Yard Waste Removal in Mt. Juliet, TN
Yard waste removal in Mt. Juliet comes down to one County site: Wilson County's convenience centers, the County's drop-off sites for residents' household trash, list "Yard waste/limbs/grass" among their unacceptable items, and the Wilson County landfill in Lebanon takes small residential yard waste at $5 per cubic yard, effective November 1, 2022. The City of Mt. Juliet's Public Works Department chips brush for single family homes on public streets when limbs are under 15 feet long, no larger than 10 inches in diameter and within 10 feet of the road, and it refuses loose leaves, root balls and whole trees. When the City will not take a pile, or you cannot wait, we quote from your photos, then load, tarp and haul it to the landfill.
$75 to $500 for yard waste removal, national (Fixr, updated January 31, 2025) · full pricing guide
National surveys price yard debris by the load, the trip or the job, and none prices it for Mt. Juliet. Fixr's junk removal guide, updated January 31, 2025, puts yard waste removal at $75 to $500. HomeGuide's brush pile page, dated January 6, 2026, gives $150 to $200 per pickup-truck load; its tree debris page, dated December 22, 2025, gives $75 to $250 per dump trip, "depending on the load size, vehicle size, location, and accessibility." Angi's tree debris page, updated Aug. 3, 2026, says winter removal can save as much as 20%. At the County landfill's $5 per cubic yard, a 2.5 cubic yard pickup load, worked out from one national hauler's chart, comes to $12.50 in fees by our arithmetic. Our junk removal cost page lists each survey with its date.
Yard waste is bulky for its weight, and the County charges for it by the cubic yard. EPA's "Volume-to-Weight Conversion Factors" (April 2016) lists branches and stumps at 127 pounds per cubic yard, uncompacted mixed yard waste at 250 pounds, leaves at 250 to 500 pounds and compacted mixed yard waste at 640 pounds, all per cubic yard. EPA has no row for grass clippings; Seattle Public Utilities' table lists them at 400 to 1,500 pounds per cubic yard. A 2026 Ford F-150's 8-ft. box holds about 2.87 cubic yards filled level, by our arithmetic from Ford's and NIST's figures. Nationally, EPA estimated 35.4 million tons of yard trimmings in 2018, with a 63 percent composting rate.
Wilson County's convenience centers refuse yard waste outright: "Yard waste/limbs/grass" sits on the County's unacceptable list beside tires, paint, hazardous waste and fireworks. The Wilson County Landfill at 378 Dump Road in Lebanon takes it Monday to Friday from 7 am to 3 pm, with scale-house check-in 30 minutes before closing, cash or local check only, and untarped loads turned away. Fencing, lumber and other building material are not yard waste, and the County's fee list, effective November 1, 2022, charges $18 per cubic yard for construction and demolition waste. Our Wilson County landfill and convenience center page puts the County's rules in tables.
On the day, our crew loads what your photos showed: curbside piles, backyard brush, bagged leaves or a fallen tree already cut into lengths. Cutting a standing or hanging tree is other work: UT Extension's storm-damaged tree guide, SP 575, says to call a qualified arborist when a tree is large and the work is off the ground, and warns that broken limbs under tension "can kick back unexpectedly during cutting." Before the job, we name anything we do not haul, such as paint, chemicals, used oil, propane tanks or batteries, and where our Mt. Juliet disposal guide says each can go. Then we tarp the load, take it to the Wilson County landfill and nowhere else, and sweep where the pile sat.
For a quote, send photos of each pile from two sides with a car or a trash can in frame for scale, and tell us whether the leaves are loose or bagged, whether wire, fencing, plastic or lumber is mixed in, and where a truck can park. We quote from those photos, at no cost, before we lift anything, and the price is agreed before work starts. The written quote says what it covers and whether any line carries Tennessee sales tax.
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When the City Route or a Landfill Run Will Not Cover It
The City's chipper route and the County landfill take Mt. Juliet brush, but both run on written limits; the City's page says "Failure to fully comply with these rules will result in the material not being accepted by the City for processing."
- Limbs 15 feet or longer, or thicker than 10 inches in diameter, which the City's chipper guidelines say will not be accepted.
- Loose leaves, vines or root balls, all on the City of Mt. Juliet's refused list, with no City leaf pickup found.
