Lot clearing and brush mowing in Johnson Lane, NV

Johnson Lane is a community of detached houses on big parcels in the north end of Carson Valley. About 95% of its homes are single-family detached and about 94% are owner-occupied, so nearly every lot has an owner who decides what happens to the brush.

At a glance

• Roughly 5 acres of census land per housing unit
• Wildfire risk to homes higher than 98.3% of US communities
• About 8 inches of precipitation a year at the nearest gauge
• Seasonal mowing can be scheduled year after year

What part of a Johnson Lane lot gets mowed?

The part the sprinklers do not reach. The Census Bureau counts about 2,800 housing units in an area of about 21.9 square miles, roughly 5 acres of land per housing unit with open ground included. On lots that size the yard near the house is landscaped and the rest grows sagebrush, rabbitbrush and annual grass.

A typical mowing visit covers:

• The back portion of the lot, out to the property line
• Both sides of the fence, where tumbleweeds pile up
• The shoulder of the driveway and the road frontage
• A clear band around barns, sheds, hay storage and parked trailers

Why does brush matter when most homes are not on the wildland edge?

The Forest Service puts 72% of Johnson Lane's buildings in its indirect exposure zone and 28% in the direct zone. Indirect exposure means the threat is embers and fire passing from one property to the next, more than a flame front arriving from open country. Even so, risk to homes ranks higher than 98.3% of US communities.

On a street of acreage lots, each unmowed back acre links to the next one. Mowing yours breaks that chain on your side of the fence. UNR Extension's Living With Fire guide asks owners to eliminate dead or dried vegetation and to keep separation between shrubs out to 100 feet from the home.

How often does it need doing?

A gauge about a mile from the center of Johnson Lane (Minden 6.0 NNE) averages 8.14 inches of precipitation a year in NOAA's 1991-2020 normals. That is enough to grow a crop of grass and weeds every spring and little enough that it dries out by early summer.

Woody brush stays down for years once it is mowed. The annual growth does not, which is why owners here tend to ask for the same ground each year. Tell the office you want a seasonal schedule when you request the estimate.

Clearing a lot to build or add a shop

About 37% of Johnson Lane homes were built in 2000 or later, and parcels are still being improved with shops, barns and second driveways. For that work we bring the track loader, backhoe, chipper and dump trucks, take out the brush and any trees in the footprint, and haul the debris. Stumps in the build area are ground or dug out.

Grading and building permits belong to the owner or builder. Our guide to lot clearing before building in Lyon and Douglas counties lists what to ask.

Large fires on the record nearby

Fire perimeters of 300 acres or more with a mapped center within about 10 miles include Waterfall in 2004 (8,765 acres), C-Hill in 1988 (1,799 acres), Badger in 2005 (656 acres) and Hwy 50 in 2003 (588 acres).