With Palm Beach County residents busy updating their hurricane supplies before hurricane season begins June 1, the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County (SWA) wants unincorporated residents to have their major vegetation trimming done well before a storm threatens. Once our area is in a storm’s cone, it is too late to start trimming.
Here are some tips on self TRIMMING NOW and preparing your property well before that storm threatens:
• Arrange to cut back all trees and weak branches that could contact buildings
• Have foliage thinned so wind can flow freely through branches, decreasing the chance that trees/plants will be uprooted
• Place vegetation material from routine maintenance (up to 6 cubic yards - equivalent to 3 standard size refrigerators for unincorporated residents) at the curb on your regularly scheduled collection day
• Follow the 6/50 rule (i.e., each piece cannot exceed 50 lbs in weight or 6 ft in length)
• Containerize small pieces of vegetation, such as pine needles, leaves, twigs, etc. in bags or cans that weigh less than 50 lbs when full and place at the curb on your scheduled day
• Clean your yard of any items that could pose a danger to you or your neighbors in hurricane force winds, such as old lumber, broken lawn furniture, etc., and place them curbside on your bulk waste collection day
Residents living within city boundaries should call their local municipality for their bulk collection guidelines.
If residents are having trees removed or doing any other major cutting now, they should have their contractor include the price of debris removal as part of their service. Debris from major cutting or tree removal will need to be transported to an SWA facility. There will be a fee for this disposal.
The SWA offers a Storm Preparedness Guidelines brochure to help residents understand best pre-storm tree trimming practices and SWA’s priorities after a storm passes. Palm Beach County Environmental Resource Management offers tips on proper pruning techniques should residents want to trim their own trees. Palm Beach County Extension Service offers spring tree maintenance advice. Palm Beach County offers tips on hiring a contractor to trim vegetation on your property.
For additional information on debris collection in unincorporated parts of the county, contact SWA Customer Information Services at 561-697-2700 or 866-792-4636 (toll-free), or visit the Hurricane Information link below.
