Hear from Our Customers
Most Lansdowne homeowners don’t need a bulldozer. They need someone who can look at a backyard that’s been ignored for a decade volunteer trees pushing through the fence, invasive vines climbing the back wall, brush so thick you can’t see the property line and actually clear it without damaging what’s worth keeping. That’s a different kind of job than clearing a rural half-acre, and it requires a different kind of contractor.
Lansdowne’s housing stock is some of the oldest in Delaware County. Victorian-era homes and pre-war twins on tight residential lots don’t come with clean slates. When a property changes hands here, it almost always comes with years of deferred yard maintenance that the new owner inherits. The clearing work that follows isn’t just cosmetic it’s often the first step toward a patio, a garage addition, a fence, or simply a yard the family can actually use.
And for properties near the southern edges of Lansdowne anywhere close to Darby Creek clearing without addressing drainage is a short-term fix that creates long-term problems. The Darby Creek watershed has well-documented flooding and stormwater issues, and Lansdowne is a member of the Eastern Delaware County Stormwater Collaborative because of it. Getting the land cleared is step one. Making sure water moves the right way after is step two. Both matter here.
We’ve been working across Delaware County for over 15 years not as a regional clearing chain, but as an owner-operated crew based in Aston that actually knows Lansdowne’s municipalities, permit requirements, and terrain. Lansdowne is not Newtown Township. It’s not Chadds Ford. It’s a dense, historic borough with its own tree ordinance, its own zoning code, and its own community character and we treat it that way.
Renato runs the crew personally. Customers mention him by name because he’s actually there not managing from an office while a rotating subcontractor handles the job. When you hire Spennato Landscaping, the same team that starts your project finishes it.
We carry full liability and workers’ compensation insurance, and we provide written cost estimates before any equipment arrives. No vague quotes. No surprise line items at the end. Just a clear scope, a real number, and a crew that shows up when we say we will.
It starts with a free consultation. We come to the property, walk the site with you, and give you a written estimate based on exactly what’s there not a ballpark pulled from a phone call. For Lansdowne properties, that walkthrough matters more than most people realize. Lansdowne Borough has a formal tree ordinance under Chapter 305 of the borough code that requires written authorization for tree removal. If your project involves trees that fall under that ordinance, we identify that upfront so there are no stop-work surprises later.
Once the scope is confirmed and any required permits are in order, the crew gets to work. In a borough this dense nearly 9,000 residents per square mile clearing isn’t just about what comes down. It’s about how the work gets done: equipment staged carefully on residential streets, debris managed so it doesn’t end up on a neighbor’s driveway, and the site left clean when we’re done. We haul everything off. No piles left for you to deal with.
If your project goes beyond clearing grading, drainage, excavation, masonry, or finished landscaping that all stays under the same contract with the same team. For properties near Darby Creek or anywhere with a drainage concern, we address that as part of the overall scope, not as an afterthought. You don’t need to coordinate a second contractor. We handle what comes next.
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What you get with Spennato Landscaping isn’t just brush removal. It’s a complete approach to whatever the property needs starting with overgrowth removal in Lansdowne and going as far as the project requires. For a Lansdowne homeowner reclaiming a neglected backyard, that might mean clearing dense brush, grinding stumps, and hauling everything off the lot. For someone preparing a site for a rear addition or accessory structure, it means clearing, grading the area, and getting the ground ready for whatever comes next.
Lansdowne’s Neighborhood Conservation District Overlay and its form-based zoning code adopted in 2008 mean that any clearing tied to a construction or renovation project will likely involve the borough’s permitting process. We’re familiar with that process. We’re also familiar with the floodplain management requirements that apply to properties near Darby Creek, where clearing work has to account for stormwater flow and erosion, not just vegetation removal.
Every job includes a written estimate, full debris removal, and a finished site that’s actually usable not just technically cleared. Whether you’re on Garrett Road, Shadeland Avenue, or anywhere else in the borough, the standard doesn’t change. One team, one contract, and a result you can build on.
Yes, in many cases you do. Lansdowne Borough has a formal tree ordinance under Chapter 305 of its municipal code that requires written authorization from a representative of the Borough Council before certain tree removal and clearing work can proceed. This applies to hazardous trees those posing immediate danger to life or property as well as large caliper trees with a 36-inch or greater caliper. It’s not something every contractor checks before showing up with a chainsaw, but it’s something Lansdowne takes seriously.
