Felling and ground clearance
When it is no longer about upkeep but about clearing: the stump, the scrub, the plot taken back to bare ground.
What is possible, and where it stops
Felling covers small subjects: shrubs grown into trees, garden conifers, dead fruit trees, accessible specimens whose fall can be controlled from the ground. A large tree close to a house, a power line or a shared boundary belongs to a climbing arborist, with sectional dismantling equipment and specific insurance. That limit is announced at the site visit, not once the chainsaw is out.
Stump removal usually follows felling. A stump left in place blocks any planting or fence line in the same spot, attracts wood-boring insects and regrows in some species. Depending on diameter and access, it is either dug out mechanically or ground below ground level.
Land clearing, finally, serves private owners and small building sites alike: scrub to clear before a sale, a plot overrun after a season untouched, ground to leave tidy once the trades have gone. Everything cut is collected and taken to the recycling centre — often the heaviest line on the quotation, because a plot left for two years produces a volume of vegetation with no relation to a mow.
Ground: questions to ask first
Is permission needed to fell a tree?
It depends on the commune, the local planning rules and any protected status attached to the tree or the wooded area. In Toulouse and several neighbouring communes certain specimens are protected. A call to your town hall's planning department settles it in minutes, and that check is yours to make before the work.
Can the cut wood stay on site?
Yes, and many clients want exactly that: the trunk is cut to log lengths and stacked wherever you say, which cuts the disposal line accordingly. Thin brushwood, on the other hand, nearly always goes to the recycling centre for want of any use.
How long does clearing an overgrown plot take?
A plot of five hundred square metres left for one season is generally handled in a day. The same plot after two years of brambles and woody regrowth takes two to three times longer — not because of the cutting, but because of the collecting and the trips to the recycling centre.
A photo of the plot, taken from a distance
A wide shot shows the growth, the access and where a vehicle can stand: that is what decides the method and the time.