Get Ahead of Hurricane Season: Clear the Yard
Late August in Charleston means one eye on the tropics. By now you know the drill. A storm gets a name out in the Atlantic, and suddenly everybody is thinking about their yard at the same time. The smart move is to clear it out before that happens, not after. Loose limbs, dead branches, and overgrown brush are easy to deal with on a calm Saturday. They turn into a serious problem when 60 mph wind picks them up.
Here is the simple version. Anything in your yard that isn't tied down or rooted deep can become a projectile in a storm. Trimming your trees and hauling off the brush now takes that risk off the table. It also means you aren't fighting your neighbors for a dumpster the week a hurricane is sitting off the coast.
Why Now Beats Later
After a storm, everyone in town has yard debris. The roads are a mess, crews are stretched thin, and you are stuck staring at a pile of branches for who knows how long. Handling it ahead of time flips that around. You set the pace. You decide when the dumpster shows up and when it leaves.
There is also the safety side. A dead limb hanging over your roof is one thing on a quiet day. In a storm it can come through a window or take out a fence. Trimming it back now and getting the cuttings off your property is just good sense. Same goes for that brush pile along the fence line that's been growing all summer.
If you have been putting off tree work, this is the season to get it done. Cut it, pile it, and rent a dumpster to make the cleanup quick.
What Size You Need for Yard Waste
Yard waste is bulky but light. Branches, brush, palm fronds, and trimmings take up a lot of room without weighing much. For most yard cleanups, a 13-yard or a 17-yard is the right call. The 13 handles a normal yard. Step up to the 17 if you have a lot of trees, a big lot, or you're clearing years of overgrowth at once.
These sizes take household junk, furniture, wood, drywall, and remodeling debris too. So if your storm prep also means cleaning out the garage or the shed, you can throw that in the same load. The one thing to know is that the 13 and 17 are for light material. They don't take heavy stuff.
That heavy material has its own rule. Concrete, dirt, rock, sod, brick, and shingles all go in the 7-yard and only the 7-yard. So if you're pulling up an old patio or tearing off some roofing as part of your prep, that's a separate dumpster. For plain yard waste, though, stick with the bigger sizes. You can see all of them on the our dumpster sizes page.
How the Rental Works
We deliver the dumpster, you fill it on your own schedule, and we pick it up and handle the disposal. Rentals run anywhere from one day to thirty, so you can take a weekend or stretch it across a couple of weeks if the job is bigger. On a large clearing job we can swap out a full dumpster for an empty one and keep you going.
A couple of things we can't take in any size: batteries, chemicals, and electronics. Everything else from a normal yard cleanup is fine.
We're family-owned, based on James Island, and we've been doing this since 2023. We cover Charleston and 16 towns around it, about a 40-mile reach. You can check the towns we serve to see if you're in the area. We're licensed and insured, and you can reach us seven days a week. Tony answers the phone himself.
Common questions about clearing before storm season
Why clear the yard before a storm instead of after?
Because loose limbs and dead branches are what turn into damage in high wind, and because after a storm everybody in the county wants the same thing at once. Clearing early is a calmer job and a cheaper one in every sense.
What counts as storm-prep yard debris?
Dead limbs, overgrown branches near the roof or the power line, brush, old fence panels, and anything stacked against the house that would move in a blow. All of it is bulky and light, so it goes in the bigger sizes.
How far ahead of storm season should I book?
Earlier in the season than you think. The weeks after a named storm are the busiest we get, so the yard work you do in a quiet stretch is the work you are not fighting for a slot to finish.
Can I put the old fence and the shed in too?
Fence panels, posts, and shed lumber all go in with the light debris. Concrete footings that come out of the ground are the exception and belong in a 7-yard.
What if a storm comes while the container is on my property?
Tell us and we will work out the timing. A loaded container gets heavier in rain, and yard debris soaks up more than people expect, so if it is close to full it is usually better to have it picked up before the weather rather than after.
If a storm shows up on the forecast and your yard isn't ready, don't wait on it. Get the trimming done and call us to clear the pile. You can reach Tony at (843) 800-0689 and we'll get a dumpster out to you so you're set before the weather turns.
Need a dumpster in Charleston? Call or text Tony at (843) 800-0689, or order online.
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