Roanoke County · Virginia
Roanoke County will not collect a pile a paid contractor made.
The county's rules list what it does not collect, and near the end of that list sit the words "materials from paid contractors." It is easy to skim past and it decides everything: hiring help and leaving the result at the curb is not an option here, no matter how neat the pile is. Worth knowing first, because Cave Spring, Hollins and Glenvar are unincorporated — no town government, no town leaf program, county rules straight through.
Covers Cave Spring, Hollins, Glenvar — all unincorporated, so county rules apply rather than any town program of their own.
What Roanoke County does with your leaves
Biweekly bulk & brush, A/B week rotation
Trash runs weekly. Bulk and brush come every other week on an A-week / B-week rotation you look up by address in the county Trash App, which is more curbside service than most Virginia counties give you. The rules around it are ordinary — size limits, clearance, separate piles, out by 7 a.m. The one that is not ordinary is the source of the material: what you generate yourself is collected, what a paid contractor generates is not.
- The county states plainly that it does not collect dirt, rock, concrete, shingles, car parts, or materials from paid contractors.
- Bulk and brush are collected biweekly, on an A-week / B-week rotation you look up by address in the county Trash App.
- Brush cannot exceed 6 feet in length or 12 inches in diameter.
- Out by 7:00 a.m., and no earlier than the Saturday before your collection week.
- Piles need 5 feet of clearance from vehicles, mailboxes, cans, electrical boxes and basketball goals.
- Bulk and brush go in separate piles, not one heap.
- Each household gets 12 trips a year to the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority transfer stations, with loads no bigger than a pickup bed.
Burning them
Burning your way out of it is mostly not an option here. Roanoke County is inside the Western Virginia Emissions Control Area, so the state bans open burning May 1 through September 30 with no permits issued at all in that stretch, and the county requires a Fire Marshal permit for open burning year-round outside of campfires. County guidance further indicates a permit will not be issued to burn leaves where brush collection service runs along the adjacent street — which is most of developed Cave Spring, Hollins and Glenvar. Confirm your own address with the Fire Marshal at 540-772-2006 before planning on it.
Curbside is not the finish line here
Because the county will not take what a paid crew produced, the pile has to leave with whoever made it. Everything we clear goes on the trailer the same day — beds, fence lines, the strip along the foundation — and your curb looks the way it did before we showed up.
Your address and about a minute for a real price. Or call and talk to the person who does the work.
Questions we get in Roanoke County
- I am in Cave Spring. Is that its own town with its own rules?
- No. Cave Spring, Hollins and Glenvar are unincorporated communities, not incorporated towns. There is no separate government behind them and no separate leaf program — Roanoke County General Services covers all three directly, so everything on this page is your rulebook.
- If I hire someone, can the pile still go at the curb?
- No. The county does not collect materials from paid contractors, so a crew that rakes your yard into a curb pile has left you with a pile nobody is coming for. Any honest quote in this county includes hauling it away.
- Can I use my 12 transfer station trips for it instead?
- For leaves you bagged and loaded yourself, yes — 12 trips a year per household, load no bigger than a pickup bed. Plan on more than one trip; a full-yard cleanup with the beds and fence lines included is usually several loads, and the driving is the part people underestimate.
- Can I just burn them?
- Almost certainly not, and it is the county rather than the state that closes the door. A Fire Marshal permit is required for open burning year-round, and county guidance indicates one will not be issued for leaves where brush service already runs at your street. Call 540-772-2006 about your specific address rather than assuming either way.
- So what does the county actually leave me to solve?
- Getting the leaves out of the yard and off the property, in one motion. That is the job we quote: rake, load, gone the same day, nothing left at the curb for a truck that is not coming. Put in your address for a price, or call and describe the yard.
Nearby, with different rules
Roanoke City
Bagged only — paper, never plastic
Rake leaves into a Roanoke street and the city can bill you $100 plus the contractor's cost. Here are the bag rules, the four collection windows, and what to do instead.
Salem
Loose-leaf vacuum, curbside, no charge
Four miles from Roanoke, Salem does the opposite: automated leaf trucks, no bags, no charge, and the city asks you to pile loose leaves at the street. Here is how it works.
Vinton
Loose-leaf vacuum, plus bagged year-round
Vinton vacuums loose leaves free from November 2 to December 11, 2026 — if the pile is in the right band, clean, and down by 7 a.m. The full list of what gets one skipped.
What do you need done?
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