Fall Cleanup & Leaf Removal in York Region
Leaf removal, garden bed prep and property winterization in Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Markham, Aurora, Newmarket, King City, Stouffville, East Gwillimbury and Georgina.
The right time for fall cleanup in York Region is when roughly 70–80% of the leaves are down — typically mid-October to mid-November depending on your tree mix and how far north you are. Go too early and you'll do it twice. Go too late and you're working frozen ground, and your municipality's yard waste collection may have already ended for the year.
Yard waste rules by municipality — York Region
This is where most people get caught out. Every town in York Region has different containers, different weight limits, and different end-of-season dates. One rule holds everywhere: plastic bags are not accepted for yard waste anywhere in York Region. Kraft paper bags or a rigid open-top container are the only options, and several towns require a free yellow "yard waste" sticker on rigid containers.
| Municipality | Season & frequency | Weight limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond Hill | Every other week Apr 14 – Oct 9, then weekly Oct 13 – Dec 11 | 18 kg / 40 lb | Kraft paper bags or rigid open-top container (max 125 L). Best fall schedule in the region — weekly through to December. |
| Markham | Every other week, Apr 7 – Oct 30 | Under 18 kg | Kraft paper bags or open rigid containers (no lids). No plastic bags, no cardboard boxes. Ends earliest in the region — if your leaves drop in November, plan for a depot run. |
| Aurora | Every second week, April – first week of December | 22 kg / 50 lb | Paper yard bags, rigid open-top containers (free yellow sticker required), bundled branches. Branches max 10 cm dia. / 1.2 m. Grass clippings are not collected. |
| Newmarket | Every other week, April – early December | 22 kg / 50 lb | Kraft paper bags or rigid open-top container (max 125 L / 50 cm dia. / 90 cm high) with a yellow yard waste sticker. Garbage bags of any colour are rejected. |
| King Township | Weekly, week of Apr 6 – week of Dec 1 | 22 kg / 50 lb (bundles) | Paper yard waste bags or open rigid containers clearly marked. Branches max 100 mm dia. / 1.5 m bundles. Grass clippings no longer accepted — leave them on the lawn. |
| Whitchurch-Stouffville | Every other week, April – November | Per town guidelines | Paper yard waste bags or open-top container with yellow sticker. Bundles max 2 ft high × 3 ft long; branches over 3 in. dia. not accepted. No clear, opaque or orange bags. |
| East Gwillimbury | Every other week, April – November | 22 kg / 50 lb | Paper bags or rigid open-top with yellow sticker. Branches ≤10 cm dia., bundled with twine. Grass clippings not accepted. |
| Georgina (Keswick, Sutton) | Every second week, April – November | 22 kg / 50 lb | Kraft paper bags. Branch bundles ≤60 cm dia. / 122 cm long. No stumps, grass clippings, dirt or sod. |
| Vaughan | Seasonal leaf & yard waste collection — check the current City of Vaughan waste calendar | Per city guidelines | Vaughan runs a dedicated leaf and yard waste period each fall with dates that shift year to year. Confirm your street's dates on the city's waste calendar before bagging. |
Verified August 2026 against each municipality's own published waste page. Collection dates change every year — confirm with your town before your final cleanup. Region-wide, all collected yard waste is composted.
The practical takeaway
If you're in Markham, your curbside window closes at the end of October — earlier than your maples finish dropping in a mild year. If you're in Richmond Hill, you have weekly collection right through to mid-December, which is the most forgiving schedule in the region. King Township also runs weekly, into the first week of December. Everywhere else, you're on a two-week cycle that ends in November or early December.
When we do a fall cleanup, we take the debris with us — so none of this becomes your problem. But it's worth knowing if you're planning to do it yourself.
Book fall cleanup before the calendar fills
Late October and November book out first. Call 905-288-8901.
Should I leave the leaves, or remove them?
Both, in different places. A thin layer of leaves mulched into the lawn feeds the soil and is genuinely good for it. A thick mat left sitting on turf will kill it. The horticultural consensus is to mulch leaves into the lawn where the layer is manageable, remove them where it isn't, and deliberately leave one undisturbed patch in a low-traffic corner as overwintering habitat for insects.
The "leave the leaves" campaigns you may have read about are making a real point: fallen leaves shelter butterfly and moth larvae through winter, and decomposing leaf litter supports ground-nesting bees. Raking every last leaf into paper bags and sending it away is genuinely worse for pollinators than leaving some.
But the version of that advice that says "just leave everything on the lawn" is wrong, and it costs people their grass. Here are the actual thresholds:
- More than about three weeks of continuous, full leaf coverage will damage or kill turfgrass. Grass under a sealed leaf mat can't photosynthesize and stays wet, which invites snow mould over winter.
