Detailed Yard Material Collection Map (PDF) 

Yard Material Pile Collection Schedule (PDF)   Spanish (PDF)  

Letter to Landscapers and Arborists: English (PDF)  Spanish (PDF)

Quick Links:

Report Illegal Dumping

Per City Municipal Code, yard materials must be placed directly adjacent to the property it came from—not across the street, around the corner or anywhere else. If you see someone illegally dumping yard debris on the street, especially if they are unloading it from a vehicle, please let us know. Please get the license plate number of the vehicle and a detailed description of the individual. If it is safe to do so, take a picture and report the issue via the City’s Go Request tool.

Street Sweeping Schedule

Streets are swept once per month. The downtown core area is swept once per week.

Street sweeping dates:

Bicycle Safety and Yard Material Piles

YARD MATERIAL PILES MAY NOT BE PLACED IN ANY PORTION OF A BIKE LANE. This may mean that your yard material pile cannot be 5 feet wide if it infringes into the bike lane. Yard material piles can cause cyclists to crash by slipping or getting branches stuck in their wheel spokes.  Due to their low profile and non-uniform size, cyclists may not see the piles until they come upon them, especially in the absence of street lighting.

Some streets are too narrow to accommodate vehicle traffic, parked vehicles, bike lanes and yard material piles. On these streets, yard material piles may not be placed for pick-up because they will be in the bike lane.  These streets include (but are not limited to):

• East 8th Street from B Street to J Street
• 5th Street (both sides of the street) from A Street to L Street and from from Pole Line Drive to Alhambra Drive
• B Street from East 8th Street to East 14th Street
• Cantrill Drive (both sides of the street) between Fifth and Second Streets
• The North side of Olive Drive from Richards Boulevard to the Pole Line overcrossing
• Valdora Street (both sides of the street) from Cowell Boulevard to Evergreen Court
• 503, 504, 507, 508 and 512 F Street
• Loyola Drive (both sides of the street), from 3010 Loyola, to Alhambra Drive
• Alhambra Drive (both sides of the street)
• Danbury Street (both sides of the street)
• Yard material piles are also not allowed in the downtown core area (the area bounded by 5th Street, the south side of 1st Street, the west side of B Street and the Union Pacific railroad tracks) or in the Cannery development (the area bordered by East Covell Boulevard to the south, F Street to the west and is located west of Pole Line Road).

In order to make yard material collection easy for you and safe for others, please give your yard materials a little T.L.C.

Timing—Place yard material piles on the street the day before pickup. This reduces the number of days the piles pose a hazard to bicyclists and also limits the amount of debris movement across the street during windy weather conditions.

Limit The Size—Yard material piles can create serious hazards for cyclists and have caused cyclists to crash because they may not see piles in time to properly avoid them, especially at night. In addition, piles in the gutter may not only cause flooding, but also bring pollutants to nearby waterways. Place piles away from the curb or gutter to avoid making contact with stormwater, while being careful not to place them in any portion of the bike lane. This may mean that your yard material pile cannot be 5 feet wide if any part of it is in the bike lane or protrudes into the gutter. Yard material piles cannot be larger than 5’x5’x5’ at any given time.

Composting—Composting returns nutrients back into the soil, cuts down on the need for pesticides and fertilizers and saves water. Learn more about composting. Receive a compost bin via the City’s Online Compost Class!

Got Extra Yard Trimmings?

If you have excess yard trimmings that you can't fit in your organics cart and your next scheduled yard material pick-up day is too far off, you have options! See page two of our Yard material collection flier (PDF)

• MULCH MOW Mulching lawnmowers chop grass clippings so finely that they fall in-between the blades of grass in your lawn and quickly decompose, recycling nutrients into your yard. You can even mulch mow leaves that fall onto your lawn.

• LEAF MULCH Fallen leaves make an excellent and natural mulch for trees. When possible, leave your leaves where they fall and allow them to decompose, recycling nutrients back to the trees, creating a natural block for weeds, enriching the soil and preserving soil structure and moisture. Fallen leaves can be mulch mowed onto lawns as well.

• YARD TRIMMINGS AS MULCH Leaves, trimmings and lawn clippings make excellent mulch for bushes and small trees. Layer yard trimmings 4-6 inches thick under bushes and around the base of your trees.

2. BACKYARD COMPOSTING
Start a backyard compost pile for your yard trimmings and create your own nutrient-rich compost! The City has many composting resources available, including booklets, web tutorials and an online class! Davis residents in single-family homes can take the online composting class and receive a backyard composting bin for only $10.

3. USE THE CART
All customers in Davis have access to an organics recycling cart that’s collected weekly along with trash and recycling. You’d be surprised how much can fit into one organics cart! Yard materials do not always nest well, so here are some tips on how to make the most out of the space in your organics cart.

• CHOP IT Chop materials up into pieces 18” or shorter before placing them in your organics cart.

• SQUISH IT When your cart seems full, tamp it down with a shovel, broom or rake to free up space for more materials.

• DRY IT Yard materials can lose a lot of their mass as they dry, leaving more space in your organics cart. As materials dry, tamp them down again and stuff in more.

• MULTIPLY IT Customers can get additional carts (fees apply). Residential organics carts are emptied once a week, offering a simple low-cost way to compost your yard trimmings. To request additional organics carts, residents can contact the City Finance Department (530-757-5651) and businesses can contact Recology Davis (530-756-4646).

4. SHARE THE SPACE
If you have a one-time excess amount of yard trimmings, you can ask your neighbor if you can place some of your extra trimmings in their organics cart.

5. HAVE IT HAULED
Ask a business to remove the yard trimmings materials for you.

• Contact Recology Davis (530-756-4646) for details and pricing on a large drop box for yard debris—they drop off the box for you, then haul it away after you’ve filled it with yard trimmings. You can also contact Recology for a quote on an off-schedule pile pick-up. The quote will be based on the volume, size and type of yard material.

• Customers can contact a landscaper, tree removal company or junk removal company for a quote to haul away excess yard materials during non-pile collection season (yard trimmings may not be stored on the street for collection via this option).

6. FEED THE ZOO
Donate your yard trimmings to the Sacramento Zoo to feed the animals. See details on the Sacramento zoo website, https://www.saczoo.org/browse-donation/.

7. RETHINK YOUR LANDSCAPE
Consider upgrading your landscape to include low maintenance plants that don’t require a lot of pruning, cutting and trimming—saving you time and reducing the amount of yard trimmings you have to manage.