Nashua Yard Waste Rules: Leaves, Brush and the October Deadline

In Nashua, leaves never go in the trash, and the city’s brush pickup has a hard stop: for households on city trash service, the last day to request one this year is Friday, October 16, and pickups end October 23. We haul yard debris in Nashua, and where the city route is cheaper than we are, we say so. The rules below come from the City of Nashua’s own pages and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NH DES). Dates change, so check the October 16 deadline on the city’s pages before you plan around it.

Can a Nashua Household Dispose of Leaves in the Trash?

No. The City of Nashua’s Solid Waste Department puts it plainly: leaves, grass clippings and pine needles must never go in the trash, and its yard waste page notes that state law requires it.

The state rule is RSA 149-M:27. NH DES puts it simply: it is against the law to dispose of yard waste in landfills and incinerators, and that includes leaves, grass clippings, garden debris and small or chipped branches.

How Does Curbside Leaf Pickup Work for Nashua Residents?

The Solid Waste Department runs curbside leaf pickup for residents who receive city trash collection service. If a private hauler or a condo association contract handles your trash, this pickup is not set up for you; skip ahead to the drop-off and hauler sections.

The city posts no end date, only that collection continues to late fall, weather permitting, so get leaves out on your next few trash days instead of waiting.

The rules, from the city’s Soft Yard Waste page:

• What counts: leaves, grass clippings and pine needles, plus twigs and small sticks less than 1 inch thick.
• Containers: paper compost bags or 32-gallon barrels. No plastic bags, and no wheeled trash carts.
• Weight: 60 pounds at most per bag or barrel, with nothing sticking up above the top.
• No dirt or rocks in any yard waste container.
• Set-out: on your trash collection day, 3 to 5 feet away from your trash, or on the other side of the driveway.

Leaves stay out of the recycling cart too: they are not on the city’s list of accepted recyclables.

How Do You Request a Nashua Brush Pickup Before the Season Ends?

Two dates, and they are not the same: Friday, October 16, 2026 is the last day to request a pickup, and October 23 is when pickups end. Both are on the city’s Oversize Item Pick-Up page, because brush bundles ride on the oversize collection, which stops from mid-October to mid-spring.

Brush pickup is for households whose trash the Solid Waste Department collects. Each bundle has to meet the city’s size rules:

• Brush, shrubs and branches 1 to 3 inches thick, cut and tied into bundles.
• No piece longer than 4 feet.
• No bundle heavier than 60 pounds.

To get on the list, call the Solid Waste Department at 603-589-3410. The city’s Soft Yard Waste and Oversize Item Pick-Up pages say requests must be in by Friday afternoon for the following week’s list, and its Residential Collections page says Friday at noon, so call that morning. A request made by October 16 lands on the last list before pickups stop.

The city’s Special Collections page lists bundles of brush among its oversized items and sets the terms for any special pickup: the item must be on that week’s list, it must be accessible without interfering with trash or recycling collection, and it is picked up during the following week, between Monday and Saturday afternoon. The page also says oversized non-metal items must be at the curb by 6:45 a.m. on your trash day.

The city’s request form counts brush bundles among the five oversized items a year it picks up at no charge, and the Special Collections page says additional items may be picked up at $25 each. On the call, ask how many free pickups you have left and what applies to extra bundles.

Furniture and appliances run through the same oversize program; our post on hot tub removal in Nashua covers that season.

Where Can You Drop Off Yard Waste Year-Round in Nashua?

At the Nashua Recycling Center at the Four Hills Landfill, 840 West Hollis Street. The city says Nashua residents may always bring soft yard waste or brush there, and lists both as no charge. Normal hours are Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Every user needs an annual permit from the Scale House. The city’s rules for a resident permit:

• It costs $5 per vehicle per calendar year.
• Bring the vehicle’s registration as proof that you live in Nashua.
• Buy it at least 30 minutes before closing, with cash, a check, Visa or MasterCard.
• Residents 65 and over pay nothing, but must bring a valid license and the vehicle registration.

This is also where limbs thicker than 3 inches go. They are too big for a city bundle, and the city says they must be brought directly to the landfill. If you have no vehicle that can carry them, that is where a hauler comes in.

