Fall Leaf Season in St. Louis: Keeping Gutters Clear
The trouble with fall in St. Louis is that it isn't one leaf drop. It's three or four, weeks apart, from different trees, and a gutter cleaned at the wrong point in the sequence is full again before the invoice is paid. Here is the calendar as it actually runs on the streets we work.
The St. Louis leaf calendar
| Tree | Where you find it | Drops | What ends up in the gutter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver maple | 1950s–70s subdivisions everywhere | Helicopters in May; leaves early October | Seeds lodge in downspouts; leaves are light |
| Sycamore | Creek lots, older streets, Forest Park edges | Mid-to-late October, in a two-week rush | Huge leaves that mat, plus bark in winter and seed balls in spring |
| Sweetgum | Postwar city and county streets | Late October–November | Leaves, then spiked balls that roll into gutters through winter |
| Pin oak | Kirkwood, Webster Groves, University City, Clayton | Late November into December, some hold until spring | Small, stiff leaves that pack hard; acorns and caps |
| White and red oak | Older lots county-wide | November | Leaves and acorns |
| Cottonwood, elm | River bottoms, Chesterfield valley, Florissant | October | Small leaves and fluff |
Two things follow from that table. First, anyone under a sycamore needs a gutter check by the end of October, because those leaves fill a 5-inch gutter in a week and a run full of wet sycamore leaves weighs enough to pull spikes. Second, anyone under pin oaks should not pay for a cleaning before December, because the oaks haven't started.
The right dates
- Early to mid-October: under sycamores and maples, a first clean-out, or at least a look. This is also the last comfortable window to fit guards.
- First dry week of December: the main fall cleaning for most of the county, after the oaks have let go and before the first hard freeze locks everything in place. If the freeze comes early, a gutter full of wet leaves becomes a gutter full of frozen leaves until March.
- Late May: the spring cleaning, after the maple seeds and the sycamore bark.
A gutter that's cleaned in early November on Argonne Drive in Kirkwood, under pin oaks, will be full by Thanksgiving. We'd rather come once in December than twice.
What a full gutter does in November
It isn't just overflow. Leaves hold water, water sits, and the first freeze — usually late November — turns the run into a bar of ice with leaves in it. Ice expands in the corner seams and opens them. The weight bows the run between hangers and backs the spikes out. When it thaws in a January warm spell, the corners drip and the pitch is gone. Most of the "winter damage" we repair in March started as a gutter that went into December full.
Cleaning it yourself
Single story, a stable ladder, someone at the bottom: fine. Scoop into a bucket hooked to the ladder, not onto the lawn. Then flush every downspout from the top and check that water comes out the bottom — a downspout plugged with helicopters and one sycamore leaf will back up a clean gutter. Stop if the ladder would have to rest on the gutter, if you're reaching sideways more than an arm's length, or if it's two stories. Two-story gutter cleaning is $180–$300 here and it includes a look at the hangers and corners, which is worth more than the scoop.
Guards, by tree
Guards don't remove the maintenance; they change it from scooping to sweeping. Which one depends on the tree above the run.
- Sycamore and sweetgum: a wide-perforation aluminum screen keeps the big leaves out for $5–$9 a foot. Seed balls sit on top and blow off. Cheap and effective.
- Pin oak: the small leaves pack into anything with a gap. Stainless micro-mesh at $10–$18 a foot is the only guard that stays clear, and it still wants a broom pass in December.
- Silver maple: helicopters go through every screen and lodge in downspouts. Micro-mesh or nothing.
- Cottonwood: fluff mats on mesh and rinses off with a hose. Screen lets it through.
Reverse-curve guards — the solid hood — collect sycamore leaves on the nose and grow icicles off it in January. We fit them if asked; we don't recommend them under St. Louis trees. The guards page has prices and the ice question, and what gutter guards are worth it under St. Louis trees goes deeper on each type.
The short version
Look at what's over the roof, not the calendar on the wall. Sycamore: October. Oak: December. Both: October and December, or guards. And every visit, flush the downspouts.
Need gutter work in St. Louis?
Call for a free estimate. Mon–Sat 7am–7pm.