City of Roanoke · Virginia
In Roanoke, the wrong pile in the wrong place has a price on it.
Most cities that dislike leaves in the road just ask you not to. Roanoke has a process. A 72-hour notice, then a contractor, then a $100 administrative fee on top of what the contractor charges — all of it billed to the property owner. The rest of the rules matter too, but that one is the reason to read the page.
What Roanoke City does with your leaves
Bagged only — paper, never plastic · 2025 season dates
There is no vacuum truck here and there never has been. What the city collects is biodegradable paper leaf bags, taken as bulk on your regular trash day, during a short bagged-leaf season in late autumn. Loose leaves are not collected at any point in the year — the city says so plainly, and points you toward a private contractor if loose is what you have. The one generous part of the rule is the count: put out as many paper bags as you like. Nobody is counting. You are just the one filling them.
- Biodegradable paper leaf bags only. The city states directly that it does not pick up leaves in plastic bags.
- You buy the bags yourself, from local hardware and home stores. The city does not issue or sell them.
- No quantity cap — the city says you can put out as many paper leaf bags as you want.
- The 2025 season ran four windows: Nov 17–20, Dec 1–4, Dec 8–11 and Dec 15–18, each on your zone's normal collection day.
- Nothing at all was collected the week of Thanksgiving.
- Zones follow your regular trash day: Monday northwest, Tuesday northeast, Wednesday southeast, Thursday southwest.
- Outside leaf season, weekly brush collection carries on. Loose leaves are still never collected, in season or out.
Do not rake them into the street
This is the one that costs money. The city’s own words: you cannot rake loose leaves into the street or the city’s right-of-way, it is a violation of city code, and inspectors enforce it strictly. If leaves are not removed after a 72-hour removal notice, the city may hire a private contractor to clear them and charge the property owner a $100 administrative fee plus the contractor’s cost.
Quoted from the city’s leaf collection page. We are deliberately not citing a code section number here — the specific ordinance text could not be confirmed against the live municipal code, and a wrong section number is worse than none.
Four windows, a paper bag at a time
Between the bag rule and the four dated windows, a big yard in Roanoke turns into a scheduling problem you solve on your knees. We clear the whole property — beds, fence lines, foundation, back yard — and every leaf goes onto the trailer and off your street the same day, so there is nothing left at the curb to be noticed.
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 City
- Can the city really charge me for leaves in the street?
- Yes, and the steps are published. Leaves in the right-of-way are a code violation; you get a 72-hour removal notice; if the pile is still there the city may send a private contractor and bill the property owner a $100 administrative fee plus whatever that contractor charged. The fee is the fixed part. The contractor's cost is not.
- Are the 2026 dates out yet?
- No. As of early September 2026 the city's leaf page still shows the 2025 windows, and the 2026 Solid Waste Collection Guide contains no leaf dates at all. The dates above are last season's, shown so you know the shape of it — roughly mid-November through mid-December, four passes, nothing over Thanksgiving. Check the city page for this year's before you plan around them.
- Can I just leave the pile at the curb for you to handle?
- No, and the reason is the whole point of this page. Raking into the right-of-way is the thing the city bills for, so a crew that rakes your yard into a curb pile has handed you a problem rather than taken one away. Everything we clear goes on the trailer and leaves with us the same day.
- What does it cost to have it done instead?
- That depends on the yard — how much is down, how far it has to travel, whether it is one front lawn or a wooded lot. You can get a price online in a minute from your address, or call and talk it through if your property is unusual. Either way you will know the number before anyone turns up.
- Can I haul my own to the transfer station?
- As a resident, yes. You get 12 free trips a year to the RVRA transfer stations and yard waste is on the accepted list. The catch that surprises people: the free residential program explicitly excludes material from contracted work, so it covers leaves you bagged yourself, not a load a hired crew generated. Brush is separate again — six feet by six feet by six feet, one pile a week, branches under three inches, contractor-cut material excluded there too.
Nearby, with different rules
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.
Roanoke County
Biweekly bulk & brush, A/B week rotation
Roanoke County collects bulk and brush biweekly, but not materials from paid contractors. That one line decides how leaf cleanup works in Cave Spring, Hollins and Glenvar.
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?
1 / 4Written quote back within one business day. No spam, no sales calls at dinner. We only use this to quote your yard.