In the Portland metro, spring cleanup runs late February through April, fall leaf removal runs October into early December, and winter prep needs to be finished before the first hard freeze in November. HD Landscape & Maintenance schedules seasonal services around those windows across Portland, Beaverton, and Aloha.
By Donavan Hesedahl, Founder & Owner · Last updated July 2026
Seasonal services are the jobs that only make sense at certain points in the year: spring cleanup, fall leaf removal, aeration and overseeding, irrigation winterization, dormant pruning. Every landscaping company in the metro lists roughly the same set. The list is not the hard part.
The hard part is when. Overseed in March and the soil is still too cold to germinate reliably. Aerate in July and you’ve opened up a lawn heading into drought stress. Blow out irrigation lines in December and you may already be repairing cracked backflow assemblies. Same services, wrong month, wasted money.
What follows is the calendar we actually work to across Washington, Multnomah, and Clackamas counties. For the technical specialties that aren’t calendar-driven — drainage, grading, landscape lighting — see our guide to specialized landscaping services.
Spring cleanup in Oregon starts with a problem most of the country doesn’t have. Moss.
Nine wet months, acidic soil, shade, and compaction make the Willamette Valley close to ideal for moss and hostile to the cool-season grasses that grow here. By February, a shaded Portland lawn can be more moss than turf. The sequence matters: treat the moss first, wait for it to blacken and die, then rake or dethatch it out, then overseed the bare ground you’ve just exposed. Skip a step and you’re either raking live moss that grows straight back, or opening bare soil with nothing going into it.
Once moss is handled, a spring cleanup covers winter debris and downed limbs, bed edging and fresh mulch, cutting back perennials, dethatching where thatch has built up, and starting and pressure-testing the irrigation system before you need it. Late February through April is the window — early enough to beat the growth flush, late enough that soil temperatures support seed.
This work sits under Lawn & Yard Care, where the full scope is detailed.
Fall is the most important season for a Portland lawn, and the order is the reverse of what people expect.
Core aeration and overseeding come first, in September and October. Tualatin Valley clay compacts hard over a dry summer, and compacted clay blocks water, air, and fertilizer from reaching roots. Pulling cores opens it up, and seed dropped into fresh holes has soil contact, warm ground, and autumn rain — the best germination conditions of the year. Do this in spring instead and you get a fraction of the establishment.
Leaf removal comes second, October into early December, and it takes multiple passes. A single big cleanup in late November means six weeks of wet leaves have already been smothering the turf and blocking the light. Wet Oregon leaves mat down and kill grass underneath faster than most homeowners expect.
If you’re inside Portland city limits, leaves aren’t only a lawn problem — they’re a city policy problem, and it can cost you money.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation runs Leaf Day, sweeping 82 zones from November into mid-January, concentrated where mature street trees are heaviest. In those zones the street sweep is free, but the rules are strict: rake loose leaves into the street one day before your scheduled pickup, leave a foot of clearance from the curb so storm runoff can still reach the drain, and include tree leaves and evergreen needles only — no twigs, branches, pinecones, or grass clippings. Some zones, including Northwest Portland, Goose Hollow, and Sullivan’s Gulch, require moving your car or you risk being towed. Look up your address with the PortlandMaps Leaf Day tool for the current season’s schedule.
Here’s the part worth real money. Portland’s street leaf removal policy (TRN-1.18) attaches a leaf removal fee to properties in the program, and it offers an opt-out. One of the ways a homeowner qualifies to opt out is contracting a yard service company to collect the street leaves and haul them to a yard debris processing facility. Self-hauling, curbside yard debris hauling, and on-site composting also qualify. Opting out means agreeing to let the city spot-check your property for compliance — so the work has to actually be done, not just claimed.
In other words, hiring out your fall leaf removal can do double duty. We haul to a processing facility as standard, which is exactly what the policy describes. Worth checking your own zone and fee status before you decide.
One practical note either way: a full fall cleanup on a treed lot generates far more debris than a green roll cart holds, and the cart has limits on both weight and branch size. Hauling is usually the difference between a cleanup finishing in one visit and dragging across a month.
The Portland metro sits in USDA Zone 8b, which means real freeze events rather than a mild slide into spring. Winter yard prep is mostly about getting ahead of the first one.
