Amy Draiss
Leaf clean up is on my list for garden work in autumn, and maybe it’s on yours as well. Raking all the beautifully colored leaves into giant piles that beg to be jumped in is a classic, and even somewhat romanticized, fall chore.
But, as the years pass, I find raking less fun and more tiring, plus time consuming. Both my back and my calendar were happy when I learned about alternatives.
Fall clean up is easier if you learn the best way to rake leaves, but even so, there are easier options for dealing with fallen leaves. Give one a try and maybe you can retire that rake this fall.
Aching from Raking
Even since I was a kid, I believed that the best way to pick up leaves was with a rake. You raked them into piles then disposed of them. Those with a small backyard might not have to worry too much, but if your landscape is large and contains many deciduous trees, you may be dedicating many afternoons to the task.
There are alternatives. No one leaf-treatment option will be perfect for every gardener, but one or more might appeal to you.
No-Rake Options for Fall Leaf Cleanup
Deciduous trees lose their leaves every fall and regrow them in the springtime. If you have one small Japanese maple, this is no big deal. If your landscape includes mighty oaks, birches, tulip trees and beech, your yard may be knee deep in brightly colored leaves.
How to get rid of the leaves that drop in autumn without using a rake? Here are five alternatives to consider.
1. Leave Them Lie
When it comes to raking alternatives, nothing is easier than simply leaving the leaves. Some gardeners consider the leaves a natural mulch, protecting the lawn, shrubs and plants in the beds and ultimately disintegrating into and enriching the soil. Piles of leaves also make excellent hibernating habitats for wildlife, including insects, frogs, toads and hedgehogs.
I like to use this alternative in France, where much of the acreage is on a steep slope and planted with chestnuts, birches and oaks. However, I have found a few types of trees – including plane trees – with leaves so large that they take more than a year to break down. A layer of these thick leaves blocks plants from getting the sunlight and air they require.
2. Mow and Mulch
If the idea of using the leaves as mulch has some appeal, you might want to speed up the process by leaving the leaves in place but only after chopping them up. A mulching lawn mower will do the job easily. Use a high setting, then pass the mower several times until the leaves are in tiny pieces. Gardening Know How Senior Manager Allie Kerkhoff is obsessed with the Greenworks lawn mower she got from Amazon because it is light weight, folds up for storage, and mows her lawn and mulches her leaves with ease.
Chopped leaves break down much more quickly than whole leaves. But they’ll last long enough to fertilize the ground beneath them. This works particularly on lawn areas.
3. Leaf Blower and Tarp
Leaf blowers were not around in Alaska when I was a child, but they are easy to find in hardware stores today. So instead of using your arm and back muscles to rake autumn leaves, you just point the blower and move the leaves along. You can lay out a tarp, blow the leaves into a pile on that tarp, then add them to the compost bin or disposal area. Multiple people on the Gardening Know How team have been raving about their Greenworks leaf blowers, which can be found on Amazon. They love how efficient the leaf blowers are and that the batteries can also be used with other Greenworks tools which has simplified their lawn care routine. You can also find a heavy duty, waterproof tarp on Amazon that is great for gardening jobs and lawn care.
One disadvantage of a leaf blower is the noise it makes. It can be stressful for the person operating the machine, and it’s sure to make neighbors upset if you use your leaf blower too early in the morning. Remember to be courteous. Picking up a tarp full of leaves is an awkward task for one person, so you might want to get a friend to help. In addition, leaves gathered from a large yard might overwhelm your home compost.
4. Leaf Blower With Accessories
Fancier leaf blowers make life even easier. They are just as noisy but offer features like vacuum functions. That means that after you blow them into a pile, you can suck them up with the vacuum, then dump them into the collection area. Some leaf blowers even have a leaf-shredding mode that facilitates composting. This highly-rated cordless leaf blower and vacuum from Greenworks is available on Amazon. Unlike some other models, the Greenworks device includes wheels when it is converted into a vacuum so you won't stoop and hurt your back.
5. Yard Vacuums
Yard vacuums, or leaf vacuums, are another great option for leaf clean up. You can look for a handheld leaf vacuum (like the Greenworks one from Amazon we mentioned above) for the least expensive version, or splurge for one that attaches to your mower. The mower attachment uses a mower deck adapter, a hitch and a hose. If you happen to have a tractor, you can also buy a yard sweeper that is pulled behind it. This lawn sweeper from Lowe's is an affordable choice if you have a riding lawn mower you use for your large lawn.
Just like the leaf blower with a vacuum mode, a yard vacuum sucks up leaves and other yard debris into bags. While yard vacuums are efficient and convenient, they can kick up some dust and debris so be sure to wear safety glasses and a mask like these from Amazon to protect yourself.
Hopefully, these ideas for fall leaf clean up will help set you free from your rake. Try them out and see how much easier your autumn chore list is!