Which Branches and Plants Need a Different Disposal Route?

Sort the woody stuff by thickness. The city’s rules split it three ways:

• Twigs and small sticks under 1 inch thick can go in the leaf bags.
• Branches 1 to 3 inches thick go in tied bundles for the city’s brush pickup, if you are on city trash service and request it by October 16.
• Limbs thicker than 3 inches cannot go curbside at all. They need a different route, covered in the drop-off section above.

Stumps are their own problem. The city’s What’s Accepted list for Four Hills names large tree stumps as not accepted, so find out where one can go before you pull it.

Invasive plants run the other way. NH DES treats them as solid waste, not yard waste: they go in a closed trash bag in your regular trash, and not in with leaf and yard waste or on a burn pile, because that raises the chance of spreading them. DES says other methods depend on the plant species, and it points questions about upland invasive plants to the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food, (603) 271-3488.

Thinking of burning a brush pile instead? Know the permit rule first: Nashua Fire Rescue requires a permit for any open burning of solid fuel except charcoal, including fires in barrels and fire pits.

Is Mulching Leaves on a Nashua Lawn Cheaper Than Hauling Them?

Yes, and it is not close. If you already own a mower, chopping leaves into the lawn costs only the time it takes to mow: no bags, no permit, no trip and no bill from us. NH DES lists leaving the leaves on your lawn as a natural fertilizer among its options, and the city’s composting page notes that backyard composting handles soft yard waste without special bags or extra barrels, and turns it into a soil amendment for gardens and lawns.

How the routes stack up on cost:

• Mulching or composting at home: no fee.
• City curbside leaf pickup: part of city trash service, for households that have it. You supply the bags or barrels.
• City brush pickup, for households on city trash service: no charge within the five oversized items a year on the city’s request form; request by October 16, and pickups end October 23.
• Four Hills drop-off: a $5 resident permit per vehicle per calendar year, free for residents 65 and over, plus a vehicle for the load.
• Us: yard debris removal from $35, and the price moves with how much there is and how far it has to be carried. Here is how we price a job.

If a mower can handle your leaves, mulching costs less than any route here that involves a truck, ours included. It does nothing for brush, which still needs a bundle, a landfill run or a truck.

When Does Hiring a Hauler Make Sense for Yard Waste in Nashua?

When the city route does not fit your house, your pile or your calendar:

• You are not on city trash service. If a private hauler or a condo association contract handles your trash, the city’s leaf and brush pickups are not set up for you. The landfill still takes Nashua residents with a permit, if you have a vehicle for the load.
• You missed the date. After October 16 the brush list is closed; after October 23 there are no bundle pickups until spring.
• The pile is big or far from the curb: more than the five free bundles, limbs thicker than 3 inches, or brush at the back of the lot.

We haul. We do not rake, we do not bag and we do not do yard work. You pile it up or bag it, and two or three of us carry it out from wherever it sits, so nothing has to come to the driveway first. Our yard debris removal starts at $35. The crew confirms the exact price before any work starts, and it does not change once you approve it. We usually get to it within 48 hours of your call.

If you are on city service, your brush fits the bundle rules and you can make the October 16 call, the city is the cheaper route. Use it, and call us for what is left.

Nashua’s pickups, permits and dates stop at the city line. If the property is in Hudson instead, our crews handle junk removal in Hudson as well. Other cities write their own rules; here is how Manchester’s bulk trash rules work.

The Bottom Line

• Leaves never go in the trash in Nashua: the city says so, and NH DES says state law (RSA 149-M:27) keeps yard waste out of landfills and incinerators.
• Curbside leaf pickup, for households on city trash service: paper bags or 32-gallon barrels, 60 pounds at most, on trash day, 3 to 5 feet from the trash or across the driveway, until late fall, weather permitting.
• Brush pickup for those households: call 603-589-3410 by Friday, October 16. Pickups end October 23.
• Four Hills takes leaves and brush from Nashua residents all year with a $5 resident permit per vehicle per calendar year, free for residents 65 and over.
• Invasive plants go in a closed trash bag in your regular trash, per NH DES.
• If a mower can handle your leaves, mulching them into the lawn costs less than any route that involves a truck. When the city route does not fit, we haul yard debris from $35.