Leaf Pickup Day! East Side of Fox River

Here's a reminder to have leaves in the parkway by 7 a.m.

Zone A: East Side of the Fox River

• Tuesday, Nov. 2
• Friday, Nov. 12
• Wednesday, Nov. 24

A full schedule is printed on the city of Geneva Web site. Geneva Patch also will post event reminders on our home page on the day of each pickup, so be sure to log in every day.

Here are a couple of hints, changes and traditional rules worth noting:

• Rake leaves into the parkway next to the curb—Keep them about 12 inches from the street. (And don't let them get into the street, for gosh sakes. See Alderman Piper's quote above.)
• Get the leaves there by Monday prior to pickup and not later than 7 a.m. the day of pickup—Yes, it's difficult to schedule time during the work week, but it won't do any good to rake on Sunday if the pickup is Thursday. The wind will blow them to kingdom come or your neighbor's yard or the street.
• Don't park your car on the street that week—If you block the vacuum from getting to your leaves, you might miss out.
• Take advantage of free pickup of leaves in paper bags from Nov. 30 to Dec. 31—After the curbside vacuum collection period is over, you can still get free leaf collection. Allied Waste handles this part of the collection process. You put leaves in paper yard-waste bags, and place them with your scheduled refuse collection. Refuse stickers are not required during this time period for leaves. No other yard waste (grass, branches, etc.) can be mixed with the leaves.
• Do it yourself #1—The city suggests using a mulching lawnmower. Mulching leaves provides nutrients for the soil.
• Do it yourself #2—This advice from the city: Place leaves in and around plant beds and under trees and shrubs. Again, this provides good nutrients for the soil insulation for the plants.