by Alyssa Wernham
Kids love them. Adults hate collecting them. It’s inevitable that as autumn arrives, so do falling leaves. As tedious as the task may be, raking leaves is an essential fall activity. If left undone, the leafy debris can make the perfect home for nasty mice and rodents. It can also be damaging to your lawn in the winter, creating a breeding ground for mold in your grass. Before grumbling about doing fall yard work, check out our list of leaf collection helpers, meant to make the task easier.
Hand-Held Leaf Blower/Vacuum: Hand-held leaf blowers can make getting leaves out of hard to reach places much easier. The also make raking leaves minimal, and speeds up the process of removing leaves. To be greener, get a leaf blower vacuum combination. The vacuum shreds up the leaves, which in turn, can be used as mulch or added to a compost bin.
Buy One: The Home Depot offers the Toro Ultra Blower Vac for $74.97.
Lawn Vacuum: A lawn vacuum can be used for more than just collecting leaves. It also picks up grass clippings and other lawn debris. When it picks up the debris, it compacts it into a contained bin, making clean up much easier. Perfect for larger yards, the yard vacuum can make a usually messy lawn spotless and show worthy.
Buy One: Sears offers the Craftsman Torque 4-in-1 yard vacuum for $620.
Ergonomic Rakes If you’re someone who would rather put in the hard work and use a rake, perhaps an ergonomic rake is a better fit. The longer, curved handles of ergonomic rakes are designed to minimize the sore muscles in your back and arms from raking leaves. Did you know you can burn 292 calories per hour raking leaves?
Wal-Mart offers the ergonomic SnakeRake for 37.24.
Leaf Bags: If you go the route of raking, instead of using garbage bags use a reusable leaf collection bag. As you rake along in the yard, put the leaves and debris in the reusable bag. When it is full, dump the collected leaves on the street for proper leaf pick up.
The Home Depot offers the Ryobi Leaf and Lawn bag for 14.97.
When it comes time to start raking leaves, make sure to find out how to properly recycle them. Most communities will have specific “leaf” pickup days. Pile your leaves along the side of the street for easier access for pickup days. For more information about leaf collection days, contact your municipality or residence. Many local governments also offer this information on their Web site.
Make this fall a little different. Don’t grumble when you think about collecting leaves! With any of these products, leaf collection is less of a hassle and almost pain free.
