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Fall Cleanup and Leaf Removal Cost in Berks County

What leaf removal and a fall cleanup cost in Berks County, which towns vacuum leaves at the curb and when, whether leaves can go in the trash, and when to hire a crew instead.

Berks Connect Blog|Published October 16, 2026
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Leaf removal on its own, meaning just the leaves blown, piled, and either hauled off or left at the curb, runs about $150 to $550 a visit for a typical lot. A full fall cleanup, the crew's visit that clears the leaves and also cuts back the beds, lands in about the same band, $200 to $500 a visit, and the crews on the county landscaping page will quote it by the hour or by the season. If your town runs a loose-leaf vacuum, raking to the curb on its schedule is the cheapest route, and the table below says which towns do and when.

How much does leaf removal cost?

The price follows the size of the lot and how much of the work the crew does once the leaves are in a pile. On a quarter acre you'll usually see $175 to $250 a visit as of 2026, on a half acre $200 to $500, and on a full acre $400 to $1,000.

Most crews build that number from an hourly rate per worker. Blowing is the cheapest method at roughly $15 to $45 an hour, raking runs $25 to $50, and vacuuming runs $40 to $60. Most crews also carry a minimum charge of about $75 to $100.

Hauling is where the bill grows. Bagging and carting the leaves away adds $5 to $10 a bag. Mulching them in place with a mower or a shredder-vacuum runs $50 to $150 and skips the disposal fee.

What's in a fall cleanup, and what does it cost?

A fall cleanup is a bigger visit than leaf removal alone. The visit collects the leaves, trims back the old flowers and shrubs, and clears the dead and dying branches, and some crews add bed maintenance. Nationally that lands in about the same band as leaves alone, $200 to $500 a visit, and a fall cleanup can cost about double a spring one.

Gutters aren't part of it. Gutter cleaning is priced on its own, usually by the linear foot at $1 to $2, so ask for it as its own line on the quote. Our summer services guide covers the mowing.

For a light drop on the lawn, you can skip the leaf part. A mower is the only tool the lawn needs, and a shredded layer up to about half an inch deep is good for the grass rather than bad for it. Deeper than that, or leaves on the beds and the driveway, and you're back to a crew or a rake.

What local landscapers post for a fall cleanup.

Outdoor Splendor, a landscaper in Douglassville, posts its own numbers on its site: leaf blowing and raking typically $30 to $50 an hour, and spring and fall cleanups from $200 to $800 for the whole season rather than per visit, covering leaves, debris and seasonal prep. It offers one visit or several, and will either haul the leaves or blow them to the curb for your town's pickup.

Blades of Steel Landscaping runs its fall program as several visits rather than one. The crew picks up leaves at the curb and hauls them out of backyards, and the same visits cover bed maintenance, trimming back the perennials, removing the annuals and light pruning.

Iconic Landscaping, based in Pottstown, lists Berks among the counties it serves and posts that most of its leaf cleanups run $200 to $400, with a median of $300. Haul-away is optional at $100 a load, and a bed cleanup runs $200 to $800, about $480 for a typical home.

Does my Berks town pick up leaves at the curb, and when?

Many do. State law requires a municipality of 10,000 or more people, or more than 5,000 at a density of more than 300 people a square mile, to run a program that collects leaf waste separately, and the town's own ordinance sets the details. A town over 5,000 people with 500 or fewer people a square mile can skip the collection program if it bans leaf burning instead. Some send a loose-leaf collection truck, the township vacuum that takes piles raked to the curb, and some take leaves only on the yard-waste day, the day the town's hauler takes bagged yard waste separately from trash. Here are the rules near Reading.

These eight municipalities set their own rules, current as of October 2026; your town may differ, so check its site or call the office.

