We dump it in the woods behind our houses. And if we don't have that then we dump it on the side of the road. This is the process I've been trying to explain to Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful for years but they ain't hearin' it. If you think that $15 is bad, a $40 entrance fee and hour drive to the dump another legal alternative.

I hope you don't get a certified letter from the board of directors because non ball shapes are a serious violation here and the penalties are steep. :-)

If your yard is private enough to support it, consider leaving those piles for the birds. The piles may also attract chipmunks, rabbits and snakes (don't be afraid of the snakes, the majority of them are good).

You can also stuff your yard waste into large paper bags (sold just for this purpose in packs of 5 at Home Depot, Lowes, Kroger, and many other places). I use these bags for weeds, nasty vines like honeysuckle and thorny smilax. Some people put grass clippings in them, but I use my clippings to make paths in my wooded area. The garbage people should take these just fine with your regular trash (no extra charge) - I've had them take up to 8 bags at once (I had a lot of vines to remove in the beginning!).

But for big bulky limbs, a brush pile is a nice alternative and it will gradually break down. I just keep putting any new limbs on top.

Welcome to the area. Sometimes old shrubs do outgrow their space (people often plant something too big for the mature size in an effort to get some size fast). So if you have to keep trimming it, one day consider replacing it with something smaller.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brush piles for birds

Hmm, the girl @Allied didn't mention throwing yardwaste in with the garbage. The previous owners also left me several large piles of "firewood" in the forest. These are really no good for the fireplace as they are moldy and very wet (we've been fortunate and have gotten rain recently.)I really would like to clear these out: can I dump these into the garbage?

Thanks for indentifying the thorny smilax: I was googling madly trying to figure out what it was.

You're lucky. I had to wait 5 years for an ID on the cat briar.

I used to use the BFI yard waste pick up. Now I'm killing myself. It is easier to just pile it in the yard and let it sit. I had one of those compost bins, but it kinda fell apart. Now I just have piles. I do have a small chipper shredder because I do grow roses and have plenty of woody canes to dispose of. The chipper makes easy work of it.

It's great to just let it sit over winter. If you don't want to turn it or anything, just leave it there. It will shrink a lot on its own and in the spring you can spread it around the yard. It's really the best for your yard.

Are chipper/shredders expensive? Buford, what kind do you own? Are you happy with it? Do you have to be strong to operate it?

Is there an optimum way to eradicate cat briar? I really don't want to go into the "forest" too often. Yesterday I must have gotten about fifty mosquito bites cleaning out the underbrush. And that's just on one arm. They itch so bad!!

Remember, there is no snow shoveling here. You just take the bad w/ the good.

The one I have is small, electric. It only fits branches up to 1 1/2 inches, but that's good enough for me. It does an OK job on shredding leaves. It was about $200. I was able to put it together myself and operate it myself (I'm only 5 ft tall) so it's ok.

We also bought one of those shredder vac things for leaf collection. We have a bunch of oak trees and they dump a lot of leaves. That shredded the leaves to bits.

I just keep clipping the cat briar and all the other thorny junk that grows in the yard. Since the pine trees I've planted have gotten big, they've been smothering out a lot of that stuff.

Y'all need to move to Athens, it is cheaper, except for the new neighborhoods you plant what you want where you want, and the county has leaf and limb pick up once a month.

but then you guys have those great commutes! :)

esh your garden is gorgeous. was just out in the Seattle area and your home would fit right in.