Leaf Collection Dates Extended
Falls Church City leaf collection has been extended beyond the originally published end date, giving City residents more time to rake leaves from their yards.
Through Dec. 11 leaf pickup will continue on the north side of Broad Street as scheduled
Dec. 14-24 (No collection Dec. 25) areas south of Broad Street (Tuesday and Wednesday Collection Zones)
Dec. 28-Jan. 8 areas north of Broad Street (Thursday and Friday Collection Zones)
By Falls Church Times Staff
December 3, 2009
Extending the date appears to be necessary. Evidence as to climate change is usually debated in global terms (e.g. melting of the polar ice caps, etc.), but even here in our region, there seems to be little doubt that leaves are staying on the trees later than previously. This means that the (hard working) crews have less to do at the beginning of the collection season, but often are not finished at the end of the traditional period of leaf collection.
Sorry to burst the climate change bubble, but the environmental factor which directly causes leaves to fall is the amount of daylight reaching them. Shorter days => stem cells closing to cut off water and nutrients => leaves falling. Temperature changes may affect leaf color and dryness during this time, but not when they will fall. Leaves in our region typically fall from late October/early November through the end of December.
As has been the case for many years, the City’s leaf collection “season” has been extended past the planned December 15 date, requiring the usual press releases and efforts to help reduce the raking deadline stress on our citizens. Anyone could have predicted it would be extended this year, too. Yes, leaves are still falling off of the Oaks in mid-December, and you can and should count on it every year. Our larger municipal neighbors Arlington and Fairfax collect leaves from early November through the end of December. Why can’t we plan on adopting this schedule, too?