, Protection $4,800, Estate $12,000. A single visit is $2,000–$3,500 per visit.
Does cedar grow back after clearing?
Ashe juniper does not resprout once it is cut below the lowest green limb, so regrowth is mostly seedlings. Mesquite, redberry juniper, huisache and shin oak do resprout from the roots.
Will my insurer accept the updated photos?
We cannot promise how any insurer will treat it. Each visit gives you dated before and after photos you can send to your agent. If your carrier has specific requirements, tell us and we will match the format where we can.
When should maintenance be scheduled?
Spring works for most Hill Country properties. It clears the prior season's growth before the dry summer months. Oaks should not be pruned or wounded from roughly February through June because of oak wilt, so we plan around that.
How is the Estate tier priced?
Estate is scoped per property from total acreage, zone layout, cedar history and terrain. Larger estates are priced individually, so send us your acreage.
Last reviewed: September 2026. Sources: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas A&M Forest Service (oak wilt).
Book Your
Maintenance Plan.
Spring slots fill first. Contact us to set your service date and get a site walk. Written quote within 48 hours of the site walk.
Most jobs start 1–3 weeks after approval · Central Texas