Yard Waste

Year-Round Yard Waste Collection & Brush Pickup

Wake Forest provides weekly curbside collection to single-family homes, duplexes, and select townhomes. Yard waste and brush collection occurs one business day prior to your trash and recycling day.

Find your yard waste collection day on Waste Wizard.

Biodegradable Paper Bagged Yard Waste & Clearly Marked Reusable Yard Waste Containers

Yard waste is collected through clearly marked reusable carts/containers marked with 'Yard Waste' or 'YW', biodegradable paper yard waste bags, and by scheduled brush collection.
Acceptable yard waste includes small tree limbs, twigs, pine cones, leaves, grass clippings, and trimmings too small to be included as a brush pickup, such as acorns, bamboo, dead plants, flower and vegetable debris, flowers, hay, ivy, leaves, shrubs, vines, weeds, leaves and trimmings.
Weeds and invasive plants are acceptable for yard waste collection. All yard waste is composted. The hot compost pile will kill weed seeds as well as invasive plants without having to worry about them popping up in your garden beds if you use compost.
Small branches less than four feet may be neatly stacked for collection.
Mulch, dirt, sod, wood chips, and soil are not accepted for collection.
For larger limbs, please prepare for a brush pickup.

PLEASE NOTE: When bagging yard waste, please use a clearly marked reusable cart/container or biodegradable paper yard waste bags.

How to Prepare for Yard Waste Collection

Place your trimmings at the curb by 7 a.m. on your collection day.
Items may be collected in a Town yard waste cart, your own clearly marked reusable cart/container (no more than 45 gallons or 50 lbs.) or biodegradable paper yard waste bags.
Bags should weigh 50 pounds or less.
Yard waste must not be included with regular trash. Neither trash nor yard waste will be collected if trash and yard waste are mixed.
Remove dirt, litter, mulch, and sod.
Brush and tree limbs too large to fit in a container or biodegradable paper yard waste bag can be collected through brush collection.
Mulch, dirt, sod, wood chips, or soil is not collected.

CONTRACTORS: Yard Waste pruned or cut by a contractor can be collected by the Town if the yard waste is prepared according to the Town's guidelines for yard waste collection. Yard waste must be placed in front of individual homes, not in front of common areas or open spaces.

What is considered Brush?

Unbundled brush is defined as limbs longer than four feet and cannot fit in biodegradable paper yard waste bags or in a clearly marked reusable container. Brush is collected and recycled into wood mulch.
Large quantities of brush resulting from the removal of more than one tree or land clearing will not be collected; the homeowner is responsible for its disposal.

How to Prepare for Brush Collection

Brush collection can only be done curbside and brush must be loose and unbundled, NOT contained in any paper bag or collection container.
Brush must be less than 10 inches in diameter and no longer than 6 feet.
Logs exceeding 6 inches in diameter must not exceed 2 feet.
Residents receive brush collection of up to 8 cubic yards per week per household.
Brush must be set out by 7 a.m. on your collection day.
Avoid low-hanging power lines, trees, or other overhanging obstructions- drivers need an overhead clearance of 25 feet.
Don't place by parked cars, fixed objects, or fences - give a surrounding clearance of 4 feet or more around other objects.
Brush is collected on your yard waste collection day (no scheduling necessary).

CONTRACTORS: Brush pruned or cut by a contractor can be collected by the Town if the brush is prepared according to the Town's guidelines for brush collection. Brush must be placed in front of individual homes, not in front of common areas or open spaces.

Did we miss your cart, bag, or brush collection?

Report a missed collection

Two Types of Trucks Visit Your Street on Yard Collection Day - Leaf truck from October to March

Truck Type	What This Truck Collects	Collection Tips
Rearloader Yard Waste Truck	Collects Town-provided carts and household containers with yard waste, small sticks and limbs placed behind the curb	Limbs must be no more than 8 feet long and a maximum diameter of 8 inches. Larger logs, stumps and roots that exceed these dimensions should be placed at the curb in a different pile. These items are collected separately by the knuckleboom truck.
Knuckleboom Truck	Safely and more efficiently collects limbs, logs, stumps and roots that are too large for the small yard waste truck	If you see the small yard waste truck pass your large pile of limbs, it’s very likely that the knuckleboom truck has been notified and will collect that pile by the end of the day.

Truck Type

What This Truck Collects

Collection Tips

Rearloader Yard Waste Truck

Collects Town-provided carts and household containers with yard waste, small sticks and limbs placed behind the curb

Limbs must be no more than 8 feet long and a maximum diameter of 8 inches.

Larger logs, stumps and roots that exceed these dimensions should be placed at the curb in a different pile. These items are collected separately by the knuckleboom truck.

Knuckleboom Truck

Safely and more efficiently collects limbs, logs, stumps and roots that are too large for the small yard waste truck

If you see the small yard waste truck pass your large pile of limbs, it’s very likely that the knuckleboom truck has been notified and will collect that pile by the end of the day.

Contractors

Any yard waste pruned or cut by a contractor must be prepared according to the guidelines outlined above. Materials cannot be placed at the curb for collection prior to 5 p.m. the day before collection.

CONTRACTORS: Yard Waste/Brush pruned or cut by a contractor can be collected by the Town if the yard waste/brush is prepared according to the Town's guidelines for yard waste/brush collection. Yard waste/Brush must be placed in front of individual homes, not in front of common areas or open spaces.

Leaf Collection

Leaves are picked up loose at the curb (loose leaf collection) each year from the first Monday in October through the second Friday of March. Leaves should be placed next to and behind the curb, not in the street, so they do not interfere with traffic or drainage. From the third Monday in March through the end of September, grass clippings, loose leaves, pine straw, etc. must be either bagged (in a yard waste paper bag) or in a cart/container (visibly marked with a 'YW' or 'Yard Waste'). Leaf piles and paper bags must be free of limbs, trash, and debris. Please note that the schedule may be affected by leaf volume, weather conditions, mechanical issues, or other operational challenges.

For daily updates on leaf collection, contact the leaf collection hotline at 919-435-9582.

Point of Service

All items must be placed next to and behind the curb by 7 am on the day of pickup. Yard waste is picked up from the front of the residence, and we do not service yard waste in alleyways.

Pickups will be from occupied residences only - not from vacant lots or unoccupied properties.

Mulch & Wood Chips

To request the delivery of wood chip mulch or leaf mulch, fill out the mulch request form. An Electronic Signature for a Hold Harmless Agreement for mulch delivery is required upon request.

Each delivery is approximately 20 cubic yards (5 pickup truck loads), and there is no option to return unused or extra mulch.

Please Note: The wood chips are not similar to the chips you would purchase in a home improvement store. The size, color, and type of wood chips are a mixture and are available year-round. Leaf mulch is available from October through March.