The City of Knoxville's annual "Leaf Season" has begun and that means Public Service Department crews will be visiting your neighborhood several times between now and February to vacuum up leaves.

The leaf collection season always begins Nov. 1, and concludes Feb. 1, of each year. During this period, the normal two-week brush schedule is suspended and resources are concentrated on collecting leaves throughout the community. 
 
You can find out the next time your leaves will be picked up by accessing the city's website at www.cityofknoxville.org and clicking on the "Leaf Pickup Schedule" icon on the right side of the page.

That directs the user to fill in their street name - don't include the house number or street type like drive, road or avenue - and responds by letting them know the weeks when public service crews will be in their neighborhood.

The schedules are done on a weekly basis so the date users receive will always be a Monday and the crews will be there sometime during that week.

Schedules are subject to change based on weather conditions and other uncontrollable events, so users should periodically check the site for schedule updates. Further information is also available by calling 311, which is your direct line to the City of Knoxville and its services.

The availability of an online schedule is the result of a cooperative effort between 311, the Public Service Department and the city's Information Services Division to develop a means for people to access leaf pickup schedules at any time.

This is the busiest time of the year for the city's Public Service Department, which will pick up nearly 7,000 tons, or about 13.5 million pounds of leaves, from Knoxville's neighborhoods.

That accounts for roughly 25 percent of the total yard waste collected by the city each year according to David Brace, director of the Public Service Department. 
 
"Fall is an absolutely beautiful time of year in East Tennessee but for our public service personnel, it is also one of our busiest," says Brace. "Leaf collection is a key service we provide our customers and is important for both the look of our community during the holiday season and for properly maintaining our roads and stormwater facilities." 
 
While leaf season begins in November, and concludes in February, the bulk of the leaves in the city will be collected by Christmas. The city uses trucks equipped with suction devices to vacuum up leaves, which need to be raked to within five feet of the curb for pickup.

Please don't rake leaves into the street and try not to block drainage ditches if possible. Also please don't mix brush in with leaf piles.

The city will not pick up mixed piles of leaves, brush, or other refuse because the leaf collection equipment is only designed to vacuum up leaves and can be damaged by brush.

Brush collection will continue during November, December and January but it�s done on a limited basis, as resources are available.