Easiest Possible Way to Clean Leaves
- I use leaf blowers and get everything including acorns, pine needles etc. Never touch a rake actually blow leaves on to a tarp then move the tarp forward and repeat. When the tarp is full I fold edges and compact the leaves on the tarp leaving more space for more leaves until the tarp is full. Then I tie the corners together making the tarp look like a hammock or a banana. Start my back pack blower grab one end of the tarp and blow air under the tarp virtually makes the tarp of leaves into a hovercraft and the tarp can be pulled with no effort to the woods or my trailer. I usually won't tell anyone this secret because I run a business doing this and we do three times the work in half the time of any other company. Have fun and don't say I never taught you anything.
- —Guest Josh
Big Time Saver
- I lived in the desert before retiring and moving to Delaware. We bought a one acre lot with plans to build retirement home. It had 55 large oak trees and I spent many, many days hand raking and loading leaves into a 4 x 8 trailer for many, many trips to relatives who wanted the leaves. After the house was built and lot reduced to approx. 20 oak trees I bought a 10 hp mulcher chipper and a leaf blower. That became labor intensive with more time emptying the cloth leaf bag into plastic bags. Finally, after planting grass and getting a lawn tractor, I mounted the mulcher/chipper between the lawn tractor and a closed in yard trailer and connected it all together with 8 inch hose. Also, to saving bagging the mulched leaves, i rigged up a pvc pipe frame that holds 6 -33 gallon bags inside the trailer. Leaves are now mulched, blown into the trailer/bags and the whole mess is driven to street shoulder, bags are unloaded, twisty added. Job's now done quickly and neatly!!!
- —Guest lotsaleaves
Rakes Rule
- What happened to being able to sit on your porch on a nice fall day, or summer day, and hear . . . nothing. Today it is rare to be able to sit and listen to silence. All you hear on these beautiful fall weekends is that incessant leaf blower motor. I timed my neighbor one day, he was blowing for 2 and a half hours. I can rake my entire yard in 1 hour, without making a lot of noise and getting some exercise to boot. An it is not just my neighbor, you hear them all over the neighborhood. I don't think people actually think before they buy something they think they need, if they did they would not but leaf blowers. They only think it is better than raking because you are "blowing" instead of "working". It's funny, they same guys that would complain about me riding my mini bike as a kid, because it made a lot of "noise" are the first to buy a leaf blower and argue it is their right to use it because this is America.
- —Guest Johncshell
Leaf Raking Is the Adult Method
- Leaf blowers are for senior citizens and 4yr old girls.
- —Guest mudd
Prefer Leaf Raking But...
- Between the two, I prefer raking for leaf removal. But I'm being drawn to leaf blowing if only because I've put in a rather large area of new garden with mulch. Getting fallen leaves out of the mulched garden is troublesome, but blowing them out would be effortless.
- —Guest Curmudgeon Geographer
Neither Leaf Raking nor Leaf Blowing
- It is so easy to use the mulching mower and just mow them up! Plus it is great for the lawn!
- —Guest Lynn Marie
Leaf Raking Is Best for Me
- When I have used a leaf blower / vacuum to gather, mulch and bag leaves, it created dust. It is also very loud and disturbs my hearing, so I have to wear ear plugs.
- —Guest Steve
Be Polite When Leaf Blowing
- I'm a bit ticked today as my neighbor used his new leaf blower and all the leaves are now in my yard. I shouldn't have to pick up after someone else who's too lazy or self involved to realize what they were doing. [Editor's note: One good point about leaf raking is that it's not as easy for a neighbor to make a mess like this in your yard!]
- —Guest matt
Leaf Blowing, Leaf Raking, Using Tractor
- I DO SOME OF ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: RAKING, BLOWING AND PICKING UP WITH MY TRACTOR PULLING A BAGGER. I PILE THEM UP OUT OF MY YARD AND LET THEM TURN TO COMPOST. CAN'T LEAVE THEM ON GRASS, WILL CAUSE LAWN DAMAGE.
- —Guest NICK
Raking
- Raking is very often much faster, but I do see and HEAR the large decibel blowers, with people standing and taking much time to blow a few leaves in the direction they want them to go.
- —Guest Barbara
Leaf Raking Great, If I Have Help
- Leaf raking is great when my grandson is helping me, otherwise I just raise the lawn mower up a notch or two and vacuum them up. I put my mp3 player on and cover the ears and go right to it.
- —Guest Howard
Both Leaf Raking and Leaf Blowing
- I use a combination of both. The leaf blower is used for smaller areas, such as landscape/flower beds and nooks and crannies around the house. Once they are blown out into open areas of the yard. We use a large tarp and rake them up on it, to go to the compost pile. What few leaves are remaining, we start up the mulch mower and mulch the remaining leaves.
- —Guest Frank
Leaf Blowing in Vacuum Mode
- We use a leaf blower, but in reverse. Shredding them to use as mulch, to compost, to make leaf mould... I too have problems with the noise, but the results are really worth it in the gardens, and in the wallet. Plus my daughter finds hilarity in the fact that I'm "vacuuming the yard".
- —Guest Renee
Leaf Blowing -- With Mower
- I use my 20hp. riding mower to blow them around my trees.
- —Guest jeff baise
Leaf Raking Best
- There are areas where blowers work best but not any where near gardens! They disturb good insects snuggling in from the cold and destroy their beds. We can help them by covering the area with those leaves instead. Thanks All
- —Guest Kathleen Norris
