Once the leaves start falling, it seems they never stop. And even if you love the fall, raking can be a real pain. Green Dream Landscaping Leaf Removal Experts came up with the following 9 tips to make your job easier.
Compost the Leaves
To avoid bagging and to recycle your leaves, buy/ make a compost bin or put them in remote areas of the yard where nature can break the leaves down into nutrient-rich material for your garden or lawn. When selecting or building a compost bin, be sure to go with the next size larger than you think you’ll need, because most likely you will need it larger, but also because the more composting material there is, the faster and better it will compost.
Prepare your Body
Exercise regularly in preparation for raking season and warm up before you begin raking. Stretch your muscles, go for a walk and treat raking as exercise — because it is. Also stay warm and hydrated, dress in layers that can be easily added or removed, and don’t overexert yourself.
Use the Right Technique
Pull the leaves directly toward you, without twisting as you pull. Tighten your abs to protect your back. If you bag the leaves, lift the leaves and bags using your legs, not your lower back.
Use Good Tools
First, get a comfortable, light rake with a long handle so you’re not straining to lift it or bend over while you rake. You can buy bag funnels to help keep the bag open while dumping leaves into it. If you have a wooded area where you’re allowed to dump leaves, gather the leaves on a strong tarp and drag the load there. Check out HGTV’s blog post on The Best Tools for Picking Up Leaves in Your Yard here.
Keep Mowing
Make sure you keep mowing your lawn late into the season so your lawn mower can help do some of the work for you. Some lawn tractors have attachment systems that suck up and bag grass clippings and leaves with them.
Rake Before the Winter
Letting leaves become compacted beneath the snow all winter will make them harder to move come spring.
Rake Before it Rains
Whenever possible, put in some extra raking time and try to get as much done before it’s going to rain. The added raking will be much easier than the extra time and effort of raking and collecting heavy, clumped, wet leaves.
Take it One Section at a Time
Don’t rake everything in one day, especially if you have a large lawn. Divide the lawn into sections and rake one at a time — and hope the wind doesn’t work against you.
Get Help
Our Maintenance Program will save you time, effort, and even money (when you take into consideration the time lost and the potential for injury of doing it yourself!) We use professional strength leaf blowers to get the job done fast – they’re even strong enough to help deal with the onslaught of acorns we’re getting this year.
