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With fall foliage, The Claw is back

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED NOV 8, 2019

The Claw is making its rounds on the streets of Sacramento, picking up piles of leaves, through Jan. 26. (Photo courtesy

City of Sacramento)

Leaf season in Sacramento brings return of street pick-up

Although fall foliage seems to be clinging to the trees, leaf season has returned to Sacramento. That means the familiar Claw is back in action.

Now through Jan. 26, Claw crews will work the streets of Sacramento, methodically scooping up the City of Trees’ abundant accumulation of leaves and other green waste.

November and December produce the majority of leaves: 23,000 tons were picked up by Claw crews during those two months last year. That was a wet winter; rain weighed down the foliage like soaked towels. In 2017, those same two months totaled about 18,000 tons.

Most Sacramento residents should expect seven sweeps down their street by The Claw between Nov. 1 and Jan. 26, according to Erin Treadwell, spokesperson for Sacramento’s Department of Recycling and Solid Waste.

Residents can get a pick-up estimate via the city’s Leaf Season webpage at: http://www.cityofsacramento.org/Public-Works/RSW/Collection-Services/Yard-Waste/Leaf-Season . On the SacRecycle collection calendar link, insert your address and get a target date for your street, within three days. The Claw schedule is updated twice daily with crews out Monday through Saturday.

During light leaf weeks, The Claw crews can complete their citywide schedule in 10 to 12 days. Wet and windy weather can bring down masses of leaves, especially early in November if there hasn’t been a major leaf drop. That almost doubles the time estimate for completing a city sweep.

Meanwhile, the city continues to pick up residential green waste containers on a weekly basis. Fill those 96-gallon bins before piling leaves in the street; that helps keep curb space open for parking.

If a heavy rain is expected, move leaf piles out of the street and up onto lawn, Treadwell suggested. That keeps leaves from clogging storm drains. Keep piles out of gutters and bike lanes.

“It only takes five well-placed big leaves to clog a drain,” she said.

The biggest contaminant of leaf piles? Poop bags. Please put dog waste in the regular garbage, not street piles or green waste bins, Treadwell said.

For more tips on leaf season: www.cityofsacramento.org and follow links to “Leaf Season.”

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yard waste gardening Sacramento The Claw winter weather fall gardening fall foliage leaves

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Garden Checklist for week of May 19

Temperatures will be a bit higher than normal in the afternoons this week. Take care of chores early in the day – then enjoy the afternoon. It’s time to smell the roses.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. If you haven’t already, it’s 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.

* 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.

* Don’t forget to water. Seedlings need moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants.

* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.

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