Fall Leaf Season in Jacksonville: Keeping Gutters Clear
It is late September and, if you moved here from anywhere north of Atlanta, you are waiting for the leaves to turn and drop so you can clean the gutters once and be done. That is not how Jacksonville works. The trees here drop on their own schedule, one species at a time, from late October until the end of March, and the worst of it is not leaves at all.
This is the calendar we plan gutter cleaning around, tree by tree.
Late October to December: pine straw
Jacksonville is a pine city. Slash pine dominates the flatwoods neighborhoods, meaning Mandarin, Julington Creek, Argyle Forest, Oakleaf, the Westside, and every subdivision built against a preserve in the last 30 years, and longleaf and loblolly are mixed in. Pines shed needles year-round, but the heavy drop comes with the first dry, breezy fronts in late October and continues through November.
Pine straw is the single worst thing that goes in a gutter. The needles slide through screens, bridge the tops of hooded guards, and once they are in the trough they knit into a mat that holds water against the seams and packs the top of the downspout like a cork. The clog is usually invisible from the ground because the gutter looks half empty; the plug is inside the outlet.
Timing: clean in early to mid-December, after the main drop. Cleaning in October means doing it twice.
November to January: laurel oak, water oak, sweetgum
Laurel oak and water oak are the fast-growing, short-lived oaks that line older streets in Arlington, Lakewood, San Jose and Murray Hill. Unlike live oaks, they drop most of their leaves in late fall and winter, usually November through January, and the leaves are big enough to pile against the outlet. Sweetgum drops leaves at the same time and then its spiky seed balls through the winter, and those roll down the roof and wedge in the downspout elbows.
Timing: the December cleaning catches most of this. If you are under heavy laurel oak, a January follow-up is worth it.
February to April: live oak
The big spreading oaks in Riverside, Avondale, Ortega, San Marco and Ponte Vedra are live oaks, and they are the ones people do not expect. Live oaks are evergreen in name only. They drop the old year's leaves in February and March as the new growth pushes them off, and then release catkins, the stringy yellow pollen tassels, in March and April. The leaves are small and get through screens; the catkins mat on top of everything and then wash into the gutter in the first April storm.
Timing: clean in late April or May, which conveniently is the pre-hurricane-season cleaning anyway.
Year-round: palms and magnolias
Sabal palms drop whole fronds and seed clusters at the Beaches and Intracoastal West; the fronds sit on top, the seeds get in. Southern magnolias drop large leathery leaves in flushes from spring through summer, and those do not break down; they just sit and hold water. Crape myrtle blossoms in June and July get past every guard made.
The Jacksonville cleaning calendar
| When | What has dropped | Who needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Late April – May | Live oak leaves and catkins; pre-hurricane check | Everyone |
| Late August | Summer needle drop, magnolia, storm debris | Heavy pine, heavy magnolia |
| Early – mid December | Pine straw, laurel and water oak, sweetgum | Everyone |
| January | Late laurel oak, sweetgum balls | Heavy oak streets |
Two visits a year covers most houses: May and December. Under heavy pine, three. Under mature live oak and heavy pine both, which describes a lot of Mandarin and Fleming Island, four is not excessive, and that is where gutter guards start paying for themselves.
Doing the fall cleaning yourself
On a single-story house it is a reasonable Saturday job. Gloves, a bucket on a hook, scoop toward the outlet, then flush each downspout from the top with the hose at full pressure until it runs clear at the bottom. Pull the plug out of the top of the downspout by hand if the hose will not move it; it usually comes out as one piece the shape of the outlet.
Stop if the ladder has to rest on the gutter, if the roofline is two stories, or if the second half of the house is over a pool cage. Our cleaning visits are priced by the house, $120–$300, and include the downspout flush and a ladder inspection with photos. December is the busiest month for it, so book early in the month rather than the week before Christmas.
The one thing to check right now
While you are waiting for the pine straw, put a hose in each gutter and watch the downspouts. If any of them backs up, the plug from last year is still there, and the drop that starts next month will go on top of it. Clear that now and the December cleaning is a lot easier.
Need gutter work in Jacksonville?
Call for a free estimate. Mon–Sat 7am–7pm.