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Leaf Pickup Schedules in Berks County, Town by Town

Every Berks town's leaf pickup in one table: who runs a truck for loose piles, who takes paper bags on the yard-waste day, who posts no program, with this fall's dates. Then street, curb or bag, leaves in the trash, drop-offs if you miss the window, and what crews refuse.

Berks Connect Blog|Published November 8, 2026
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Whether your leaves get picked up at the curb depends on which Berks town you live in. Some towns send a truck for loose piles, some take only paper bags on the yard-waste day, and many offer none. Find your town in the table and do what its row says. If you'd rather hire a crew, the landscaping companies in Berks County are all in one place, and the fall cleanup and leaf removal cost in Berks County post says what they charge.

Every Berks town whose own site says anything about leaf pickup is in the table, with this fall's dates where the town prints them and whether the leaves go out loose or bagged. A yard-waste day is the hauler's separate day for bagged yard waste; standing dates are the town's every-year rule with nothing posted for this fall. A town that isn't in it posts no leaf pickup schedule on its site, with one exception below.

Town What runs Fall 2026 dates as the town posts them
Reading City crews pick up loose piles; paper-bagged leaves on your yard-waste day October 12 to December 4, 2026, which the city may extend
Amity Township Township crew, by zone, loose only, two passes Begins November 9; a second pass from December 1; done by December 11 or the first major snow
Birdsboro The borough, loose at the curb October 20 to December 4 (the borough's current notice)
Boyertown Borough crew, loose in the gutter October 20 to December 4, 2026: Monday and Tuesday west of the tracks, Wednesday and Thursday east, Friday make-up
Cumru Township Township vacuum, loose in the gutter, no bags The second week of October for nine weeks or until the first significant snow
Douglass Township Township crew, loose at the curb, five weekday zones October 26 to December 11, 2026; Thanksgiving week is different: leaves out Sunday evening
Exeter Township Highway crew, loose at the street line; rural roads by request November 1 to December 15 every year, earlier if it snows
Fleetwood The borough Started October 13, through December 11, weather permitting
Kenhorst Borough crew, loose at the curb Begins in November, ends in December, weather permitting (standing dates)
Kutztown Borough crew, loose in the gutter or alley edge, one pass a week October 12 to November 25 (the borough's 2026 post)
Laureldale Streets department, loose or bagged at the curb, clear bags allowed "Every fall"; no 2026 dates posted
Lower Alsace Township Township road crew Begins in October until the first major snowfall (standing dates)
Lower Heidelberg Township Township road crew (the window is on the township calendar) October 12 to December 18
Maidencreek Township Township crew, curbside on listed Mondays November 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 and December 7
Maxatawny Township Township crew, loose at the curb or gutter, each road once a week October 19 to November 18 (the township's current notice); seven named roads skipped
Muhlenberg Township Public Works crew, loose at the property edge, about every week to 10 days Late October to early December (standing dates)
Shillington The borough, loose at the curb The second week of October through the second week of December (standing dates)
Sinking Spring Borough crew, loose rows in the street along the curb; the crews rotate with no fixed days Mid-October to the first week of December, weather permitting (standing dates)
South Heidelberg Township Township crews, a row on the curb off the street, four zones October 26 to December 11, 2026
Spring Township Township crews, loose rows in the street along the curb; the crews rotate with no fixed days The day after Columbus Day (October 13, 2026) through the first Friday of December (December 4), unless snow comes first
Topton Borough crew, loose along the curb, three zones Mondays west of Home Avenue, Wednesdays east, Thursdays north of the tracks, 6 to 10 a.m., through November 30
Wernersville Borough leaf truck; leaves only, no branches, in piles the truck can reach; the borough's pages don't say street or curb October 12 to December 11, 2026; all leaves out by the end of Thursday, December 10
West Reading The street sweeper takes leaves raked into the street No fall dates; the sweeper is out of service until November 9, 2026
Womelsdorf The borough, loose at the curb or sidewalk, never in the street October to December, weather permitting; no 2026 dates posted
St. Lawrence Bagged only, Mondays, call or text by 8:30 a.m.; paper bags or totes under 25 pounds Year-round
Shoemakersville Bagged only, paper bags under 30 pounds, with the Tuesday hauler Tuesdays through November 24, 2026
Wyomissing No loose-leaf program posted; paper bags or open cans under 40 pounds, Mondays Every Monday, mid-April to mid-December
Hamburg No loose-leaf program posted; a Wednesday yard-waste pickup Wednesdays through November 25, 2026
Mount Penn No loose-leaf program; bagged yard waste under 20 pounds, five items a pickup, with the hauler Every other Monday on the borough's 2026 calendar: October 5 and 19, November 2 and 16; none in December
Robesonia A borough leaf truck; nothing posted for this fall Not posted; the borough says residents may take leaves to the yard-waste facility at the borough garage
Oley Township No program; keep leaves off the curb and the street None

Every row comes from the town's own page, read November 5, 2026; plain dates are this fall's posting, and a current notice is one that prints no year.

