Gripes about Raleigh Loose Leaf Collection (Durham, Cary: houses, buying, live)

[wheelsup]

I scratch my head at all the people who take this time to rake and bag leaves. Run over them with a lawnmower, it makes your grass look great. It's nature's fertilizer. One year I even went out and collected two dozen bags of leaves sitting on the curb, dumped them on my lawn, and mulched them in . Wife thought I was crazy, I'm sure the neighbors did too .

[North Beach Person]

Another problem (and I agree with those who say it's a good service) is those leaves on the street get into the stormwater system and clog it.

[nc99]

Originally Posted by wheelsup

I scratch my head at all the people who take this time to rake and bag leaves. Run over them with a lawnmower, it makes your grass look great. It's nature's fertilizer. One year I even went out and collected two dozen bags of leaves sitting on the curb, dumped them on my lawn, and mulched them in . Wife thought I was crazy, I'm sure the neighbors did too .

I have a vacuum / mulcher. I rake and make piles of leaf, vacuum / mulch them and just dump them in my garden bed....no need to buy mulch

Toro Ultra 250 mph 350 CFM Electric 12 Amp Blower/Vacuum/Mulcher-51619 - The Home Depot

[Sherifftruman]

Originally Posted by wheelsup

I scratch my head at all the people who take this time to rake and bag leaves. Run over them with a lawnmower, it makes your grass look great. It's nature's fertilizer. One year I even went out and collected two dozen bags of leaves sitting on the curb, dumped them on my lawn, and mulched them in . Wife thought I was crazy, I'm sure the neighbors did too .

That works to a point, but if you have too much leaf matter on your lawn it can suffocate it when it gets wet and keeps light from getting to the grass.

[kilroy61]

Originally Posted by Sherifftruman

Well, the other alternative is make people bag them like most other municipalities in the area.

Incorrect....most other municipalities that have leaf collection do not require bagging, but they collect the leaves more frequently....ie more than twice per season. I know some local smaller towns collect leaves every 1-2 weeks. I have 18 oak trees in my yards. I blow leaves weekly until the final Raleigh collection date.

[kilroy61]

Originally Posted by Mr. Woodrow

Conceptually, I think it's great that the City will collect loose leaf piles left by the road. In practice, I don't think it's going well and I was curious what you all think. In my opinion, there are 2 problems:

1. Because loose leaf collection by the City is an option, rather than bag their leaves, folks pile up their leaves in the road by the curb. They're not supposed to do this -- the City's website specifies "Leaf piles should be at the edge of your yard, not in the street" -- but this does not appear to be enforced, as virtually every pile I see is piled up by the curb, spilling into the street. In my neighborhood, some piles are so big they literally block an entire lane of traffic. This is bad for cars and dangerous for people and joggers who have to use the street and are forced to walk down the middle of the road.

2. The City doesn't collect loose leaves often enough. The City is divided into 12 zones, with each zone only being serviced twice per season. That means leaf piles will sit for literally weeks, again, causing an obstruction the entire time, and looking like crap as well.

I understand these leaf collection trucks are probably expensive, but if the City is going to offer the service, thereby encouraging people to take the easier route of simply raking/blowing/sweeping leaves to the curb/road rather than bagging them and disposing with their weekly yard waste collection, I think the City needs to collect more frequently. If that requires the purchase of additional trucks, so be it. In other words, if the City is going to offer the service, I don't think it can do so in a half-assed manner, which seems to be the case currently.

If the City is going to continue the practice of collecting from a neighborhood every other month or less, then I think it needs to begin enforcing its ordinance that leaves should not be piled in the street, and begin issuing citations for violations.

I sound old, but this bugs me every year. I plan to write the City about it, but figured I'd first inquire whether this is something that annoys you all as well.

Mr. Woodrow....how many trees do you have in your yard? I have 18 oak trees. I blow leaves weekly until the last collection date. After the last collection date, I then bag the few leaves left. I have a 50 yard x 6ft pile of leaves along the street. Years ago, I bagged the leaves I blew just that one weekend and had 62 bags. That was the last time I bagged leaves........

[pierretong1991]

The leaves in the street are certainly a hazard to users of the road (people have to walk farther out in the street, bikers have to go around the piles if they're blocking a bike lane, narrower passing space along roads for cars). Sure there are bigger problems like people parking on both sides of a narrow neighborhood street but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be enforced more or people should be more aware of why leaves should be behind the curb. (someone also mentioned that it's bad for drainage systems)

[Mr. Woodrow]

It doesn't appear that my concerns were clear in my initial post. Again, I think the concept of loose leaf collection is a good one. I acknowledge that it can be difficult for people to bag all the leaves that fall in their yards. Personally, my back yard collects leaves from several huge trees, and from October - December I spend a great deal of time collecting and bagging these. It sucks, make no mistake.

My complaint, again, is that I think the City's practice of loose leaf collection needs to be improved. Namely, I think it needs to figure out how to collect leaves more frequently so that giant piles of loose leaves aren't sitting on neighborhood curbs and roadsides for weeks (and perhaps even months) at a time. If the City collected more frequently, leaf piles would not be as big (thus keeping them from encroaching into the road), and folks would be more inclined to pile them in their yard (rather than the street), because they wouldn't have to worry about their grass dying.

Unless the City begins collecting leaves more frequently, then I think it needs to start cracking down on folks piling up leaves in the road. The alternative, of course, is for folks to bag leaves for the City's normal weekly yard waste collection.

[Poggly Woggly]

Originally Posted by kilroy61

Incorrect....most other municipalities that have leaf collection do not require bagging, but they collect the leaves more frequently....ie more than twice per season. I know some local smaller towns collect leaves every 1-2 weeks. I have 18 oak trees in my yards. I blow leaves weekly until the final Raleigh collection date.

In North Myrtle Beach the city does weekly yard waste pickup...leaves, sticks, clipping, branches, trees whatever. No longer than five ft. No containers or binding with string or cord. Just place it in neat piles by the side of the street. All year. No questions asked...love it

[Sherifftruman]

Originally Posted by kilroy61

Incorrect....most other municipalities that have leaf collection do not require bagging, but they collect the leaves more frequently....ie more than twice per season. I know some local smaller towns collect leaves every 1-2 weeks. I have 18 oak trees in my yards. I blow leaves weekly until the final Raleigh collection date.

Well crap, I just checked and couldn't easily tell about Zebulon, but otherwise. Looks as if only Wendell and Morrisville don't have a loose leaf collection. I did not realize Cary did A loose leaf collection and it seems like many Cary residents don't either considering the number of yard bags I see out.