Irrigation winterization is the deadline item. Lines and backflow assemblies need draining or blowing out before the first hard freeze — typically November here, though it moves. Water left in a backflow device and then frozen is one of the more expensive small repairs in landscaping, and it’s entirely avoidable.
Dormant pruning runs December through February, once leaves are down and structure is visible. It suits many deciduous trees and shrubs, but not everything — spring-flowering species set their buds the previous year, so a tidy winter prune removes the flowers you were waiting for.
Gutters come after leaf drop finishes, not during. Clearing gutters in early November on a maple-heavy lot means doing it twice. We schedule gutter work once the trees are actually bare, alongside seasonal and specialized services like pressure washing, storm response, and snow removal.
Finally, walk your grade before the rain sets in. If water pooled against the foundation last winter, November is when you find out again — and the fix is a drainage and grading job, not a cleanup.
The short answer: moss treatment and spring cleanup from late February to April, aeration and overseeding in September and October, leaf removal October to early December, and irrigation winterization before the November freeze.
| Window | What gets done | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| Feb–Mar | Moss treatment, dethatching | Moss is at peak; kill it before growth starts |
| Mar–Apr | Spring cleanup, mulch, bed edging, irrigation start-up | Soil warm enough to seed; ahead of the growth flush |
| May–Aug | Mowing, weed control, irrigation checks | Growing season upkeep; no major renovation work |
| Sep–Oct | Core aeration, overseeding, fertilization | Warm soil plus autumn rain — best germination of the year |
| Oct–Dec | Leaf removal, multiple passes | Wet leaves mat and kill turf; Leaf Day zones active |
| Nov | Irrigation blowout, storm prep | Must precede the first hard freeze |
| Dec–Feb | Dormant pruning, gutters after leaf drop | Structure visible; trees finally bare |
Recurring seasonal plans exist because most of this can’t be caught up on later. A missed October overseed isn’t recoverable in December.
We run seasonal service Monday through Saturday out of Aloha in Washington County. Leaf Day zones make Portland our heaviest fall workload, while the newer subdivisions around Beaverton and Hillsboro tend to need aeration more than leaf work — younger trees, more compaction from construction.
We also serve Lake Oswego and Tualatin, plus Tigard, Sherwood, West Linn, Wilsonville, Clackamas, Newberg, and Salem. See finished work in our portfolio, or the full range on our services hub.
We’re licensed through the Oregon Landscape Contractors Board under LCB #9977 — you can verify any Oregon landscape business through the board’s public lookup before hiring.
What is included in seasonal services?
Spring cleanup covers moss treatment, winter debris removal, dethatching, bed edging, mulch, and irrigation start-up. Fall covers core aeration, overseeding, fertilization, and multiple leaf removal passes with hauling. Winter prep covers irrigation winterization, dormant pruning, gutters, and storm response.
How much do seasonal services cost in Portland?
Cost tracks property size, tree cover, how much debris needs hauling, and whether you book a single visit or a recurring plan. A treed lot in inner Portland and a new-build lawn in Hillsboro are very different jobs. Call (971) 336-5520 with your address and we’ll give you an honest range, then a written price before any work starts.
When should spring cleanup happen in Oregon?
Late February through April. Moss treatment goes first, in February or March while moss is at its peak and before grass starts actively growing. The rest of the cleanup and any overseeding follows once soil temperatures come up — usually late March into April in the Portland metro.
Do you offer fall leaf removal?
Yes, on single-visit or multi-pass schedules, with debris hauled to a yard debris processing facility. If your property is in a Portland Leaf Day zone or carries the city’s street leaf removal fee, tell us — hauling by a contracted yard service is one of the qualifying ways to opt out of that fee.
Can I schedule recurring seasonal visits?
Yes, and for seasonal work it’s the better arrangement. Recurring plans mean aeration lands in the right week of September, leaf passes are already booked before the drop starts, and irrigation is blown out before the first freeze instead of after it.
HD Landscape and Maintenance LLC 6581 SW 192nd Ave Aloha, OR 97007
Phone: (971) 336-5520
Email: hdlandscapellc@gmail.com
Hours: Monday–Saturday, 7:00 am – 7:00 pm · Sunday closed
Oregon LCB Lic. #9977 · Licensed & Insured
Serving the Portland metro area including Portland, Beaverton, Aloha, Tigard, Tualatin, Lake Oswego, Hillsboro, West Linn, Wilsonville, Sherwood, Clackamas, Newberg, and Salem.