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For Sacramento gardeners, 'Claw' season ends Feb. 3

That's the last day to put green waste in the street for pick-up

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JAN 21, 2025

"The Claw" ends its winter rounds of green waste pickups in Sacramento on Feb. 3. Courtesy City of Sacramento

Here’s good news for procrastinating pruners in Sacramento: In-street green waste pick-up has been extended.

But not for long; the Claw’s Leaf Season schedule officially ends Monday, Feb. 3.

That’s the last day that Sacramento residents can put green waste in the street to be scooped up by the City’s fleet of Claws – Sacramento’s specialized articulated tractors.

Originally, Leaf Season street pick-up was scheduled to end a week earlier. But rainy weather in December delayed pick-up in some neighborhoods, so an extra week was tacked on.

For three months each year, the Claws scoop up leaf piles and other debris from city streets. It’s a unique service that residents in the City of Trees treasure as a legacy.

On average, the Claw visits each neighborhood about seven times during Leaf Season, which started Nov. 4.

Residents can find out when the Claw will be in their neighborhood with the Collection Calendar, available on Sacramento’s official Leaf Season webpage: https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/public-works/recycling-solid-waste/Collectionservices/Leaf_Season.

Just put in your street address and the online calendar will tell you when to expect the Claw in your neighborhood.

In all, the Claw crews expect to pick up about 20,000 tons of green waste this season. Besides leaves, branches and other pruning debris are also accepted. (No tree stumps allowed.)

Although organic food waste (along with leaves and yard debris) now goes in the organic waste container (formerly the green-waste container), don’t dump food waste or paper into leaf piles. The Claw won’t pick them up. Instead, put such organic waste in the green-waste container.

In fact, city officials prefer that residents put as much as they can into the green-waste container before putting piles in the street.

Here are more tips:

* Leaf piles can be no bigger than 4 by 4 by 9 feet (and just one per household). Make sure there is space between the pile and the curb so water can flow down the gutter.

* Place the pile at least 6 feet away from cars, boats, basketball hoops or other obstructions. The Claw needs room to maneuver. Don’t block bike lanes.

* Don’t put plastic bags in street piles (including bags full of leaves or debris).

* And don’t contaminate the leaf pile with trash or dog poop (a common problem).

After leaf season, Sacramento residents can still arrange for special in-street pick-up of large items such as chopped-up tree limbs – as well as old appliances and furniture. From February to October, residents can get two free “Household Junk Pick-up” appointments simply by calling “311.” (Remember: Don’t put items in street until after your pick-up is confirmed.)

For more information: SacLeafSmart.org.

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Garden checklist for week of May 10

Take it easy during that high heat – then get to work! Your garden is calling.

* Remember to irrigate your tender transplants. Seedlings need consistent moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants. Water early in the morning for best results.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)

* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Put your veggie garden on a regular diet. Set up a monthly feeding program, and keep track on your calendar. Make sure to water your garden before applying any fertilizer to prevent “burning” your plants.

* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.

* Don’t forget to weed! Those invaders are growing fast.

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