Leave the Leaves: Leaf Saver Signs Will be Available!

Leaf season is a festive time at Public Works. Residents often praise the annual curbside collection, and can be seen greeting the vacuum trucks and crews as they make their way through the city. Typically, leaves are collected within 10 feet of the curb, from piles raked in front of residential properties.

This year, the Department of Public works is piloting a program to encourage residents to consider using the leaves on their property, rather than have them all removed by the city.

Fallen leaves are a great source of nutrients for gardens and lawns. They can be ground and left on the lawn or piled up and composted to be used in a garden bed. If you have started a garden or are mulching leaves in an area that may be subject to leaf collection, signs will be available to alert the collection crews that you intend to
leave these leaves in place. Leaves on sidewalks, near storm drains, or those likely to encroach on these areas will be collected by the crews.

“I’m a Leaf Saver” signs will be available for residents to pick up at the Public Works office between 8:30 and 5 p.m., Monday-Friday. Signs may only be placed in front of your own property. Please place one sign at each end of the area where you do not want leaves to be collected; corner properties may request additional signs. Signs should remain in place from the first day of collection, November 15, through December 31 and can be reused the following year.

Leaf piles up to a few inches thick provide valuable habitat to overwintering bugs, worms, and insects—as well as benefits for
soil and plant health as they decompose. Un-mowed leaves may be more beneficial to insects, but are also more likely to blow or drift away. Consider decorative garden fencing to contain the leaves.

If you choose to leave your leaves to protect overwintering invertebrates and wish to remove them as part of spring clean-up,
it is a safe bet that by the time the grass is ready to be mowed for the first time (after Tax Day), the invertebrates no longer require the protection. The city does not offer a vacuum leaf collection in the spring; however, the city’s Monday yard waste collection program—which occurs yearround— can be an opportunity dispose of those leaves.

More information about leaf collection and “I’m a Leaf Saver” program can be found on the City Yard Waste & Fall Leaf Collection webpage.

This article appeared in the October Edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. Check out this article and more on the City webpage.