Yard Waste and Composting

IMPORTANT NOTE: In Montgomery County, it is against the law to dispose of yard trimmings (grass, leaves, brush, and garden trimmings) in the household waste collection.

Mondays (exceptions below).

Ecology Services will not collect yard waste on these holidays: New Year’s Day and Christmas. When these holidays fall on a scheduled collection day, the contractor will skip that collection and make the collection on the next scheduled collection day (the following Monday).

Exceptions:

• Yard waste will be collected on Tuesday directly following Memorial Day and Labor Day.
• Yard waste will be collected on Tuesday directly following Independence Day (July 4th holiday) IF this holiday falls on Monday.

Yard waste should be placed at the curb.

Yard waste must be placed in paper bags, reusable cans or tied in bundles. Cans and bags must not weigh more than 45 pounds. Containers exceeding 45 pounds will be left at the curb for repackaging and picked up the following Monday if they are within the weight limits.

You may also tie branches and sticks into bundles with twine. The diameter of individual branches is limited to 4 inches. Bundles must not exceed 30 inches in diameter and 4 feet in length.

Tired of bagging grass clippings? Help your lawn and help the environment by “grasscycling.” Grasscycling simply means recycling grass clippings—but instead of collecting your grass clippings as you mow and placing them in paper lawn bags or in reusable containers for curbside recycling collection, you can recycle your grass clippings right in your own yard. It’s fast, easy, and simple.

Through mowing at proper intervals, grasscycling produces short grass particles that fall to the soil surface and quickly break down. The result: the release of valuable nutrients that fertilize the lawn and adds organic matter that conserves moisture and protects against temperature extremes.

Composting transforms your yard and garden trimmings, such as grass clippings, leaves, and garden prunings, and food scraps into a dark, crumbly, sweet-smelling material that naturally enriches the soil.

When you compost, you create an environment for organisms to break down carbon-rich “brown” material, such as dried leaves and wood chips; and nitrogen-rich “green” material, including grass clippings and flowers. The carbon and nitrogen materials decompose and become a high-nutrient soil amendment that you can mix into soil and use in your garden.

All it takes is a compost bin (preferably), a mixture of organic materials, water, a pitchfork or shovel, and some time.

For more information on composting:

• Residential Service is provided by Compost Crew.  Information on their residential services can be found here.  You can sign up here. When users load a Chevy Chase View address, the rate will be entered as $20 instead of the current $32/month.
• Montgomery County also provides information and resources for home composting.  Find more information here.