How Much Does it Cost to Have a Lawn Crew Manage Your Fall Leaves?

Factors That Affect the Cost of Lawn Cleanup

• Yard size: The property size is the starting point for the price range. Larger yards require more labor, time, and equipment, which increases the cost.
• Removal method: Yard clean-up services will use familiar leaf blowers and leaf vacuums, but some will also offer to mulch the leaves and leave them to make nutrient-rich soil in your compost heap. Add it to your garden beds or during lawn maintenance to improve soil fertility. But they'll probably advise that if you are trying to increase lawn's water absorption, it's best to remove dead leaves. Common methods include using a leaf loader, vacuuming leaves up or the time intensive process of bagging leaves for removal.
• Frequency of service: A one-time charge for leaf removal is usually more expensive than if they company is also hired for additional services like lawn aeration, spring cleanup, brush pile removal, and regular maintenance.
• Type of trees and tree density: Yards with lots of trees, particularly deciduous trees like maples, tend to drop a lot of leaves. Larger trees and associated leaf volume will be reflected in the landscaping company's clean-up costs.
• Landscape features: If the landscape notices complex features like flower beds, vegetable garden, hills, or water features they'll adjust to give you an accurate cost of leaf removal to account for the extra time.
• Gutter cleaning: Many companies offer gutter cleaning or gutter guard maintenance as an add-on, where the typical cost ranges from $50 to $200 depending on the size of your home. This additional cost is usually billed by linear feet of gutters, but as an add-on it might come out as less.
• Expertise: The range for yard cleanup pricing takes the job quality into account. Consider if you just need to clear your yard of leaves or if you'd also benefit from additional services like tree pruning, a winterizing lawn care package, and clearing garden rubbish.

Should You Hire a Crew or Handle Leaf Cleanup Yourself?

DIY leaf removal can be a fun family activity that also saves money. For an average lawn, it can a couple of weekends to move the volume of leaves into piles, then to get the leaves in bags, before hauling them to a city dump site or the curb if your town offers yard waste pickup. In either case, on top of your labor, you can expect a waste removal disposal fee either as a standard dump fee, or a minimum service charge that increases with more bags of leaves.

But for larger yards, larger trees or when facing wet leaves, fallen tree limbs, and flower gardens to winterize, the clean-up process can become overwhelming. While leaf removal sticker shock may make you wary of these service providers, this annual service might balance out when you consider your time, labor, and the cost of yard waste disposal. They handle all disposal and efficient leaf removal methods (leaf loaders, industrial leaf vacuum). If the leaf removal company offers to turn the leaves into organic mulch, the cost of starts to balance out. Professional landscaping services often offer discounts when bundling leaf clean-up with other lawn services like tree pruning, gutter cleaning, stump grinding, and lawn aeration. If you have a landscaping contract for regular maintenance, clearing leaves should be part of the annual yard clean-up service.