With fall coming, you may wonder what to do with a yard full of leaves. You have options:
1. Keep them! It’s free fertilizer:
- Mow leaves back into your lawn. It is great for your soil and often easier than raking. Mow regularly, especially if the leaves are wet. You might need to make a couple of passes to break leaves down into dime-sized pieces. You do not need a special mower to mulch your leaves.
- Compost them. Leaves are great for backyard composting.
2. Let us take them. If you have city waste service, we will pick up yard waste each week on your regular collection day. That material is turned into mulch.
- Put them in your grey yard cart. If you don’t have one or need a new one, simply call LexCall at (859) 425-2255 or submit a request online.
- Fill up yard waste bags. Coupons for free bags are mailed in the At Your Service newsletter. Look for the newsletter to be in your mailbox in late September. A postcard with additional coupons will arrive at homes in mid to late October. Coupons can be redeemed at Chevy Chase Hardware, Home Depot, Kroger, Lowe’s, Meijer and Walmart.
- The City will begin its fall yard waste bag collection process in late October, with the exact date based on when the leaves fall. Yard waste bags may be picked up by a different crew than those servicing carts. Crews will collect daily until 5:30 p.m. except on Halloween, when they will quit at 5 p.m. Missed yard waste will be collected the next makeup day (Wednesday or Saturday). Do not contact LexCall regarding missed service until after 5:30 p.m. on your scheduled service day.
- The city has a limited supply of free leaf chutes available. The chutes make it easier to rake leaves into yard waste bags. Note: limit one per household. You can pick up a leaf chute at:
City's Electronics Recycling Center
- If using bags, ONLY use paper yard waste bags. Material put in plastic bags will be taken to the landfill.
3. Bring the leaves to us. Fayette County residents can take pickup-truck loads of brush/yard waste through December 2023 free of charge to the Haley Pike Waste Management facility. A pickup load is considered a regular full-size 8-foot bed. A double-axle 16-foot trailer counts as two loads. The cost of each additional load is $28 a ton. Proof of residency is required. The facility is located at 4216 Hedger Lane and is open 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The facility is closed to the public on Wednesdays.
- Yard waste taken to Haley Pike does not need to be bagged. Loads transported in open-bed trucks should be tarped.
- If you do bag material, use paper yard waste bags. The material in plastic bags will not be accepted.
Never dispose of leaves or other yard waste by putting it in the street. It can clog storm drains, leading to flooding issues. It also overwhelms local creeks with nutrients, causing water quality issues. You can be a super resident by adopting your local storm drain, helping to keep it clear of debris and reporting problems to LexCall.