16 Leaf-Raking Lessons No One Ever Taught You

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Few things in nature are as striking as bright cerise and gold foliage in fall . But even the most beautiful deciduous leaves eventually fall , and when too many of them accumulate in your thousand , those untidy piles can put out the lawn , occlude the growth of nerveless - season grasses , and appeal pests .

While clean up these fall leafage might seem like a never-ending chore , it does n’t have to be . Leaves can wait on a more significant purpose than just cluttering up the lawn . They can be worthful assets for both the environment and the yard .

View of neighborhood with fall leaves on the ground

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In fact , many experts recommend leaving the leaves where they fall . David Mizejewski , a naturalist with the National Wildlife Federation , hopes that homeowners keep the fallen farewell on their property . “ [ Leaves ] are an important home ground for all sorting of wildlife from songster to butterfly stroke and moths ; even some of our native bee rely on that lifelike bed of leaves that lessen as habitat , ” Mizejewski says . “ If you throw them all away in the landfill , not only does that completely eliminate the home ground for these wildlife , it ’s also throwing away a worthful resource . ”

Whether you want to discover dependable and good ways to get disembarrass of leaves in your yard or check how folio can benefit property and wildlife , we have some lessons that will make handling fallen foliage in the yard a piece of cake .

1. Wait for leaves to finish falling.

You ca n’t look sharp Mother Nature . It ’s purposeless to start up raking when the Tree are still full of leave of absence . Save valuable time by waiting until the tree are practically bare before tackle the task . It can take a few days or even a few weeks before all the leave have fallen , but by waiting , you ’ll only have torakeonce .

2. Always take comfort into consideration.

Raking is dusty business . You ’ll be more well-to-do if you get into a hat , a long - sleeved shirt , and retentive pants before getting started . It ’s also impertinent to wear a good pair ofwork mitt , likeOZERO Flex Gripleather body of work gloves , to keep blisters from forming on your hands and offer a scrap of warmth on chilly fall twenty-four hours . Also , remember to stand up straight while scan and ofttimes shift the conduct manus on the rake to foreclose arm and berm weariness .

3. Use the right rake.

Leaf rakes make out in various lengths and tine breadth , and the near rake for one soul might not be the best for another . Rakes with narrow tine spreads foregather few leaves and add unnecessary prison term to the chore , so homeowner can choose potpourri with a wider tine spread of about 30 inches .

Also , search for roue judge “ no - clog dancing , ” such as theTrue Temper Clog Free Rake . No - clog dancing rakes have lean tines that wo n’t pierce the leaves and create blockage .

4. Rake with the wind.

Take advantage of windy fall weather by raking in the same commission that a patrician breeze is shove off . The gusts will help move the teetotal folio along . If you make the misapprehension of rake against the wind , every shot of the rake will lift some leafage , which can then be blown rearwards .

The exception to this convention is when the idle words is bracing . When that ’s the case , do n’t skim at all . By the time you eat up scan , will from the neighbour ’s yard will likely have replaced those you scan up from yours . What ’s the point ?

5. Rake in rows.

Raking all the leaves into the center of the lawn will mean constantly running back and forth , wasting a lot of time and muscularity . Instead , divide the lawn into quadrants , then glance over all the leave in each quarter-circle into quarrel , work on from one remnant to the other . rake the leaves in a grid pattern will write metre and ensue in a clean lawn .

6. Save time and trouble with tarps.

bag big piles of leaves is a time - squander task . Reduce the workloadby raking the parting onto a expectant tarpaulin . When you ’re done raking , tie the last of the tarp together and transport the intact “ bag ” to a community compendium center . instead , wrap the tarp into a cylinder and use it as a funnel shape to fill single lawn handbag .

A eminent - quality , lightweight tarp can be reused many time and will last for years . Some tarps , such as theRocky Mountain Goods Drawstring Tarp , are peculiarly design for glance over up leave . With its drawstring corner , it turn up up into a handy bag for toting leaves away .

7. Bag smaller piles.

Unless you project to run down the leaves into a large pile for the kid to pass over in , it ’s a good idea to bag them straight aside . Otherwise , the brisk fall breeze can undo all your hard work , and need another raking academic session in the same zones .

With environmentally friendly biodegradable suitcase such as these 30 - gallonlawn and leaf purse from Tapix , the leaf and the bag can be toss into a community ’s leaf aggregation station . Some communities ask dumping leaves out of moldable bags to keep the plastic , which does n’t biodegrade promptly , out of the folio piles .

8. Invest in a leaf vacuum.

To streamline the leaf - remotion summons , consider investing in aleaf vacuumwith a work up - in shredder . The vacuum suck up the leaves , and the shredder minces them into minuscule bits to collect more leave in fewer bags — or mulch the leaves into smaller pieces that can delay in place and founder down more well to enrich stain and lawn beneath .

thou vacuums also make it well-fixed to pick up leaves under shrubs , between bushes , on top of gemstone mulch , and in other places where raking can be knavish . A cordless folio vacuum , such as theGreenworks 40V Vacuum , makes this task a snap . It ’s bombardment - operated , so you are n’t limited by the duration of an extension corduroy or relying on gas to power the tool .

9. Mow and mulch at the same time.

Get rid of minor amounts of fallen leave while at the same time add together organic mulch to the lawn . just pout over the leaves with a lawn mower , ideally one with a mulching circumstance . The blade will chop the wry leaves into small flakes , which will decompose quickly and add nutrient to the lawn .

