Pleasant Ridge considers extending leaf pickup before winter

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PLEASANT RIDGE, Mich. – The city of Pleasant Ridge may extend its leaf pickup into the week of Dec. 11.

SEE: Yard waste collection, leaf pickup dates and information for Metro Detroit in 2017

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Next week, the city will evaluate the status of leaf piles in the streets, the amount of leaves still on the trees and the weather forecast to determine if the pickup should be extended. Pickup was scheduled to end Dec. 1.

Read a full statement about the decision below.

We've been monitoring the leaves daily (that's not a sentence I ever thought I would write), and it is clear that they are not cooperating with our pickup schedule this year.

The plan as of now (Wednesday afternoon) is to continue as scheduled with leaf pickup next week.

On Tuesday or Wednesday of next week we will evaluate 1) the status of leaf piles in the streets, 2) the amount of leaves still on the trees, and 3) the weather forecast. We will then decide if we are going to extend leaf pickup into the week of December 11.

Why wait to decide? The weather is very unpredictable this time of year. Warm weather slows down leaf fall, meaning that the leaves still potentially could not have fallen by December 11. Or it could snow. Waiting for a bit will give us a better sense of what to expect from Mother Nature. Adding on additional days to leaf pickup is also expensive. We'll absorb the cost if necessary, but we would like to avoid that if possible.

The bottom line is this: put out all the leaves that you can by next Monday. Those will be collected next week. Once we have more information by the middle of next week, we'll make a final call then and post it here and to the City website - www.cityofpleasantridge.org

Regardless of what happens with curbside leaf pickup, bagged leaves may be placed out for pickup with the Monday, December 11 pickup. That's the last day for compost until the spring.

Finally, leaves also make great mulch for your yard or planting beds. You can chop them up with your lawn mower or leaf blower's vacuum attachment and put all those great nutrients back into the ground.