- A leaf layer up to about 15 cm deep can be safely mulched into a lawn with a mulching mower, provided the leaves are dry. Wet leaves clump instead of shredding.
- The test for "mulched enough": the leaf pieces should be roughly dime-sized or smaller, and you should still be able to see grass through them. If it looks like a layer of leaves rather than a lawn with confetti on it, keep going or take some off.
- Anything left over goes. Deep piles, wet mats and everything on garden beds where it will smother crowns should be removed before snow.
This is what a good fall cleanup actually looks like: mulch what can be mulched, remove what can't, and leave a deliberate habitat corner rather than an accidental dead patch.
What's included in a fall cleanup?
Ours covers:
- Leaf removal from lawns, garden beds, window wells, walkways and around the foundation
- Mulching leaves into the lawn where the layer is light enough to benefit the turf
- Garden bed clearing — spent annuals, fallen debris, and cutback of perennials that shouldn't overwinter standing
- Final mow at the correct height for winter
- Debris hauled off the property — no bags left at your curb, no weight limits to worry about
- Eavestrough cleaning as an add-on, which is the single most sensible thing to bundle with fall cleanup
Why bundle eavestroughs with fall cleanup
Because the timing is identical and the failure mode is shared. Both jobs want to happen after leaf drop and before the freeze. And leaves that come off your roof end up in your troughs — cleaning the lawn while leaving the eavestroughs packed means you've done the visible half of the job and skipped the expensive half. More on eavestrough cleaning →
What does fall cleanup cost in York Region?
| Scope | Typical GTA range (CAD) |
|---|---|
| Townhouse / small lot | $150 – $300 |
| Standard detached home | $300 – $550 |
| Large or heavily treed lot | $550 – $850+ |
| Estate lots (King City, Stouffville, rural Aurora) | Quoted individually |
| Hourly labour | $60 – $80 per worker |
| Leaf removal only | $150 – $400 |
Three things drive the number more than lot size does: how many mature trees overhang the property, whether it's one visit or two (properties with both early-dropping and late-dropping trees often need two), and how much of the debris has to be hauled away versus mulched in place.
Ranges reflect commonly published GTA market pricing (CAD, 2025–2026) and are for orientation.
Fall lawn care: what the research actually says
When is the last mow?
Keep mowing while the grass is still growing — generally into late October or early November in York Region, until daytime temperatures sit consistently below about 10°C. Don't scalp it for the winter. Ontario's provincial turf guidance is to raise cutting height in fall, because rooting depth is proportional to mowing height, and to avoid cutting so short that the turf mats down and invites snow mould.
Should I fertilize in fall?
Yes — fall fertilizer does more for a lawn than spring fertilizer does. Ontario guidance is two applications: one in early fall (mid-August to mid-September) and a late-season one in mid-to-late October, applied when the turf has stopped growing but is still green. That late feed goes into root reserves rather than top growth, and it's what makes a lawn green up fast in April.
What about aeration and overseeding?
Early fall is the best window of the year for both — warm soil, cooler air, less weed competition. Do it early enough that new seed has weeks to establish before frost, which in York Region means aiming for September rather than late October.
Should I prune in the fall?
Mostly, no. Fall is the wrong time for most pruning. Cutting stimulates new growth that won't harden off before winter, and on spring-flowering shrubs you are cutting off next year's flowers — the buds are already set by autumn.
Don't prune in fall
- Spring-flowering shrubs and trees — lilac, forsythia, magnolia, rhododendron, most spirea. Next spring's flower buds formed months ago. Prune these right after they finish blooming instead.
- Newly planted trees and shrubs — they need every leaf and every stored reserve going into their first winter.
- Tender or frost-sensitive plants — pruning triggers soft new growth that winter will kill.
- Evergreens, beyond removing dead or diseased material.
Fine to do in fall
- Dead, damaged or diseased wood on deciduous trees — any time is the right time for this.
- Roses — remove dead wood and cut back tall canes enough to stop winter wind rocking the plant loose at the root.
- Spent hydrangea blooms (leaving the structure, not hard-pruning the plant).
- Dividing perennials.
- Maples, birch and wisteria — these are heavy sap "bleeders," and late summer to early autumn is actually the preferred window for them, not late winter. Past mid-October, wait for full dormancy.
The general rule from Ontario horticultural sources: don't remove more than about 10% of a shrub or vine in a single fall pruning.
Preparing garden beds and plants for a York Region winter
- Install stakes and burlap frames before the ground freezes — you cannot drive a stake into frozen soil in December. Wrap the burlap in November or December once plants are dormant.
- Mulch after the ground freezes, not before. This is the most commonly reversed piece of advice in fall gardening. Mulch applied to warm soil keeps it warm and encourages growth; mulch applied after freeze-up keeps the soil consistently frozen, which is the actual goal — freeze-thaw cycling is what heaves plants out of the ground. Use 4–6 inches of shredded bark.
