What’s your leaf removal strategy? A little clean-up every weekend, or one big leaf haul at the end of the season? Are you a rake person, or a leaf blower person? And who’s cleaning your gutters? It seems that throughout October and November, every time you blink there’s another layer of leaves and debris covering our lawns. Thankfully the weather across the country has been mild (if not downright unseasonably hot), and fall foliage is beautiful… because we’re sure spending a lot of time outside keeping our homes looking tidy! Here are some of our favorite leaf clean-up tips and tricks:
Blow ‘em away:
The quickest and easiest method of leaf removal is with a leaf blower. High powered blowers are typically too heavy and potentially dangerous for a child to operate, so consider the pros and cons before essentially purchasing yourself a chore. Of course, leaf blowing is only appropriate at homes with an area to blow leaves towards. The neighbor’s yard does not count!
Bag ‘em up:
If your yard doesn’t have an area to dump leaves, don’t go starting a war with the neighbor by blowing all your leaves into their yard. The simple old school rake + bag method is effective, although time consuming. This is a great chore for children of all ages, though! Oftentimes rules or regulations regarding yard waste apply in waste collection: always check with the local municipality to assure your leaves are in the proper receptacles.
Lay out a tarp:
Rake or blow all your leaves toward a large tarp laid out on the lawn. If you’re doing leaf removal alone, this method may not be best. If you have a partner or a team (this is also a kid-friendly chore!) it becomes an easy task to each grab a side of the tarp and transport the debris over to the woods or otherwise designated “dumping area.”
Shred the leaves:
If your lawn is covered in leaves… do a pass with your lawn mower to shred the leaves. Many lawn mowers come with leaf-specific attachments that will bag the leaves for you. This allows for you to more easily repurpose the leaves as a kind of mulch or fertilizer. Fill your flower beds, garden or compost with mulched leaves!
What did we miss? What’s your best tip for saving time and energy during this laborious time of year? For all your home service needs, call one of our sister companies at Neighborly!
I have 3 1/2 acres with many large oak trees, which shed leaves from mid-October until Christmas. I mow/mulch everything except the area immediately around the house and the tree beside the back porch. Those areas I rake and wheelbarrow the leaves to a place where they can decompose in peace. Raking the whole property once cost $400!
I use all four methods at various stages of leaf build up. I use the lawn mower early on and anything on the grass goes on the garden and into the compost bin. The driveway and street leaves are bagged because they might have trash in them, but they go to public composting. When the leaves get thick I use the tarp and those leaves are also composted.
It never occurred to me to use a tarp. Thanks for this!
My neighbor has an oak tree on the property line. Leaves are the least of my concern. Thousands of acorns and the dear,squirrels and raccoons they attract are a bigger problem. How do you deal with it ?
These folks are great. Punctual, friendly, thorough and they deliver a quality product. When you consider equipment, time, medical costs (if something goes wrong and you fall) the price is very fair. Especially when you consider that they actually live up to their warranties.
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Dan.
I rake or blow my leaver in a pile them i take my tarp and take a big clamp and clamp the 2 ends together and rake the leaves on the open end . That way I drag the clamped end . No spills
Blow the leaves out! Thats my way of doing things!
We’ve been preparing our house for all types of seasons and so I wanted to find out what I can do to prepare for fall. It really helped when you emphasized that blowing the leaves away is easy and quick because my wife has decided we should keep the two trees in our yard and I can already see them making a lot of leaves when the time comes, probably too much for a rake job. I’ll be sure to look for an equipment store that I can find the proper leaf blower to buy. Thank you for your help!