12 Leaf Removal Tools To Make The Fall Chore Bearable

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The autumn season is primarily known for one thing — leaves. The appeal of these leaves tends to vary: Quite often, a person can have totally different takes on autumn leaves, depending on their perspective at that moment. For instance, it is not unusual for someone to travel a great distance to visit the most scenic places to see fall foliage. That same leaf peeper may let out an audible groan when they find their lawn blanketed with falling foliage. However, almost anyone can improve their feelings around the often thankless fall chore of leaf removal by equipping themselves with the right tools.

Choosing the right tool — or tools — to clear your lawn of leaves depends on several factors, including lawn size, budget, and how much energy you want to put into yard maintenance. If you have a relatively small lawn, simply picking the right rake can make a tremendous difference. Larger lawns, on the other hand, may require more advanced machinery to make leaf collection and removal bearable. Of course, if you've decided to not rake leaves this fall, you won't really need any tools. For most homeowners, however, the right approach often means combining more than one of the tools below to maximize efficiency and minimize the time it takes to rid your lawn of leaves.

A rake is the most basic implement for leaf collection and removal. So, you may be wondering how a rake qualifies as a tool which can make this chore easier. The key here is that it has to be the right rake. Clog-free leaf rakes are designed to prevent leaves from getting impaled on, stuck to, or jammed in the tines. Although models like the True Temper Clog Free Leaf Rake can be a bit pricier than the average leaf rake, the time you save pulling leaves off the tines will pay itself off.

Another instance where the right rake can make a difference is if you have leaves building up on the roof. While you may think leaves will eventually blow off, they usually don't. Leaving them can lead to issues such as water leaks, clogged gutters, and pests. An extendable roof rake, such as the Extend-A-Reach Telescoping Roof Rake, can make collecting them safer, as standing on the ground to rake leaves off the roof provides more stability than scaling a ladder. It's also much faster, as you just need to extend the rake, as opposed to hauling out and setting up a ladder.

Instead of raking, you can also easily get your leaves into piles with a leaf blower. In some instances, especially if you have a small yard, getting out a big, heavy leaf blower may not seem worth the effort. However, a small, compact, and very portable handheld cordless leaf blower can be a real time saver. Handheld cordless leaf blowers can be easily carried across your yard, porch, or patio. The small, compact design also makes it easy to direct air in tight quarters or hard-to-reach areas where leaves often build up.

Whether you utilize a rake or leaf blower, once you have mounds of leaves piled throughout your yard, you need to find a way to transfer them to some sort of container. Attempting to pin leaves against the rake or scoop up handfuls is very inefficient and, at times, frustrating. Leaf scoops can make the process far faster. A single scoop can be used in the same manner as a dustpan, while a pair of scoops function as massive claws, gathering substantial loads of leaves at a time. As a bonus, young kids usually find leaf scoops fun, making them eager to help.

The downside to leaf scoops is that they still require you to bend over. If you are wanting to limit the amount of bending required to pick up a pile of leaves, then consider a leaf grabber, such as the Ames Leaf Grabber. A leaf grabber basically functions in the same manner as leaf scoops. However, the extended handles eliminate the need for you to bend down to reach the pile of leaves. The majority of reviewers on Amazon claim this leaf grabber allowed them to complete the task much quicker, while avoiding a sore back at the same time.

If you want to streamline the process as much as possible, a tarp can be handy for carrying off an entire pile at once. This can be done with any standard tarp laid flat on the ground. However, windy days can cause the leaves to blow off the tarp as soon as they are raked on. In that instance, it's better to go with a tarp such as the EZ Leaf Hauler Leaf Tarp that is designed with side flaps to help block the wind. These specialized tarps essentially function as a giant dustpan, allowing users to rake or blow leaves into it.

If you are in a situation where you need to bag your leaves, you likely know the frustration of trying to keep the bag open whilst scooping leaves into it. Leaf chutes are designed to solve this problem. With most leaf chutes, both paper and plastic lawn bags can be fitted over the outside of the device. At that point, you simply need to lay it down with the extended scoop lip on the ground and rake or blow leaves into the chute. When done, stand the leaf chute upright and slide it out of the bag.

Lawn sweepers essentially allow you to complete the raking and collecting tasks all at once. As the lawn sweeper is pushed around the lawn, brushes fling leaves into the collection hopper. This is a quick and efficient way to clear larger lawns of leaves. While the hopper does need to be emptied periodically, it typically lifts out much like a basket, so the leaves remain contained until dumped into a compost pile, bag, or mulcher. Many models also feature adjustable height settings, allowing them to also be used on driveways and patios.

Leaf blower/vacuum combos, such as the Black+Decker Electric Blower/Mulcher/Vac 3-in-1 Backpack, are tools that can be used to make leaf collecting more efficient in a variety of ways. They can be used as traditional leaf blowers to clear leaves from patios, decks, and driveways or to form leaves into piles for collection. They can also be used to vacuum up leaves — piled or not. The Black+Decker unit even features a mulcher setting. The fact this model is electric is a big plus given that gas-powered leaf blowers are on the verge of being banned in many areas.

If you have a very large lawn that needs to be cleared of leaves on a regular basis, you may want to consider a tow-behind lawn sweeper. These devices function just like push-model lawn sweepers. The difference is that tow-behind lawn sweepers are meant to be pulled by a riding lawn mower, zero-turn, or ATV. Most also have a larger capacity hopper, which are dumped without lifting, which reduces the amount of physical exertion necessary, provided you have a composting area to dispose the leaves in.

Mulching can help quickly turn fall leaves into fuel for your garden. So, rather than just collecting leaves in lawn bags to be hauled off, you can dump them into a portable shredder or leaf mulcher, then use them to mulch your flower beds and gardens. Even if the leaves are to be disposed of, running them through a mulcher can reduce the number of bags you need, as mulchers are designed to decrease the amount of waste volume. The machine's mulch ratio will tell you how much reduction you can expect once your leaves are processed.

Of course, with the right tool you don't need to remove leaves at all. Utilizing the mulcher setting on your lawn mower will allow you to shred the leaves into small particles that fall beneath the grass blades of your lawn. Not only will the leaves then be all but invisible, they will also help provide nutrients to your lawn as they decompose. Even better, this requires no extra time, as the mulching takes place while you are mowing.