Brush clearing in Lapalud, Bollène and around
Overgrown ground, brambles, regrowth, scrub: Josué takes it all back down. Including where you have a legal clearance obligation to meet.
What it involves
Ground left for two or three years closes over: brambles, acacia regrowth, tall grass, young woody shoots. Clearing takes it all back down, opens up access, and finally lets you see what is underneath — a wall, a fence, a well, sometimes good trees worth keeping.
Josué works with a brushcutter and, depending on density, a chainsaw for the heavier regrowth. Before starting, he walks the ground with you: what stays, what goes, how far the work extends.
Statutory clearance (OLD)
In southern France, clearing is not a maintenance choice: it is a legal obligation, known as OLD, meant to stop a wildfire reaching houses — and to stop houses feeding the fire. It applies as soon as a building stands in a wooded massif or in the 200-metre band around it. That band, far more than the forest itself, is what catches owners out: you can be covered without a single forest tree on your land.
What it requires: clearing 50 metres around the building, and 3 metres either side of the private access roads leading to it. In the most exposed areas a mayor or prefect can extend that to 100 metres. On the ground it means taking out low vegetation, thinning trees so the crowns no longer touch, lifting low branches, and removing everything that has been cut — a pile of cuttings left on site is no better than the scrub was.
The part almost nobody knows: the obligation follows the BUILDING, not the plot. If the 50 metres around your house run onto your neighbour’s land, clearing that part is yours to arrange, and your neighbour has to let you in to do it. Equally, if their house sits within 50 metres of your land, they pay for the part that falls on yours. Half the neighbourly misunderstandings on this subject start there.
Around Lapalud, the Uchaux massif places Bollène, Mondragon, Mornas, Piolenc, Uchaux, Sérignan-du-Comtat and Lagarde-Paréol inside a wildfire risk prevention plan. The Drôme, Gard and Ardèche communes Josué covers fall under their own prefectural order instead, and the rules are not identical. How YOUR plot is classified is confirmed at the town hall, which is the authority. Josué tells you on site what the ground needs and what that means as a job.
Doing nothing has a price. Failure to clear is an offence, the fine can be calculated per square metre left untreated, and an insurer is entitled to reduce a payout after a fire on the grounds that the obligation was not met. Since 2025, anyone selling or letting a property in a designated area must inform the buyer or tenant — if you are selling, settle it before signing, not after.
Josué travels up to 30 km from Lapalud. Check the towns covered around Lapalud — Vaucluse, Drôme, Gard and Ardèche.
Six towns in the area have a page of their own, covering the journey from Lapalud, the kind of ground and the rules that apply there: Bollène, Orange, Pierrelatte, Pont-Saint-Esprit, Mondragon, Bourg-Saint-Andéol.
While we are there, this often comes up
- lifting the low branches that OLD requires — statutory clearance does not stop at ground level: it goes up into the trees.
- felling the trees that are one too many — the obligation means spacing out crowns, which sometimes means removing one.
- regular upkeep once the ground is clear — cleared ground closes over again in two years if nobody comes back.
When to do it
Ideally a first pass at the end of winter, before growth restarts, then a second in early summer if the ground comes back quickly. For a statutory obligation, the ground has to be in order BEFORE the risk period opens, which prefectural orders place at the end of spring. In practice: call in February or March. By June everyone calls at once and the diary is full.
What it costs
The area, how dense the vegetation is, the slope and accessibility, the presence of substantial woody regrowth, and the choice between chipping on site and taking it away.
How it is priced
Per square metre, crossed with density. Two plots of the same size can differ threefold depending on whether it is long grass or two metres of bramble laced with woody regrowth.
What a quote is made of
- The area to treat
- For a statutory obligation it is measured from the building — 50 metres around, 3 metres either side of the access — not across the whole plot.
- Density
- Long grass, brambles, acacia regrowth, young holm oaks: four kinds of vegetation, four tools, four rates of progress.
- Slope and access
- Flat ground takes a wheeled brushcutter; a terraced slope is done on the shoulder, metre by metre.
- What happens to the cuttings
- Chipped on site — the chippings stay with you as mulch — or taken away. The difference is noticeable, and the quote states which.
