Forestry Mulching
We grind standing brush, saplings and small trees into mulch with a mulcher head on our tracked loader. The chips stay on the ground and hold the soil in place.
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Ground around Martinsburg fills in fast. Old pasture and fence rows grow up in multiflora rose, autumn olive and briars in a few seasons. Berkeley County still counts 849 farms and about 62,000 acres of farm ground, much of it now beside new housing. Owners here deal with brush taking a field back and stumps left over after tree work.
Marloy Hill Enterprise is a land clearing and excavation company based in Augusta, in Hampshire County. Berkeley County is part of the ground we cover. We haul a mini excavator and a tracked loader with a mulcher head on our own trailer. The two machines mean brush clearing and digging can happen on the same visit. Estimates are free, and you can call or text (540) 327-1400.
Tell us about the job and the ground. We will get right back to you.
Berkeley County is still farm country under the growth. The 2022 farm census counted 849 farms here, with about 9,900 acres of pasture and 16,700 acres of woodland. Fields go idle when a farm changes hands or a lease ends. Two or three seasons later the fence rows are solid brush and the field edges are full of saplings.
Orchard ground tells the same story. Berkeley County had close to 10,000 acres in apples and peaches in 1987. About a dozen commercial orchards are left, and pulled blocks sit open until briars and saplings take them. The mulcher head on the tracked loader grinds that standing growth into a chip layer with forestry mulching.
Timing matters here. West Virginia sets forest fire seasons from March 1 to May 31 and October 1 to December 31. During those months burning is barred between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mulching turns the material into a chip layer right where it stood. That keeps the job clear of the burning rules.
The valley floor around Martinsburg sits on carbonate rock. That is karst country: sinkholes, closed depressions, sinking streams and caves. Digging in it can turn up ledge rock a foot down in one spot and deep soil ten feet away. We read the ground as we open it and adjust the cut.
Water moves oddly on limestone ground. Tuscarora Creek starts on the east flank of North Mountain, runs through Martinsburg and drops into Opequon Creek. Opequon Creek carries it to the Potomac River northeast of town. Back Creek does the same on the west side, fed by springs off North Mountain.
Martinsburg gets close to 40 inches of rain in a normal year. On flat valley ground with shallow rock, that water sits. French drains and drainage trenches move it away from a house, cabin, barn or driveway. We cut the trench with the mini excavator and shape the ground so the water leaves on its own.
Berkeley County is the fastest growing county in West Virginia. Population went from 104,169 in 2010 to 122,076 in 2020, a jump of 17.2 percent. The county authorized 1,460 new private housing structures in 2024 alone. I-81 and the weekday MARC train to Washington keep pulling people in.
A lot of that building happens on rural lots outside the city. Buyers pick up five or ten acres around Hedgesville, Gerrardstown, Bunker Hill or Tomahawk. The ground has to be opened before anything else starts. We clear the house site, pull the stumps, then handle grading and site prep so the pad drains.
County rules matter on these jobs. Berkeley County reviews land disturbance projects larger than 5,000 square feet under its stormwater ordinance. Disturb an acre or more and a stormwater pollution prevention plan comes into it. A new drive tying into a state road also needs an entrance permit from the state highway district office.
West of town the valley runs into ridges. Third Hill Mountain tops out at 2,172 feet and Sleepy Creek Mountain at 1,905 feet. Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area covers 22,928 acres of oak, pine and hickory across both ridges. It sits about 11 miles west of Martinsburg, and private tracts back right up to it.
Owners of those tracts want trails and open understory for hunting. The mulcher head cuts a lane and drops the chips in place. On a slope that chip layer holds the soil while grass comes back. The tracked loader spreads its weight, so it works ground a wheeled machine would tear up.
Access is the first thing we look at on mountain ground. We haul both machines in on our own trailer, so we need a spot to unload and a way in. Old logging roads and farm lanes usually work once the brush is off them. Gravel driveways and lanes can be cut in or regraded on the same trip.
Communities and areas we serve around Martinsburg: Hedgesville, Inwood, Bunker Hill, Falling Waters, Gerrardstown, Spring Mills, Darkesville, Tablers Station, Bedington, Arden, Nollville, Tomahawk.
Martinsburg ZIP codes served: 25401, 25403, 25404, 25405.
Free estimates throughout Berkeley County and the surrounding area.
(540) 327-1400 We grind standing brush, saplings and small trees into mulch with a mulcher head on our tracked loader. The chips stay on the ground and hold the soil in place.
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We cut overgrown fields, pastures and fence rows back down to open ground. A brush cutter on the mini excavator reaches banks, ditch lines and fence rows from level footing.
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We dig stumps out with a mini excavator, root ball and all. The hole gets backfilled and bladed level so the spot can be mowed or built on.
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Mini excavator digging for trenches, ditches, driveway cuts and dirt work. We clear and dig on the same trip across Hampshire County and the Eastern Panhandle.
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We level pads, smooth rutted ground and shape lots after clearing. The finished grade sends water away from your buildings instead of toward them.
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We cut in new gravel driveways and lanes on rural lots, and regrade drives that have rutted or washed out. The surface gets crowned so water runs off the drive instead of down it.
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We install French drains and drainage trenches that move water away from houses, cabins, barns and driveways. The mini excavator digs the line, then pipe and washed stone go in so the ground drains.
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We clear grown up fence rows and property lines on farms and acreage across Hampshire County. The row comes back to a clean line your fence crew can work from.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Martinsburg. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Tell us where the property is and what you want the ground to do. Call or text (540) 327-1400, or fill in the form and we will get back to you.
Tell us about the job and the ground. We will get right back to you.