Leaf Raking and Leaf Hauling in Minneapolis/St. Paul

We did our back yard this week, and with all the rain and wind the tree in our front yard will soon be bare and it'll be time to rake the grass there too.

For newcomers to the area, there are no metro-wide rules for getting leaves removed, except that it's illegal everywhere to dump your leaves into the street. Rules regarding leaves and yard waste vary from city to city. Whether your city collects your trash or if you have hired one of the several trash companies that serve the Twin Cities to do it, all collect yard waste. Some cities and companies include yard waste collection in the standard charge, others charge extra. Some come by with scheduled yard waste collection times, others you'll have to call to arrange collection. Most haulers stop yard waste collection in mid to late November.

If you have more than your trash collector will haul, or if you don't want to pay your trash collector to take it, you can take your leaves and yard waste to a yard waste or leaf recycling site. There are several across the Twin Cities run by cities, counties and trash haulers. Check your city and county website for the nearest one to you - http://www.yourcity.mn.us - is the format for all Minnesota city websites.

Another option, and one that's kinder to the environment, is to keep them for your garden. Pile the leaves up and then leave them for a year, letting them turn into leaf mold, which is full of nutrients for your garden. Or with a little more work, you can make leaf mulch, or add them to compost. No hauling fees and save on a couple of bags of compost next year.

If you are planning on bagging and hauling, or have someone else haul, your leaves, this is the last year you'll be able to use black plastic bags to do it. Next year, all yard waste must be bagged in compostable bags or trash collectors won't collect it. The idea is to make the process of composting yard waste more efficient and environmentally friendly. Everyone in the Twin Cities, that is, except people living in the city of Minneapolis who get an extra three years for the city to work the new regulations into their already complex trash hauling system.