Yard Waste & Leaves

Look up your Set-Out Date

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About the Last Chance Set Out: Sunday, December 8, 2024

If you still need leaves picked up, you can put them out for pickup on Sunday, December 8.

If the weather allows, Streets crews will be by as soon as we can during the work days that follow to collect your leaves.

Important Things to Know

Collection will not be on Sunday, December 8. If the weather allows, it will happen sometime during the work week following that set out date. The whole city is sharing the same set out date so it will take time to get to everyone. Your patience is appreciated.
Collection is not guaranteed. If it snows, we may need to cancel the last chance pickup and assign our crews to respond to the snowstorm. The people picking up leaves are the same people who drive the plows.
If you get your leaves out after December 8, you might miss your pickup chance.
Expect to see more debris in the road after pickup. Street sweepers usually follow behind leaf crews collecting the debris. However, they require water to work. When temperatures are very cold, the water can freeze inside the vehicles, which can lead to damage. Temperatures are expected to be too cold for sweepers for the last chance pickup round. Also, this time of year we have fewer sweepers on hand as most of the sweepers are sent out for their annual maintenance overhaul.

Why can't I see set out dates?

If you enter your address into the above form, and it is after your last set out date, you will not see a date.

When you read what pops up, it will say that collection is over and you should take yard waste to a drop-off site.

So - what should you do when your final yard waste set out date has passed? You should take yard waste to a drop-off site.

The way this information pops up for homes that do not have any more set out dates isn't as clear as it should be. That's our mistake.

So, we are working on redeveloping this part of the page to help make the information more clear.

It's not quite a simple as just adding some text to make all the improvements we need. But we hear you, and we are working on fixing it.

Set-Out Dates

Your set-out date for yard waste will be on a Sunday. We will collect the yard waste during the week after your Sunday set-out date.

If your yard waste is not out for pickup on the set-out date, we may not collect it.

How to Place Yard Waste

Please follow these guidelines to make sure we can pick up your yard waste.

Pile your leaves and yard waste on the terrace, or on the grass at the edge of the street. Do not put leaves in the street.
Keep yard waste at least 4 feet away from trees, cars, utility poles, mailboxes, fire hydrants, and other obstructions.

Yard Waste vs. Brush

Please separate yard waste and leaves from brush. Yard waste and brush are separate collections.

Yard waste is plant material from your lawn or garden, including:
- Leaves, weeds, grass clippings, and garden trimmings
- Twigs less than 18 inches long
- Pumpkins, crab apples, vines, corn stalks, and pinecones
Brush is sticks and branches from trees, shrubs, or bushes.

Covering & Bagging Leaves

You do not need to cover or bag your leaves. However, this helps keep leaves from blowing into the street.

Compostable paper leaf bags (preferred): Keep your bags open at the top so we can see what is inside.
Plastic bags: Keep your bags open at the top. We will cut open plastic bags and leave them on the terrace or in your trash cart.
Tarp or plastic sheet cover: You can cover your leaf piles with a tarp to keep them from blowing away.

Protect Our Lakes

Leaves contain nutrients like phosphorus that are harmful to are lakes and rivers. They contribute to algae blooms and murky water.

When it rains on leaves in the road, the rain takes nutrients from those leaves into the storm drains. And the storm drains take the nutrients into our lakes.

You can help protect our lakes by changing the way you rake your leaves.

Rake leaves out of the street and onto the terrace before it rains.
Mulch leaves in your yard using a lawn mower.
Compost leaves instead of setting them on the curb.
Cover leaf piles to keep them from blowing into the street.