- Mound 6–8 inches of soil or compost over the base of roses, hydrangeas and butterfly bush.
- Use straw, not hay, if you're insulating with it — hay carries weed seed. About 8 inches works.
- Plant spring bulbs from late September through late November, once overnight temperatures drop into the 5–10°C range and while the soil is still workable. Daffodils prefer going in a little earlier than tulips — mid-October is a good target.
- Clear leaves out of window wells and away from the foundation. A window well packed with wet leaves is a basement leak waiting for the first big thaw.
Serving north York Region
Vaughan (Maple, Kleinburg, Concord) · Richmond Hill · Markham (Unionville, Cathedraltown) · Aurora · Newmarket · King City · Nobleton · Whitchurch-Stouffville · East Gwillimbury · Georgina (Keswick, Sutton, Jackson's Point, Pefferlaw) · Bradford · Brechin
Frequently asked questions
When should I book fall cleanup in York Region?
Book in September; schedule the work for when about 70–80% of your leaves are down, which is usually mid-October to mid-November. The exact date depends on your tree mix — oaks hold their leaves well past the maples, so an oak-heavy property runs later. Properties with both often need two visits.
Can I put leaves in plastic bags for collection?
No. Plastic bags are not accepted for yard waste anywhere in York Region. Use kraft paper yard waste bags, or a rigid open-top container — and check whether your town requires a free yellow yard waste sticker on rigid containers (Richmond Hill, Newmarket, Aurora, Stouffville and East Gwillimbury do). When we do the cleanup, we haul the debris away, so this doesn't apply.
Is it bad to leave leaves on the lawn over winter?
A thin layer that gets mulched in is good for the lawn. A thick continuous mat is not — more than roughly three weeks of full leaf coverage will damage or kill turfgrass, and wet matted leaves under snow are how you get snow mould. The right approach is to mulch what's light enough, remove what isn't, and leave one undisturbed patch in a low-traffic corner for overwintering insects.
Is it better to rake leaves or mulch them with a mower?
Mulch where you can. A layer up to about 15 cm deep can be mulched into the lawn with a mulching mower, provided the leaves are dry — it returns organic matter and nutrients to the soil for free. The pieces should end up roughly dime-sized with grass still visible through them. Wet leaves won't shred properly, and anything beyond that depth needs to come off.
Do I need one visit or two?
One visit works for most properties with a uniform tree mix. Two makes sense when you have both early droppers (ash, birch, walnut) and late holders (oak), or when you have enough mature canopy that a single pass in late October leaves you with another full layer by mid-November.
Does fall cleanup include eavestrough cleaning?
It's an add-on, and it's the one we'd recommend most. Both jobs want the same weather window and the leaves in your troughs came from the same trees. Doing them in one visit is cheaper than two trips.
When should I stop cutting my grass in Ontario?
Keep mowing while it's growing — typically into late October or early November, until daytime temperatures sit consistently below about 10°C. Resist the urge to cut it very short for winter. Provincial turf guidance is actually to raise the mowing height in fall, since rooting depth follows mowing height, and short matted turf is more prone to snow mould.
Should I cut back my perennials in fall?
Some yes, some no. Cut back anything that flopped, went mushy, or showed disease this season — leaving diseased foliage over winter carries the problem into spring. Leave ornamental grasses, coneflowers, rudbeckia and sedum standing: they hold snow, look good in January, feed birds, and their hollow stems shelter insects. It's a judgement call plant by plant, and we'll make it as we go rather than shearing everything to the ground.
Should I prune my trees and shrubs during fall cleanup?
Only selectively. Dead, damaged and diseased wood can come off any time. Roses get cut back enough to prevent winter wind rock. But spring-flowering shrubs like lilac and forsythia have already set next spring's buds, so pruning them now removes the flowers — those get done right after they bloom instead. Newly planted and frost-tender plants are left alone entirely.
Should I fertilize the lawn in the fall?
Yes, and it matters more than spring feeding. Ontario guidance is an early-fall application (mid-August to mid-September) and a late-season one in mid-to-late October, timed for when the turf has stopped growing but is still green. That late application builds root reserves and is what drives a fast, strong green-up the following April.
What do you do with the debris?
It leaves with us. You don't deal with paper bags, weight limits, sticker requirements or whether your town's collection has ended for the season.
Is it worth hiring someone instead of doing it myself?
Depends on your property and your back. On a small lot with two trees, a Saturday and a mulching mower will do the job. On a mature lot in Aurora or King City with several large maples, you're looking at multiple weekends, twenty-plus paper bags, a town weight limit of 18–22 kg per bag, and a collection schedule that may end before you do. That's the point at which most people call.
PSG - Windows and Eaves
Fall cleanup, leaf removal, eavestrough cleaning and window washing across north York Region.