BERRIEN COUNTY — As daylight saving ends, Buchanan and Niles’ departments of public works will offer free leaf pickup for residents.

City workers will bring their vacuum-like apparatuses to suck up all leaves that have been raked up to the curb by residents from their yards until it begins to snow consistently. According to city documents, that was early December last year.

Niles’ leaf pickup will begin Friday in the first ward, which includes the Plym Park, industrial park and Lake Street areas.

When all neighborhoods in the ward have been covered by workers split into three crews, they will continue to the other wards in numerical order. Public works director Joe Ray said he hopes each street will be walked through twice.

Buchanan’s leaf pickup begins Monday, the day after daylight saving ends. Workers will go from neighborhood to neighborhood, starting on the west side, where leaves tend to fall first. The first neighborhood is around Chippewa Street near Remus Drive and heading south to the north end of Lake Street.

Buchanan public service director JT Adkerson said he hopes to have workers make four passes in front of each home.

Both officials emphasized similar information they wanted residents to be aware of.

• Leaf pickup can be inconsistent. Bad weather, mechanical troubles and spurts of neighborhoods where many residents participate in the drive can slow workers down. That means both cities cannot guarantee leaves will be picked up at certain times, but both will make sure to take a full sweep of their coverage zones before moving to the next.

• Stay updated on where leaf collectors are at.

The best way to find out when leaf pickup is coming to a neighborhood is to follow either a city’s Facebook page or, in the case of Niles, sign up for a text or email alert at nilesmi.org/enotify. Adkerson encouraged residents to ask questions and leave comments on Facebook posts as well.

• Properly prop the leaves for pickup.

“Get them as close to the curb as possible, but not on the pavement,” Ray said. “When people put them out in the road, that causes all kinds of problems.”

If left on the road, leaves serve as a clog. Ray said it can rain often in the fall, and if leaves are plugging road inlets, the streets will not drain, making for pools of water and water infrastructure issues.

Moving vehicles off the street will speed up the pickup process, he said. Not covering the water meter with a pile can ensure meter readers can take readings, potentially saving residents money.

• Only place leaves in piles near the curb.

Brush season — where Buchanan and Niles pick up items like shrubs, trimmings and fallen branches from curbsides — ends when leaf pickup begins. Mixing leaves and brush can cause mechanical issues for workers and delay work.

The officials said residents can either let a pile of brush safely accumulate on a property for April pickup or drop off the brush at the Southeast Berrien County Landfill Authority at 1540 Mayflower Road in Niles Charter Township.

Adkerson said properly taking care of leaves before snow sets in not only makes a resident’s property look nicer, it can have a positive impact keeping flooding and traffic problems at a minimum.

At an Oct. 28 Niles City Council meeting, councilmember Gretchen Bertschy also shared a tip about leaf pickup: If a resident knows a neighbor that is unable to rake leaves in time for pickup, taking time to help them can go a long way.