- The statutory portion
- If your land is subject to OLD, the quote separates what falls under the obligation from the rest. Useful if you have to show it to the town hall or a buyer.
What the market charges
Comparison sites put clearing at a few tens of cents per square metre on ordinary vegetation, and well beyond that on land closed over for several years. For a legal obligation the calculation runs on the band to be treated, not the whole plot: the bill is often lower than owners fear.
These figures are taken from national comparison sites. They are not PJ Espaces Verts’ rates: Josué prices after seeing the job, and his quote may fall outside these ranges either way. They are here so you are not calling in the dark.
Clearing is priced on area and vegetation density, assessed on site. If your land is subject to a legal clearance obligation, the quote separates what falls under that obligation from the rest. Written, free, no obligation.
The 50% tax credit: what to know
Small gardening jobs at a private home fall under France’s personal services scheme: half the cost comes back to the householder as a tax credit, up to an annual ceiling per household, and an immediate-advance option means paying only half the invoice at the time. The catch is that the work has to fall inside that category — and many websites claim it for work that does not.
This service does qualify: mowing, hedge trimming, brush clearing and routine garden upkeep are explicitly covered, including removal of the waste the job generates.
The tax credit requires a business registered under the personal services scheme. Ask Josué where that registration stands when he quotes: it changes what the work finally costs you, and he will tell you straight.
What the job includes
- The ground walked and the limits agreed with you
- Mechanical clearing of brambles, tall grass and scrub
- Cutting back of regrowth and young woody shoots
- Access routes, walls and fences opened up
- Cut vegetation removed, or chipped on site
What you can count on
- Written quote, free and with no obligation
- Green waste removed, unless the quote says otherwise
- Ground raked clean at the end of the job
Brush clearing: your questions
Is clearing my land compulsory?
It is if your building stands in a wooded massif or in the 200-metre band around it. Plenty of owners here are covered without realising, because they do not think of themselves as living in a forest. Your town hall can confirm in minutes whether your plot is designated, and Josué tells you on site what that means in practice.
How far do I have to clear — 50 or 100 metres?
50 metres around the building and 3 metres either side of the private access roads is the baseline. A mayor or prefect can extend it to 100 metres in the most exposed areas. So the answer depends on the commune: check it at the town hall, not on a contractor’s website.
Do I have to clear on my neighbour’s land?
Yes, if the 50 metres around YOUR house run onto their plot: the obligation follows the building, not the land. Your neighbour must let you in to do it. And the other way round — if their house sits within 50 metres of your land, clearing the affected part of your plot is theirs to arrange, at their expense.
My land is in a built-up area. Am I still covered?
Possibly, yes. In a built-up zone that falls inside a designated sector, the obligation can apply to the whole plot rather than to a 50-metre radius. That is a significant difference, and exactly the kind of point worth confirming at the town hall before calling anyone out.
By what date does the clearing have to be done?
Before the risk period opens, which prefectural orders place at the end of spring. In practice the right reflex is to call in February or March: the ground has not restarted, the job is quicker, and diaries are not saturated the way they are in June.
What happens if I do not clear?
Two things, and the second is the heavier one. First a penalty: the town hall can serve notice, then fine you — the amount can be calculated per square metre left untreated — and have the work carried out at your expense. Second, after a fire, your insurer is entitled to reduce the payout on the grounds that the obligation was not met.
Can I burn the cuttings on site?
No. Burning garden waste is not permitted for private individuals, and less so in wildfire-risk areas. So cut vegetation is either chipped on site — the chippings stay with you and work well as mulch — or taken away. The quote states which of the two applies.
I am selling the house. Is there anything to do first?
Yes. Since 2025, anyone selling a property in a designated area must inform the buyer that the obligation exists, and the same applies to lettings. The land has to be in order at the point of sale. That is a timing constraint: have the clearing done when the property goes on the market, not three days before signing.
Other services
Tree pruning
Reducing, thinning or reshaping a tree safely, without damaging it.
Hedge trimming
A clean, straight hedge at the height you want — and the clippings taken away.
Tree felling
A dead, dangerous or too-close tree: controlled felling and stump removal.
A tree, a hedge, a plot: tell us what you have.
The visit, the on-site assessment and the written quote are free and commit you to nothing.