Municipality Loose leaves at the curb? When Loose or bagged Leaves in the trash?
Reading Yes, city crews. October 12 to December 4, 2026, which may be extended; no set daily route. Both: loose piles at the curb for the city crews, or paper bags on your yard-waste day (Northeast Mondays; Center City, East Reading, 18th Ward and South of Penn Tuesdays; Northwest, Northmont, Riverdale and Glenside Wednesdays). No plastic bags. Not on its leaf page.
Wyomissing Its pages describe only the Monday yard-waste pickup. Yard-waste pickup every Monday, mid-April to mid-December. Paper bags or open cans, 40 pounds or less; no plastic. No: the borough says never mix trash and yard waste.
West Reading The street sweeper takes leaves raked into the street at the curb. On street-cleaning days; no fixed fall dates. Residents-only drop-off at 123 S. First Avenue. The trash hauler doesn't take yard waste.
Shillington Yes. The borough's standing window: the second week of October through the second week of December. Loose at the curb; no branches or grass. Not on its leaf page.
Spring Township Yes; crews rotate through the township. The township's standing rule: the day after Columbus Day through the first Friday of December, with no fixed dates. Loose rows along the curb line. Not on its leaf page.
Cumru Township Yes, vacuums on all dedicated roads. From the second week of October for nine weeks, or until the first significant snow; no published route. Loose in the gutter; bags and cans are refused in season. No, October through December; allowed January through September.
Exeter Township Yes in subdivisions; rural roads by request. The township's standing window: November 1 to December 15, earlier if it snows. Loose at the street line. Not on its leaf page; trash is by private hauler.
Muhlenberg Township Yes. The township's standing window: late October to early December, with a pass every week to ten days. Loose at the edge of your property at the street. No: trash mixed with leaves won't be picked up.

The loose-leaf windows open between the middle of October and the start of November, depending on the town, and most close in the first half of December. Reading posts this year's dates. Spring, Exeter, Muhlenberg and Shillington publish a standing window instead of this year's dates, so there you call the office for this year's details.

Where the pile goes differs by town, and there's no county rule. West Reading wants the leaves raked out onto the street closest to the curb, where the sweeper takes them on street-cleaning days. Spring Township wants uniform rows along the curb line, and Spring and Muhlenberg both ask you to keep the piles off the storm drains. Cumru takes no bagged leaves at all in leaf season, and Reading and Wyomissing take paper bags only, so paper is the only safe bag in those towns.

Can leaves go out with the trash?

In the towns the state law covers, no. The law makes those towns' ordinances require residents to keep leaf waste separate from the rest of their household trash until it's collected, unless they compost it themselves, and it bars landfills from taking truckloads that are mostly leaves. Whether your town is one the law covers is a question for its office if its leaf page doesn't say. Some towns say it plainly on their own pages: Cumru bars leaves from refuse collection from October through December, and Muhlenberg won't pick up trash that has leaves mixed into it. Wyomissing's pages point to its Monday yard-waste day for leaves.

So which should you pick, the crew or the curb?

If your town runs a vacuum and you can rake to the curb inside the window, the curb wins on cost every time, because hauling and bagging are the fees that climb fastest. If your lot is big, the leaves keep falling past the window, or your back isn't up to it, hire the crew and ask for the middle path: blow the leaves to the curb for the town's truck and skip the haul-away charge.

The township yard-waste sites in Spring, Exeter and Muhlenberg are for residents with a card or fob, and they bar landscapers and commercial loads, so a hired crew takes your leaves to its own outlet and charges you for the trip. If your town has no program, or you missed the window, you can haul them yourself to Ridgewood Soils in Birdsboro, whose organic recycling yard lists $30 a load for leaves.

Snow is next on the calendar, and our winter services guide covers snow contracts. For the leaves, call two or three of the landscaping companies in Berks County, tell them your lot size and whether your town takes leaves at the curb, and ask for the hourly rate, the minimum, and the haul fee as three separate numbers.

Frequently asked questions.

Do I have to rake the lawn at all?

Not for a light drop. Mowing over the leaves and leaving a shredded layer up to about half an inch deep is good for the lawn.

Does a fall cleanup include the gutters?

No. It's priced on its own, usually by the linear foot at about $1 to $2; ask for it as its own line.

What if I miss my town's leaf window?

Bag them in paper for the yard-waste day if your town runs one into December, as Wyomissing does, or haul them yourself to a yard that takes leaf loads. A crew will also haul them for a per-bag or per-load fee.

Can my landscaper dump my leaves at the township yard-waste site?

No. The township sites in Spring, Exeter and Muhlenberg are for residents only and bar landscapers and commercial drop-offs, which is why a haul-away fee appears on the quote.

Sources

See the 3 places in this guide on the map