If you’ve taken a stroll down the alleyways in the Garden District lately, you may have noticed some vigorous plant growth. Perhaps you thought that the City was doing a poor job of maintaining it, but keeping the vegetation in the alley trimmed is actually the responsibility of the property owners that live adjacent to the alley.
Junk, trash, and debris should be placed in front of your house within the right-of-way between the sidewalk and the street, not in the alley. Be sure to ask your neighbors not to parallel park in front of the debris pile, or the truck will not be able to make a pick up.
Recycling carts and garbage carts may be placed in the alley, if that is your usual pick up area, but most cart pickups are made on the streets because the large trucks are unable to drive down most of the alleys. Also remember to leave three feet of space between your carts so the automatic lift has room to pick them up.
If you’re cleaning up your leaf litter, bag your leaves and stack your branches (these don’t need to be bagged) three feet from your carts. Try to have branches no longer than 6 ft.
If you’re new to the neighborhood, garbage is picked up on Tuesdays and Fridays. Recycling is picked up only on Tuesday. If a pickup is missed, call 311 or use the Red Stick Ready app to make a report. Find our more on our GDCA “Alley and Trash Guidelines” page.