Knowing what the terms mean will help you know the best application for your land.
MASTICATING OR MASTICATION:
Mastication grinds, shreds, or chops noncommercial-sized trees or shrubs into small chunks or pieces. The method does not reduce biomass; rather, the operator creates these small pieces and places them in contact with the soil surface to decompose.
Foresters use mastication to eliminate vegetation competition (understory vegetation, saplings, and pole-sized trees), to prepare a site for natural or artificial regeneration, or to weed or clean sites in noncommercial thins.
Fuel managers use mastication to convert ladder fuels to surface fuels, to enhance the decomposition of dead biomass, to make prescribed fire easier and more controllable, or to slow the rate of fire spread during wildfires to assist suppression efforts.
Mastication creates larger chunks or shreds of wood debris. It does not provide a clean finished look like a finer mulch would.
MULCHING OR FORESTRY MULCHING:
Forestry mulching is a land-clearing method that uses a single machine to selectively cut trees, brush, and vines to clear unwanted vegetation while leaving behind a fine layer of mulch that is operational as well as beautiful. Forestry mulching is more efficient than using a chainsaw or a tractor with a bush hog while more cost-effective than a bulldozer, loader, and hauler. This one-machine, one-operator method can take all stumps and stems flush to the ground, leaving a surface that can be immediately driven over, mowed, or seeded.
The resulting mulch also provides superior erosion protection and reintroduces nutrients right back into the soil. A forestry mulcher can access densely forested areas that cannot accommodate larger machinery. Forestry mulchers can also operate in inclement weather and on softer, more vulnerable surfaces, allowing forestry mulching to occur year-round. Perhaps most important, forestry mulching is ecologically friendly and less disruptive than other clearing methods; the land is not left scarred or burned, “keeper” trees suffer less damage, and “feeder” roots are protected.
Call us today to set up a free on-site consultation to discuss your land-clearing project and determine which method is best for you.