If you hire a crew that skips the permit step, you’re the one who ends up with a stop-work order or a fine on your property. We walk through the permit requirements during the initial consultation so that everything is accounted for before work begins. If authorization is needed, we help you understand the process. That’s part of what 15-plus years of working across Delaware County’s boroughs and townships actually looks like in practice.
For a typical residential lot in Lansdowne which tends to be a single lot or portion of a lot given the borough’s density clearing costs generally range from a few hundred dollars for a straightforward brush removal job to $2,000–$4,000 or more depending on the density of overgrowth, the number and size of trees involved, stump grinding, and whether debris hauling is included. If grading or drainage work follows the clearing, that adds to the overall scope and cost.
The most important thing to know is that low quotes often leave out line items that end up on the final invoice stump grinding, debris hauling, and finish grading are the most common. We provide a written estimate that covers the full scope of work for your specific Lansdowne property before anything starts. What the estimate says is what you pay. For a homeowner on a real budget, that clarity is worth more than a low number that doubles by the end.
This is one of the most important questions to ask, especially in Lansdowne. When vegetation is removed, the ground loses the root systems and plant cover that were absorbing and slowing water movement. On a flat backyard, that might not matter much. On a property near Darby Creek along the southern edges of Lansdowne near Scottdale Road or Hoffman Park it can mean the difference between a yard that drains properly and one that floods every time it rains.
The Darby Creek watershed has well-documented stormwater and flooding issues, and Lansdowne is a member of the Eastern Delaware County Stormwater Collaborative specifically because of them. Lansdowne’s borough code also includes a Floodplain Management chapter that applies to properties in or near the floodplain. If your property has any drainage concerns, we assess that during the consultation and address it as part of the overall scope grading the cleared area so water moves where it should, not where it shouldn’t. A contractor who clears and leaves without thinking about drainage is handing you a future problem.
It depends on the contractor, and this is where a lot of homeowners get caught off guard. Some clearing companies cut trees flush to the ground and consider the job done. The stumps stay. You’re left with a yard that looks cleared from a distance but isn’t actually usable you can’t mow over stumps, build over them, or plant over them without addressing them first.
With Spennato Landscaping, stump grinding is part of the conversation from the start. If your project requires stump removal to get the result you’re actually after a yard you can use, a site you can build on that’s included in the written estimate upfront. For older Lansdowne properties where large Victorian-era trees may have been growing for decades, stumps can be substantial, and grinding them properly takes the right equipment and experience. We cover that in the initial walkthrough so you know exactly what’s included before the crew arrives.
Yes and for most Lansdowne homeowners, that’s the more practical way to handle it. Clearing is rarely the end goal. The goal is a patio, a garage addition, a usable backyard, a parking pad, or a finished yard that looks intentional. Hiring a clearing crew and then sourcing a separate grading contractor, a separate excavator, and a separate landscaper means three sets of schedules, three sets of communication, and three opportunities for something to fall through the cracks.
We handle the full scope land clearing, grading, excavation, drainage, masonry, and finished landscaping all under one contract with one team. For a Lansdowne homeowner dealing with a tight residential lot and a renovation timeline, that matters. You’re not managing a project. You’re making one call and getting the whole thing done. If you’re working within Lansdowne’s Neighborhood Conservation District Overlay or need to coordinate with the borough’s permitting process for a construction project, having one contractor who understands the full scope from the start makes that process significantly smoother.
That’s exactly the kind of question worth asking before any work starts and it’s one of the reasons the initial walkthrough matters. In Lansdowne, where the housing stock includes Victorian-era homes with mature trees and established plantings alongside years of overgrowth, the difference between what should come out and what should stay isn’t always obvious from a photo or a phone call. A 100-year-old tree that looks overgrown might be structurally sound and worth keeping. An invasive vine that looks harmless might be pulling down a fence and damaging a foundation.
Lansdowne is also a community that cares about its trees the 350-year-old sycamore in Sycamore Park is a good example of how seriously the borough takes its mature canopy. Selective clearing removing what doesn’t belong while protecting what gives the property its character and value is a different skill set than clearing everything in sight. We walk the property with you, talk through what you’re trying to accomplish, and give you a clear recommendation before any equipment is staged. You make the call. We make sure you have the information to make it well.
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