Limbs and brush in Corpus Christi: city pickup and drop-off

A few limbs can go in your cart. A real pile has to wait for your section's heavy brush dates, or go to the J.C. Elliott Transfer Station yourself. Put a pile out at the wrong time or in the wrong spot and the city says you get a Notice of Violation. This covers homes inside the city limits, from the city's own pages, and we do no hauling ourselves.

Small amounts: the cart

The brown or green cart takes trash and yard waste and is collected every week. The city's questions page counts limbs and small shrubs as yard waste, and its item search sends small amounts of trimmings to the cart and large amounts to brush collection.

Heavy brush: find your section first

The Heavy Brush and Bulky Items page has an interactive map that gives you a section, then a table of set-out dates for each one. Pile only during your dates. Collection starts the day after the last one. As an example, Section 1-A has November 25 to 29, 2026, then June 23 to 27, 2027. Read your own row, since they differ.

The city is not consistent on how often this happens. Its main solid waste page says twice a year. The brush page says "several times a year on a published schedule", and when we read it, the table showed two periods for sections 1-A through 6-B and three for sections 7-A through 10-C. The table is the part to trust.

The rules for the pile

All from the city's brush page:

The city's 2025 customer guide adds more spots to avoid: against fences, by utility poles, beneath wires, under low-hanging branches, and near cars, mailboxes, gas or water meters, vacant lots or a neighbor's property. A 2027 guide is out, but its file would not open as text for us, so check it if one of these matters.

We found no city rule on trunks, big logs or stumps. The item search lists branches and trimmings and does not mention them. Ask 311 before you roll a log to the curb.

If the pile is wrong

The brush page says "Improper set-out of heavy brush or bulky items will result in a Notice of Violation", and that ignoring one can bring fees and fines. It lists the amounts. It also says "Residents are responsible for removal and collection fees for illegally dumped material." Read that with a hired crew in mind. A load left at your curb outside your dates could become your problem.

Hauling it yourself: J.C. Elliott

The J.C. Elliott Transfer Station is at Hwy 286 at Ayers, just south of Saratoga Blvd, open Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It lists household brush among what it takes. Bring a valid driver's license showing an address inside the city limits. The page says up to 2 cubic yards of residential waste "remains free per visit". Bigger loads and commercial loads pay under fee changes that took effect October 1, 2026, and the city can tell you the fee.

Tie the load down and cover it. The city says all waste headed to the landfill "must be secured and adequately covered with a tarp", and an uncovered load can cost you at the gate. While you are there, it offers free mulch during the same hours. Questions go to 311.

When a company does the work

The city's brush page does not say how a tree company's debris is treated at the curb, so do not assume the city will take it. The 2025 guide has a section on disposal for contractors, and says a Hauler Permit is required for anyone other than a residential customer who collects, transports or disposes of waste, displayed on the vehicle. That edition's permit dates have passed, so ask the city what applies now. We do not check whether any company holds one.

Put it in the written quote: do the limbs, logs and chips leave with the crew, and where are they going? "Leave it at the curb" can mean months of waiting for your dates, with one truckload at the end of it. See the questions page.

After a hurricane

The set-out table is for ordinary times. The weather service's 2026 hurricane guide says cities and counties will publish a schedule for debris pickup and that crews cannot take debris from private property. Vegetative debris goes to the curb in its own pile, apart from construction materials, appliances and hazardous waste. Watch for the city's notice instead of guessing, and keep brush out of ditches. The city lists drainage problems and trees in streets as 311 calls.