- A whole tree, lot clearing debris or the leftovers of paid tree trimming, all excluded under the City's rules.
- Brush tangled with plastic, fencing or wire, which the City's guidelines refuse, or brush on a gated or private street the grappling truck does not serve.
- A landfill run you cannot make on a weekday: the County landfill closes at 3 pm and takes cash or local check only.
- Storm debris after a significant storm, when the City's page says normal chipper operations are suspended.
An old playset, a storm-damaged shed, a rotted deck or a hot tub is a structure rather than yard waste, and taking one apart is its own job. Our hot tub and shed removal page covers those jobs, from weights and permits to the haul.
The City of Mt. Juliet's Chipper and Grappling Truck Rules
The City of Mt. Juliet's brush service is a routed Public Works collection, not an on-call pickup. It serves "all single family residential properties with frontage on a public street," running from Zone 1 in the south to Zone 8 in the north. "It may take as long as 6 weeks to complete a route through the City during the growing season, April through October," and route time is often under a week from November through March; rain, snow or a significant storm suspends it.
The eleven lines under "GUIDELINES AND RESTRICTIONS" are short: no brush in a roadway median; nothing on or blocking a sidewalk; "Branches/limbs less than 15 feet in length"; "No limbs larger than 10-inches in diameter will be accepted"; "Material placed within 10 feet of the public roadway"; "No vines or loose leaves will be accepted"; no brush intertwined with plastics; no root balls; no metal or wire; "No lot clearing debris or whole trees will be accepted"; and no debris from commercial cutting or trimming. The grappling truck works "on every street in the city limits," zone by zone, main roads last because a flagger must follow it; in newer subdivisions without mature trees, a smaller truck takes small piles first. Gated subdivisions and private streets are not served, and three dead-end streets, Cedar Creek Drive, Sports Road and Thurman Drive, are picked up on a call to Public Works.
Burning Brush in Mt. Juliet: City Rules, State Permits and Fines
Burning yard waste is lawful only inside overlapping City and State rules. The Mt. Juliet Fire Department permits only "natural vegetation and untreated wood products"; limbs and brush must have grown on the burn site, material "cannot be shipped to the site of the burn," and City Code section 12-88 bars burning land-clearing debris from outside the city. Except for permitted commercial burns, materials go in a container such as a fire pit or burn barrel, and a residential open pile may not exceed 36 square feet or four feet in height. An open pile must sit 50 feet or more from any structure, no fire may burn in wind of 10 miles per hour or more or under a burn ban, and an adult attends it until it is out, which must be before dark.
The City requires an operational permit, and "There is no fee for burn permits." Between October 15 and May 15 the State's Division of Forestry requires its own permit for debris fires, at no charge for leaf and brush piles. TDEC's rule and page bar burning tires, plastics, asphalt shingles and building debris, and its page warns of fines up to $25,000. The City's page sets a $250 fine for malicious burning, and City Code section 14-8(s) a minimum $50 fine plus court cost. No Wilson County burning page was found for land outside the city limits, so there the State's rules are the ones in print.
Storm Debris and Leaf Season in Mt. Juliet, From the Record
Storm debris in Mt. Juliet has a documented scale: after the March 3, 2020 tornado, rated EF-3 by the National Weather Service on a path of over 60 miles that crossed Wilson County, FEMA approved a $1,199,686 grant through the State to help Mt. Juliet recover the cost of removing more than 114,000 cubic yards of debris from public roads, property and rights-of-way. On December 11, 2021 an EF-1 tornado crossed into Wilson County near Mt. Juliet, and the NWS page for that day's tornadoes reports Wilson County Emergency Management's count of 163 homes damaged in the county.
The NWS says the January 24-25, 2026 ice storm left widespread totals of a quarter to three quarters of an inch of radial ice, and that FEMA approved Public Assistance for over 15 Middle Tennessee counties, Wilson among them. FEMA's fact sheet sorts curbside debris into six piles: electronics, appliances, hazardous material, vegetative material, construction material and household garbage, and TEMA's placement rule, written for a 2025 cleanup in Northeast Tennessee, keeps debris at the curb, off private property and clear of traffic and utilities. UT Extension's SP 529 puts the average peak of fall color in Tennessee from the last week in October through the first week in November, and says early frost makes leaves more likely to brown and fall sooner. The City refuses loose leaves; the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture suggests them as mulch or compost.
