16

No One

Leaf-Raking Lessons

Ever Taught You

It can take a few days or even a few weeks before all the leaves have fallen, but by waiting, you’ll only have to rake once.

1. Wait for leaves to  finish falling.

It’s wise to wear a good pair of work gloves, like  OZERO Flex Grip leather work gloves, to keep blisters from forming on your hands and offer a bit of warmth.

2. Take comfort into consideration.

Rakes with narrow tine spreads gather fewer leaves and add unnecessary time to the chore, so choose varieties with a wider tine spread of about 30 inches.

3. Use the right rake.

If you make the mistake of raking against the wind, every stroke of the rake will lift some leaves, which can then be blown backward.

4. Rake with the wind.

Separate the lawn into quadrants, then rake all the leaves in each quadrant into rows, working from one end to the other.

5. Rake in rows.

When you’re done raking, tie the ends of the tarp together and transport the entire “bag” to a community collection center.

6. Save time and trouble  with tarps.

Unless you plan to rake the leaves into a large pile for the kids to jump in, it’s a good idea to bag them straight away.

7. Bag smaller piles.

Yard vacuums, like this electric one from Greenworks, also make it easier to pick up leaves on top of stone mulch, and in other places where raking can be tricky.

8. Invest in a  leaf vacuum.

Simply mow over the leaves with a lawn mower, ideally one with a mulching setting.

9. Mow and mulch  at the same time.

Sectioning out the yard and establish a grid pattern, then work the leaf blower back and forth in rows.

10. Use a leaf blower, with these caveats.

After a rainstorm, fallen leaves become soggy and dense, clumping together and clogging rakes, vacuums, and leaf blowers.

11. Rake before rain.

The bent shape of the tines is sufficient for grabbing and pulling the leaves.

12. Sweep gently.

When worn on both hands, leaf scoops like this pair available at Amazon make it easy to lift large amounts of leaves at a time.

13. Use leaf scoops.

Unlike a standard snow shovel blade, a rake shovel has tines that glide across the lawn, picking up leaves and small twigs.

14. Try shoveling leaves.

Stomping on the leaves compacts them and helps keep most from blowing away before raking recommences.

15. Stomp before you take a break from raking.

The most natural and the most beneficial thing to do is to just let your yard be totally natural.

16. …Or don’t rake at all.

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