When you decide to tackle your overgrown yard, you may wonder what you're going to do with all the leaves, old plants, tree limbs, and other yard debris. Your city may have an ordinance against open burning and you may have too much for your local trash service to haul away. The solution could be to rent roll-off bins. Here are a few tips for clearing your yard and using a dumpster to get rid of all the debris.

Request A Yard Waste Bin

The roll-off bin company may want types of trash separated, so when you order your dumpster, let them know you will use it for yard waste and then find out if anything but plants can go in the bin. Tree branches and other yard waste are often sent to a different dump location than mixed household waste or construction debris. This is done if your city recycles yard debris to make mulch. So, not mixing in things like old kiddie pools and lawn chairs is important and it could save you from additional fees if the dumpster company has to separate your trash.

Start In Advance Of The Bin Delivery

If you have a fenced back yard and can stack tree branches for a few days without getting in trouble with your city, then you may want to get a head start on your yard cleanup days before the dumpster is delivered. Trimming trees is a lot of work, and you may need the dumpster for longer than you expect if you don't start working until the dumpster arrives. One problem with tree branches is that they're so bushy. It won't take many branches to fill up the dumpster even though they are lightweight.

When you trim branches, try to stay organized and stack them in the same direction so they're easy to pick up and transport in a wheelbarrow to the dumpster. Also, cut each branch into smaller pieces so the cut pieces can be stacked on top of each other and not create pockets of wasted space in the dumpster. If you start cutting tree branches days ahead of time, they will dry out, shrink, and take up less space in the roll-off bin.

Consider If You Want To Mulch Or Bag Leaves

Bagging up a yard full of decaying leaves isn't much fun, and it can take forever when you have a big yard. An alternative to consider is to rent a mulching mower if you don't have one. You can then mow over the leaves and chew them up so you don't have to waste time stuffing leaves into bags so you can stack them in the dumpster.

However, if you don't have many leaves, it may be easy to rake them up and put them in the dumpster to be hauled away. Ask your bin rental company if you should bag up the leaves or dump them in loose. If you just dump them in, place them on the bottom if possible so they'll be weighed down with branches and won't blow back in your yard.

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