Chipper Route, Self-Haul, Burning or a Hired Haul
Four lawful routes handle a pile of brush in Mt. Juliet, and the written rules settle most of the choice before price does. Each option names what it takes, the rule behind it and who it suits. Hired-haul prices exist only as national survey figures.
Put it out for the City
Public Works chips brush for single family homes on public streets, and its page prints no charge. The pile must meet every guideline: limbs under 15 feet, nothing over 10 inches in diameter, within 10 feet of the road, no loose leaves, root balls, wire or plastic. A full pass can take six weeks from April through October. It suits clean trimmings and owners who can wait.
Haul it to the landfill yourself
The Wilson County Landfill takes small residential yard waste at $5 per cubic yard, cash or local check only, weekdays from 7 am to 3 pm with check-in 30 minutes before closing. Untarped loads are turned away, and Tennessee Code section 39-14-507 requires a load likely to fall or blow off to be enclosed or tarped, or, in a private pickup, secured. It suits owners with a truck or trailer and an open weekday.
Burn it where it grew
Inside the city, the Mt. Juliet Fire Department allows burning only of natural vegetation and untreated wood from the site, under its permit, in a container, or an open pile no larger than 36 square feet and four feet high kept 50 feet or more from structures. From October 15 to May 15, the State's Division of Forestry adds its own permit. It suits a small pile of the lot's own brush on a day with wind under 10 miles per hour.
Have us haul it
We quote from your photos, load the brush, tarp the truck, take the load to the Wilson County landfill and sweep where the pile sat. Fixr's national survey puts yard waste removal at $75 to $500 (updated January 31, 2025). It suits piles the City refuses, storm debris, and owners without a truck or a weekday slot before the 2:30 pm check-in (our arithmetic).
Yard Waste Removal FAQs
Will junk removal take yard waste?
Yes: we haul brush, limbs, leaves and storm debris, and every load goes to the Wilson County landfill, the County site that takes residential yard waste. Fixr's national junk removal guide, updated January 31, 2025, says many junk removal services take bagged yard waste but not unbagged waste, so tell us whether your leaves are loose or bagged. Ask about stumps first: the landfill's fee list prints no rate for them, and the City's chipper refuses root balls.
Do Wilson County convenience centers take limbs, brush or grass?
No. Wilson County's Convenience Centers page lists "Yard waste/limbs/grass" under "Unacceptable Items:". Brush and grass go instead to the Wilson County Landfill at 378 Dump Road in Lebanon, at $5 per cubic yard for small residential yard waste, or, inside Mt. Juliet, brush to the curb for the City's chipper route if the pile meets its limits.
Does the landfill take yard waste, and what does it charge?
Yes. The Wilson County Landfill charges $5 per cubic yard for "Residential Yardwaste(small)," effective November 1, 2022, without defining "small." It is open Monday to Friday from 7 am to 3 pm, loads check in at the scale house 30 minutes before closing, payment is cash or local check only, and untarped loads are turned away. By our arithmetic, a level-full 2026 F-150 8-foot bed, 77.4 cubic feet, comes to $14.33; 10 cubic yards, $50.
Who hauls storm debris after a tornado or wind storm?
It depends on where the debris sits and who runs the cleanup. After the March 3, 2020 tornado, FEMA approved Public Assistance funds to reimburse the City of Mt. Juliet for removing more than 114,000 cubic yards of debris from public roads, property and rights-of-way. The City's brush page says a significant storm suspends normal chipper collection, and no current City storm-debris pickup page was found. Debris you want gone from your own yard, we load and take to the Wilson County landfill.
Can yard debris go in a rental dumpster?
Yes, where the hauler's rules allow it: one national hauler's chart lists grass, leaves and branches as accepted and calls its 10-yard container, "4 pickup loads," suited to yard waste, home cleanouts and roofing. Charts differ. A search of the City of Mt. Juliet's code found no permit or time limit for a roll-off, the open steel container a truck sets down, on a residential lot, but section 24-1 bars storing materials in a street, sidewalk or right-of-way. Our dumpster rental page compares sizes and weight limits.
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