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Raking leaves to the curb was almost an annual ritual for 62-year-old Terri Ivey since moving to her Marlboro Meadows home in Upper Marlboro nine years ago.

Every year, Ivey would wrap her arthritic foot, brave the cold and rake as many leaves in her yard as she could, then move them to the curb to take advantage of a Prince George's County Department of Public Works and Transportation program that allowed residents to move leaves to their curb to be sucked up by a vacuum, rather than having to bag and dispose of the leaves.

But this year will be different for Ivey and other residents. The county scrapped its 25-year-old leaf pickup program in July to save $2 million annually. Residents are now required to bag the leaves and place them on the curb for pickup during scheduled yard waste days.

The cuts are likely to be permanent, affecting all communities in the county that had received pickup, according to public works department representatives.

The program was created 25 years ago in 351 communities throughout the county, said Susan Hubbard, a spokeswoman for the county's public works department. But as the number of county homes grew, the program was never able to expand, Hubbard said.

"It was a rather expensive service for 351 communities in the county," she said.

The department had been sending notifications since July about the service cuts.

The county will continue issuing violation notices this fall to residents who place leaves on the curb, followed by citations if the notices are ignored, said Haitham A. Hijazi, director of the public works department. A fee for citations has not yet been determined, he said.

"There is a percentage of folks still raking leaves to the curb, so we need to get the information out," Hijazi said, adding that the department has continued to post signs about the change in the community.

"It's costly for us, too. You have to buy the bags," said Anita Byrd, 42, of Upper Marlboro Meadows. "I envy my neighbor — he has a leaf blower."