The Portland Bureau of Transportation’s (PBOT) Leaf Day service sweeps 52 districts with the highest concentration of mature street trees and leaves, about a third of the city. Leaf removal in Leaf Day districts is free for residents, with no need to opt in or out.
From November to December, Leaf Day service helps make streets cleaner and safer, keeps storm drains clear and ensures intersections don’t flood. Leaf Day mailers were sent out mid-October and are available online at portland.gov/leaf. The site also lists pick up days by district (most SE districts have two pick up days) and offers the option for people to sign up for weekly text or email reminders.
To prepare for Leaf Day, PBOT has a list of things to remember.
Rake those tree leaves
Rake the leaves you want picked up into the street as close to your scheduled Leaf Day pickup as possible, ideally the day before. Leaf Day service is for clearing the leaves from your street trees but you may add additional leaves from elsewhere on your property as well.
Tree leaves only
Leaf Day is not for all yard debris, just tree leaves. Use regular yard bins for twigs, branches, needles, grass clippings and other debris.
Make space
Keep one foot of space between your pile and the curb for storm runoff and to make it easier for our sweepers. Also allow plenty of clearance between your pile and any vehicle left parked on the street.
Trim your trees
Leave 11 feet of clearance for PBOT’s equipment. Make sure you trim any low-hanging tree limbs over the street so equipment can get as close to the curb as possible and get the best clean.
Move vehicles and other objects off the street
Whenever possible, allow plenty of clearance between your pile and anything left parked on the street, including basketball hoops and garbage bins. Leaf Day service districts are small enough that you should never have to travel more than a quarter mile to park a vehicle outside the boundaries of a Leaf Day district.
Help your neighbors
People are still working from home in large numbers, with vehicles parked longer. Check in with your neighbors so everyone remembers to move their vehicles on Leaf Day.
Buy compost
PBOT crews haul nearly 5,000 tons of leaves to the Sunderland Yard Recycling Facility, 9325 NE Sunderland Rd., for composting each fall. PBOT’s compost is high-quality and monitored for maturation and sizing, per the US Compost Council’s monitoring guidelines.
Compost (available by the half cubic yard or more at $24 per cubic yard) can be purchased at the facility, open Monday-Friday 7 am-2:30 pm. Most full sized pickups can accommodate a cubic yard of compost.
Contact PBOT with questions by calling 311 or 503.823.4000 or emailing leafday@portlandoregon.gov.