A town that isn't in the table posts no leaf pickup schedule on its website: the boroughs of Bally, Bernville, Centerport, Leesport, Lenhartsville, Lyons, Mohnton and New Morgan, and the townships of Albany, Alsace, Bern, Bethel, Brecknock, Caernarvon, Centre, Colebrookdale, District, Earl, Greenwich, Heidelberg, Hereford, Jefferson, Longswamp, Marion, North Heidelberg, Ontelaunee, Penn, Perry, Pike, Richmond, Robeson, Rockland, Ruscombmanor, Tilden, Tulpehocken, Union, Upper Bern, Upper Tulpehocken, Washington and Windsor. Bechtelsville is the exception; call the borough office. Many of those towns keep a residents-only yard-waste drop-off; the office has the address and hours.

Does the pile go in the street, on the curb or in a bag?

Reading wants loose piles raked to the curb with nothing mixed in. West Reading, Spring, Sinking Spring, Cumru, Boyertown, Kutztown and Topton want the leaves raked into the street or gutter along the curb; Topton wants the pile out the day before its 6-to-10 a.m. pickup; one borough page says by 7 a.m. that morning, so the night before satisfies both. South Heidelberg, Womelsdorf, St. Lawrence and Oley want them kept out of the street: South Heidelberg wants a row on the curb, Womelsdorf the curb or sidewalk.

Reading takes paper bags only, never plastic, and Wyomissing paper bags or open cans; Laureldale allows clear bags; St. Lawrence takes paper bags under 25 pounds, Shoemakersville under 30, and Mount Penn under 20. Cumru's and Amity's leaf crews take no bags at all.

Can leaves go in the trash?

In the towns that post a rule, no. Reading's pages don't say. Muhlenberg, Sinking Spring, Wyomissing and St. Lawrence say leaves don't go in the trash, and Earl Township keeps yard waste out of its trash service; Cumru bans them from refuse collection October through December.

The state's recycling law makes the bigger towns run a leaf program: any town of 10,000 or more people, and any town of more than 5,000 that's packed more than 300 people a square mile. In those towns, residents have to keep leaf waste separate from the rest of their trash until it's collected, unless they compost it themselves. A town over 5,000 people that's at or under 500 a square mile, even if it's over 300, is let off the program if it bans leaf burning instead, and no landfill may take truckloads composed primarily of leaf waste.

What if you missed the leaf collection window?

Some windows close in November: Maxatawny, Kutztown, Shoemakersville, Hamburg and Topton. Amity makes a second pass from December 1, and if Reading's truck already passed your block, don't chase it; the crews come back through each neighborhood every so often.

West Reading's residents-only yard-waste site at 123 S. First Avenue is open weekdays 7 to 3 by appointment (610-374-8605). Cumru's Poplar Neck Road site opens the second Saturday of November and December, 10 to noon, and South Heidelberg's Point Road site runs by access card (call the township at 610-678-9652 for one) and serves Wernersville and Lower Heidelberg residents too.

Or hand it to one of the landscaping companies in Berks County; for a light drop, mowing the leaves into the lawn works, and the rest of the season is on the seasonal home maintenance checklist.

What the leaf crews won't take.

Reading, Spring, Cumru and most of the other towns with a truck say so: branches, brush, grass clippings and anything but leaves stay out of the pile. Keep the pile off the storm drains. And don't park on or beside a pile, because the truck can't reach it and a hot car on dry leaves can start a fire.

Every date and rule here is the town's own posting as of November 5, 2026; towns move dates with the weather, and the town office is the word on this week. When the snow comes, the shoveling deadlines are in the sidewalk snow removal rules, town by town.

Frequently asked questions.

How does leaf pickup work in Reading?

City crews pick up loose piles with nothing mixed in, with no set route. Paper-bagged leaves go out on your yard-waste day: Mondays in the Northeast; Tuesdays in Center City, East Reading, the 18th Ward and South of Penn; Wednesdays in Northwest, Northmont, Riverdale and Glenside. Progress reports: the Streets Division, 610-655-6285. More is in the Reading trash and recycling guide.

Should you rake into the street if rain is coming?

Spring and Sinking Spring ask you to wait until the storm passes before you rake leaves into the street, because the piles clog the storm drains and the road floods.

Sources