Quick Summary
- Fairfax County’s vacuum leaf collection runs November through January, with three pickup rounds per area, according to the county’s Vacuum Leaf Collection page (updated October 15, 2026).
- The 2026 schedule has not been posted yet. The county’s Schedule and Status page says it is coming soon.
- It is a paid service for homes in collection areas created by petition, charged at $0.019 per $100 of assessed value.
- Leaves go at the curb by the day before your date, no more than 4 feet from the street edge, and free of sticks, trash, soil and grass.
In this post: What the county collects | What it costs | Getting your leaves ready | When the 2026 dates come out | Free mulch and a landfill entrance change | Why the program has been on shaky ground | If you are not in a leaf area | Sources | FAQ
What the county collects
If you have ever watched a truck with a giant hose crawl down a Fairfax County street in December, you have seen the vacuum leaf program at work. Trucks pull leaves straight off the curb and haul them away to be shredded into mulch or compost. The county’s Solid Waste Management Program runs it with help from private contractors.
One thing that surprises new homeowners: not everyone gets this service. It covers only areas set up through a petition process, and homes in those areas pay an extra charge. If you just moved in and see leaf piles up and down your street in November, you are probably in one. The county’s service area map will tell you for sure.
What it costs
By the numbers: $0.019 per $100 of assessed property value, three pickup rounds, November through January. (Source: Fairfax County Public Works and Environmental Services, October 2026)
That sounds like pocket change until you do the math. On a home assessed at $600,000, the charge works out to $114 a year. At $800,000, it is $152. Those are my own calculations from the county’s rate, so check your bill for your actual number. For a lot with big oaks, plenty of people gladly pay that to skip a few weekends of bagging. Others would rather mulch their own leaves and keep the money.
Getting your leaves ready
The county’s rules are simple, and they are usually the reason a pile gets skipped:
- Set leaves at the curb no later than the day before your scheduled collection date.
- Keep piles no more than 4 feet from the edge of the street.
- Do not block streets, sidewalks, mailboxes, storm drains, culverts or gutters.
- Keep piles free of trash, sticks, rocks, soil and grass.
- Do not park on a leaf pile. The county flags it as a fire hazard.
- Leaves raked out after the third pickup will not be collected. Use sturdy containers or paper yard bags instead, with a 10-bag limit per pickup.
When the 2026 dates come out
As of today, the county’s Schedule and Status page reads “2026 Schedule Coming Soon.” Once dates are posted, you can search by street name there, and participating neighborhoods get bright yellow signs with a QR code that links to the schedule.
Weather can push pickups back, and a wet week in late November can shift things by days. The county offers email updates for vacuum leaf customers, and I would sign up.
Free mulch and a landfill entrance change
The leaves do not go to waste. The county offers free leaf mulch at the I-95 Landfill Complex and the I-66 Transfer Station. If you have garden beds that could use it, that is a good use of a Saturday morning.
One practical note if you are heading to the I-95 site: the county says the Furnace Road entrance to the I-95 Landfill Complex closed permanently on October 10, 2026. Check the county’s locations page for the current entrance before you load up the truck.
Why the program has been on shaky ground
Longtime residents may remember the scare. In July 2023, county staff proposed ending vacuum leaf collection after the 2023-2024 season, citing rising costs and delays, Northern Virginia Magazine reported. About 25,000 customers used the service at the time, and an online petition to keep it gathered more than 1,400 signatures. The county withdrew the proposal that October.
The service has continued since. The county says 80 percent of customers rated it good or excellent in its 2025 survey and that the feedback shaped plans for 2026. I could not find an announcement about the program’s future beyond this season, which is one more reason to check the county page each fall.
If you are not in a leaf area
Then you follow the county’s curbside yard waste guidelines, or your private trash hauler’s rules. If a private company picks up your trash, call them before you put a single bag out. Mowing over leaves with a mulching blade and leaving them on the lawn is free and perfectly respectable, and it is exactly the kind of alternative the county promotes.
One more wrinkle: a Fairfax mailing address does not always mean Fairfax County services. The City of Fairfax runs its own trash and leaf collection by zone. My City of Fairfax vs. Fairfax County guide explains the difference, and my Fairfax page covers the neighborhoods. Leaf service, trash arrangements and HOA rules vary a lot from one pocket of the area to the next, and it is the kind of detail that never shows up in a listing.
Sources and reporting limits
- Fairfax County Public Works and Environmental Services, “Vacuum Leaf Collection”, updated October 15, 2026 (season, rounds, rate, set-out rules, eligibility, mulch, Furnace Road notice, 2025 survey).
- Fairfax County, “Leaf Collection Dates: Schedule and Status”, updated September 22, 2026 (2026 schedule status).
- Northern Virginia Magazine, “Fairfax Withdraws Plan to Discontinue Vacuum Leaf Collection,” October 20, 2023 (2023 proposal, customer count, petition).
- City of Fairfax, Trash (city leaf collection by zone).
Limits: The county had not posted 2026 round dates when this was published, and its page still contains a leftover reference to a December 24, 2025 yard waste end date. Dollar examples are my own arithmetic from the county rate, not county figures. Check the county page for updates.
FAQ
Do I have to sign up for Fairfax County leaf collection?
Not individually. Service is tied to collection areas created through a petition process, and homes in those areas pay an extra service charge. Check the county’s service area map to see if your address is covered.
When is my pickup?
The county has not posted 2026 dates yet. Once it does, you can look up your street on the county’s Schedule and Status page. Each area gets three rounds between November and January.
What if I miss the pickup day?
Leaves not set out by the collection date are picked up in the next round. Leaves raked out after the third round are not collected, so you would need sturdy containers or paper yard bags.
Can I get leaf mulch for free?
Yes. The county lists the I-95 Landfill Complex and the I-66 Transfer Station as places to pick up free leaf mulch.
Thinking about a move in Fairfax County and curious how things like leaf service differ by neighborhood? Reach out to Nikki.