Those looking for constituent thing to add to a compost pot can attach a grass - clipping bag to the lawn mower and take in the tear up dry foliage . Whole leaves can also go into a compost pile , but shredded leaves biodegrade more rapidly .

10. Use a leaf blower, with these caveats.

leafage blowerscan significantly come down cleansing time after raking , but only if they ’re used right . Start by sectioning out the G and establishing a gridiron pattern , then work the leaf electric fan back and onward in rows . Remember that drill makes utter withleaf blowers . At first , many people have a tendency to tolerate too close to the leaf , which can blow them wildly in all direction .

Those who are serious about moving a lot of leave should consider abackpack - case blower , such as theHusqvarna Backpack Blower , that allows the user to transmit the motor on the back rather than lugging it around by hand , exit both hired hand free .

It ’s of import to observe , however , that a set of lawn and yard maintenance equipment — particularly gasoline - power tools — can summate to befoulment . “ Those lawn lawn mower , weedwackers , and blowers that are power by gas are putting out awful measure of carbon copy dioxide and other atmosphere pollutants , ” Mizejewski says . “ Our advice at the National Wildlife Federation is that if you do have to use them , you desire to at least go with galvanizing models , ” he add up . He notes that electric model develop significantly less air and stochasticity pollution .

Leaves falling from tree

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11. Rake before rain.

After a rainstorm , fallen leaves become marshy and dense , clumping together and clogging pitch , vacuums , and leaf blowers . If the forecast augur wet weather condition and raking is on the to - do lean , get move and clean up the lawn ASAP .

If time allows , it ’s also a good idea to clean leave of absence out of house gutters before it rains . When they ’re wry , they ’re so much easier to rinse away using an extendable rod that attaches to a pressure washer , such as theAgiiMan Gutter Cleaning Rods .

12. Sweep with gentle motions.

Unlike the skim done to prepare a garden bed for planting , folio raking postulate only gentle motions . The flexible tine on a leaf rake should not dig into the lawn nor off thatched roof . Leaf - raking is all about airfoil raking . Putting downward pressure on the rake headland will just make the Book of Job more hard .

cabbage the rake head up and out , and have it fall quietly on the control surface of the leave . Then , just root for it toward you . The dented shape of the tine is sufficient for grab and pulling the leaves . Using an efficientleaf - raking methodwill help get the line of work done quickly and effortlessly .

13. Use leaf scoops.

Once the leaves are all in a slew , cull them up and filling bags or boxes is often more study — and more tenseness on the back — than it has to be . A much unproblematic agency to plagiarize and stretch the dry leave is with leaf scoops that look like a giant claw for each hired man . When wear on both hands , the scoops make it easy to lift large amount of money of leaves at a clip .

Leaf scoops such as theseleaf scoop from Garden HOME , will help when gathering hatful of leaf and bagging or moving them in agile order .

14. Try shoveling leaves.

Most would never opine of using a shovel to gather dry leaves from the lawn , but that may be because they ’re not familiar with rake digger . A rake shovel is unlike from othertypes of roue . It looks a little like a snow shovel , and it ’s designed to promote along the surface of a lawn . Unlike a standard snow shovel blade , it has tines that glide across the lawn , picking up leaves and small twigs .

A rake shovel , such as theMLTOOLS Gardening Rake Shovel , offers another way of houseclean up leaf . graze shovels can help cut arm and back weariness are best suited for householder with small yards .

15. Stomp before you take a break from raking.

Life happen , and sometimes you ’ll have to take a break from rake even if you ’re not done to answer a speech sound call , pick up the shaver from association football practice , or fertilize the dog .

If you ’ve already skim those lightweight leaves into a pile , they might blow across the lawn by the prison term you get back . However , there ’s a small folio - crease backsheesh that can aid : Stomp on the pile . Stomping on the leafage compacts them and help keep most from fuck up out before rake recommences .

16. …Or don’t rake at all.

“ My adept advice would be to just not crease , ” Mizejewski said . “ Let the leaves lie where they shine . The most natural and the most good thing to do is to just let your M be entirely natural . ” This supportsinsects and minor wildlife , especially in area without lawn turf .

Leaving some leafage unraked in the yard has been shown to be quite good for both property possessor and the environs . According to theU.S. Department of Agriculture , leaves make a natural mulch that helps keep ground moisture , which slim down some of the pauperism towater the lawnand promotes good for you grease . This natural mulch also can suppress gage growing , saving clock time and attempt onweeding .

“ Let your lawn turn into a natural garden seam that you may fill with beautiful wildflowers and native tree diagram and shrub . Use that natural leaf layer as a mulch , ” Mizejewski say .

Person wearing gloves and putting leaves in bag

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17. Break up large leaves and thick layers.

Another reason to skitter run down is that yard debris , including leaves , accounts for more than13 percentof solid wasteland in the U.S. This dissipation releases the greenhouse throttle methane if there ’s not enough oxygen to decay .

However , even the USDA suggests mulching the leaves that remain on greensward . Leaving large and thick leave-taking on pot over the winter can smother the turf , preclude light from let through to roots and make matte layers . Excessive leaf thing also can go to mould - related diseases . Use one of the methods above ( mowing with a mulcher , or mincing in a vacuum or blower ) to break up some of the leaves and let them remain in a lean layer ( about an inch ) . Or hale them off to serve as mulch in a garden bed to repurpose leaves rather of dispose of them .

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Person using rake

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Older woman raking leaves