2026 Fall Leaf & Yard Waste Schedule Now Available; Collection Begins in October

The set out dates for the fall 2026 leaf and yard waste schedule are now available on the Streets Division website.

Each neighborhood has three assigned dates to set out leaves and yard waste.

The exact dates when you should set out your leaves will depend on where you live.

Collection of leaves and yard waste should occur during the work week following the set-out date provided.

Leaves and yard waste are banned from Wisconsin landfills.

Do not put leaves and yard waste in the trash cart.

Do not put them in the recycling cart.

Leaves and yard waste have been banned from all Wisconsin landfills since 1993.

Your options for yard waste disposal:

How do I know when to put out my yard waste for City of Madison collection?

Go our yard waste website.

Enter your address into the form.

You will see the next available set out date for yard waste collection.

Every neighborhood has three scheduled set-out date opportunities for the fall.

What will yard waste crews collect?

Yard waste crews collect leaves, weeds, pumpkins, and other plant debris you have raked or pulled from your lawn or garden.

Yard waste is not the same as brush.

Brush is defined as sticks, branches, and tree limbs. (Learn more about brush collection on the brush website.)

Stacks of brush mixed together with piles of yard waste will not be picked up.

How should I put out my yard waste for collection?

Place the leaves and yard waste at the street edge or on the terrace on the date shown for your home.

Do not place yard waste into the street. Placing leaves into the street is an ordinance violation.

Keep the material at least five feet from obstructions. Street signs, fire hydrants, utility poles, mailboxes, trees, stumps, and parked cars get in the way of crews.

Bagging your leaves and yard waste? Use compostable paper leaf and lawn bags. Keep your bags open so crews can see what is inside.

Other bags are acceptable if they are kept open, too. Crews may need to rip or slice open plastic bags to empty them. Crews will leave the split bags behind at the curb.

How does the City of Madison collect leaves and yard waste?

During the height of leaf collection, every available operator and vehicle we can spare is assigned to that task - so over 90 people are assigned to collecting leaves as quickly as we can.

The crews work in the teams to push or pull material from the right of way space next to the road, and then gather it forward into a collection truck.

Later, a street sweeper comes through to sweep up and leaf litter remaining in the road.

The leaves are then delivered to a local composter for processing.

You can watch a short video that shows the leaf collection process as well.

Can I take yard waste to a drop-off site?

Yes.

Drop-off sites are for City of Madison, Wisconsin residents or taxpayers.

Check the drop-off site website for locations, restrictions, and hours before loading your vehicle.

What are my options besides curbside pickup or the drop-off sites?

You can compost your yard waste to help your lawns and gardens grow next year.

Free guides on how to compost are available at City of Madison libraries and additional composting resources can be found on the Streets Division's website.

You can also mulch your leaves in place with your lawnmower. It's an easy way to help manage your leaves, help the lakes, and improve your lawns.

Will there be more than three pickup chances?

We don't know if the December weather will let us do an extra pickup round at this time.

If the weather lets us, and conditions require an extra pickup round, we will announce it before we start.

We strongly encourage you to sign up for email updates on our website to stay updated for any changes to our operations.

The reason why we can't promise more than three collections takes a little bit of explanation.

There are some neighborhoods whose third scheduled pickup is set to occur the week after Thanksgiving.

In order to be fair, all neighborhoods need to have their turn for the three scheduled pickups before an extra collection round can be performed.

This means an extra pickup round would not happen until sometime in December at the earliest.

For you to get more than three pickups, we need the weather to cooperate through the first couple weeks of December so we have an opportunity. Because if it starts snowing, our crews are needed for snowplowing work instead; the same people that pickup leaves are the same people driving the plow trucks.

Additional Information

More information about yard waste collection can be found on the Streets Division's website.