Monmouth County, New Jersey
Monmouth
land clearing.
From the Raritan Bayshore to the horse country around Colts Neck and Freehold, Monmouth is two landscapes at once. We clear the upland side of it — brush, saplings, overgrowth and neglected edges — and we stop at the wetland line.
01 / Direct answer
What we clear in Monmouth, and where we stop.
NJ Brush Barbers provides forestry mulching, brush removal and selective land clearing on upland property throughout Monmouth County. We work up to the delineated wetland line and do not clear regulated tidal marsh or freshwater wetlands.
Monmouth County sits on New Jersey's Coastal Plain, straddling the divide between the sandy, acidic soils of the Outer Coastal Plain and the heavier, clay-rich soils of the Inner Coastal Plain (geology of New Jersey). That divide is why a lot near the shore behaves nothing like a field in Upper Freehold — the ground, the drainage and the vegetation all change as you move inland.
Our work is the woody, overgrown part of that picture: dense brush, briars, vines, saplings and years of neglect on lots, fence lines, fields and trails. What we do not touch is the regulated wetland, and in Monmouth that distinction matters more than almost anywhere in the state.
02 / The regulated line
The Bayshore is a regulated coast.
The northern edge of Monmouth County fronts Raritan Bay, and the strip east of the Garden State Parkway and Route 36 line falls inside New Jersey's coastal area under CAFRA — the Coastal Area Facility Review Act, N.J.S.A. 13:19-1 et seq. The statutory coastal boundary begins "at the confluence of Cheesequake Creek with the Raritan Bay" and runs down the shore from there (CAFRA statute boundary, NJDEP).
Separate from CAFRA, tidal marshes are mapped and protected under New Jersey's Wetlands Act, and inland freshwater wetlands under the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act. Both regulate soil disturbance and vegetation removal, not just construction (NJDEP wetlands). Around a freshwater wetland there is also a protected buffer — a transition area, commonly 50 or 150 feet wide depending on the wetland's resource value.
We clear the upland — the fastland outside the delineated wetland edge and its transition area — where a mulching job generally does not trigger a wetlands permit. The marsh, the tidal phragmites and anything inside the regulated buffer is left to the specialists and the permitting process. If your property runs down to the bay or a creek, we will tell you where we have to stop before we quote it.
Bayshore towns — Keansburg, Union Beach, Keyport, the bay side of Middletown — are exactly where this comes up. A "20-by-100 strip of tall grass and reeds" near the water is often part marsh, and the reeds are usually phragmites. That is a job we scope carefully and, past the line, decline.
03 / What the land is like
Coastal-plain brush, and what grows in it.
The invasive that defines the Monmouth Bayshore is common reed, Phragmites australis — dense, tall stands that dominate the salt-marsh margins of the Raritan and Sandy Hook Bay complex (Rutgers NJAES FS927). In the tidal marsh that is regulated ground and not ours to clear. On the upland side, the usual New Jersey offenders take over neglected lots: multiflora rose, autumn olive, oriental bittersweet, mugwort and tree-of-heaven, all named on the state's invasive-plants list (NJDEP invasive plants).
Forestry mulching handles that upland material in place — it processes brush and saplings into a mulch layer on the soil surface, so there is no burning and, on most jobs, no hauling. It is well suited to reclaiming a coastal-plain lot that has gone to briars and vine without stripping the ground bare.
Common Monmouth jobs
- Overgrown residential lots and large backyards, inland of the wetland line
- Fence lines and boundaries reclaimed from vine and briar
- Field and pasture edges in the western farmland and horse country
- Private trails and access lanes on wooded acreage
04 / What it costs
Published, flat, per project.
A $1,500 flat minimum per project, and a full production day of forestry mulching anchored at $2,500. Every job is quoted as one flat price for a defined scope — not by the hour, and not by a per-acre rate guessed from a satellite image.
The minimum reflects mobilization: loading equipment, getting it to your Monmouth property and back is roughly the same effort on a small job as a large one. Small jobs are welcome — they simply price at the minimum. Above it, the price follows the site, and one thing worth knowing early: under New Jersey's Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Act, land disturbance over 5,000 square feet generally needs a certified plan, administered locally by the Freehold Soil Conservation District for Monmouth County. We will flag it when a job is heading toward that threshold.
05 / Across the county
Bayshore to farmland.
Monmouth is a big, varied county and we consider work across all of it. Send the town, the approximate acreage, current photos and the result you want — access photos are the most useful thing you can send.
Bayshore & north
Keansburg, Union Beach, Keyport, Middletown, Hazlet, Holmdel, Atlantic Highlands — coastal-plain lots where the wetland line has to be respected on any property near the water.
Inland & western horse country
Colts Neck, Freehold, Millstone, Upper Freehold, Manalapan, Marlboro — flatter inland ground, larger parcels, fields and pasture edges reverting to brush.
Shore & central
Middletown's river side, Tinton Falls, Howell and the towns behind the shore, where overgrown back lots and neglected boundaries are the common job.
This is a growing New Jersey business. Rather than claim a job count we cannot show you, we will point you to real, documented Monmouth projects here as the field record grows — photos and specifics, not empty location claims.
06 / Monmouth questions
Before you call.
Do you clear the reeds in the marsh along the Bayshore?
No. Tidal marshes and coastal wetlands along the Raritan Bayshore are regulated under New Jersey's Wetlands Act and, near the shore, CAFRA. We work only on the upland side of the delineated wetland line and do not clear regulated marsh, including tidal phragmites stands.
What is the minimum charge for brush clearing in Monmouth County?
A $1,500 flat minimum per project, which covers mobilization to the site and back. A full production day of forestry mulching is anchored at $2,500. Every job is quoted flat for a defined scope.
Does my project need a soil erosion control plan?
In Monmouth County that is administered by the Freehold Soil Conservation District. Under the state Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Act, land disturbance greater than 5,000 square feet generally requires a certified plan. We will flag when a job approaches that threshold; the certification itself is issued by the district.
Which parts of Monmouth County do you serve?
All of it — the Bayshore towns, the inland horse country around Colts Neck and Freehold, and the western farmland. Send the property town and a few photos to confirm access and fit.