12 Tips That Make Raking The Leaves In Your Yard A Quick And Easy Job

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Fall is upon us, and with the cozy evenings and warm mugs of apple cider, you'll also notice that the leaves from trees on and around your property are being shed — sometimes at an alarmingly fast rate. While freshly fallen leaves can have a romantic appeal to them, the amount of leaves in your yard can become so plentiful that you'll find yourself overwhelmed. It's true that raking leaves can be a time-consuming chore — but there are certainly steps that you can take to make it more pleasant. Believe it or not, you might even find that raking leaves is easy and quick when employing the correct tactics.

There's no way to entirely remove the responsibility and effort required to manage your leaves in the fall (other than hiring a service to collect and bag them, in which case you're still financially on the line), but there are many tips that can significantly reduce the associated anxiety. Some tips are remarkably straightforward: avoid raking wet leaves, get a good rake, and use gloves. Others are a little more advanced: utilize a pop-up leaf bag, build a leaf corral away from the house, and harness the power of the breeze. Whether you're a novice in the category of seasonal leaf management or not, these clever tips for making raking your leaves easier are worth testing.

Collecting a pile of raked leaves to transfer into a bag is tricky business, and if you're not careful, you'll wind up dropping a percentage of the leaves in the process. Instead, use gardening gloves to ensure that you have ample gripping surface to quickly and securely move the leaves from the pile to the bag. This is also a good way to protect your hands from scratches and bites, as insects might be hiding within the leaves you're collecting.

The debate over whether or not to rake leaves has been ongoing for many years. Interestingly, many experts today say that a pile of leaves can actually be good for the environment. Since leaves are natural and quickly decompose, they can help make amendments to the soil and provide a habitat for all sorts of critters. Instead of going to the trouble of bagging leaves, create a simple leaf corral a safe distance from your home. The leaves and sticks in it will break down on their own, saving you lots of time.

If you're looking for a way to speed up leaf raking, using paper lawn waste bags is an excellent approach. These sturdy bags stand upright on their own and also stay open, unlike plastic bags that collapse over on themselves, and you can easily press down the leaves in the bags, making room for more. Since you should never bag your leaves in plastic and send them to the landfill, these paper lawn bags are a better alternative for the environment, as they can be composted. You can typically find paper yard waste bags at most hardware stores.

Similar to most big and daunting chores, raking leaves is easier when you break it down into bite-sized pieces. Instead of raking leaves once a week for an hour, divide the task into a few minutes on a more regular basis. Even raking for 10 minutes each afternoon will help you get ahead of the falling leaves and prevent burnout. Once you're caught up on raking the leaves that have been littering your yard, your daily raking will just be maintenance that keeps your property looking its best.

Leaves can be sneaky; sometimes they'll get blown into garden beds where they will quietly sit until a windy day blows them into your clean yard. One way to get ahead of this sabotaging of your work is to rake your garden beds if you notice that they are starting to accumulate piles. Another approach to keep raking easy is to use your garden beds as a drop station for limited amounts of leaves. Spread a thin layer of crunched leaves in the beds, which can actually be good for the soil.

A good rake can be the difference between an efficient and enjoyable leaf clean-up session and a torturous one. If you hate the rake that you have been working with or if yours is damaged with broken tines, it might be a good time to invest in a new one. While there are all sorts of rakes on the market, it's likely best to invest in a wide, plastic rake for leaves, similar to Gardzen's 12-Tines Gardening Leaf Rake. This specific design is lightweight enough that it helps to gently collect leaves without damaging your grass.

If you have a large yard where leaves can blow into every corner, using a leaf blower can be an ideal way to corral them for collecting. A leaf blower can provide you with a focused stream of air that can help to dislodge leaves that are bunched up against your wooden fence or near the foundation of your home. Once the leaves have been consolidated into a smaller space, you can bust out your rake and pop-up leaf bag or paper yard waste bags for an efficient process.

Wet grass and wet leaves make the chore of raking more difficult. Raking can also be detrimental to your lawn and the soil when your yard is damp. Instead of raking on a wet morning and rainy day, it's best to wait until the sun has had a chance to dry things off or until you have a break in the rain (if you live in a place that is chronically wet). Once the fallen leaves have dried, you can use them to give your garden soil an extra boost.

Whether you have kids or a partner, raking leaves will go much more quickly with a little help. Enlisting the help of others means that one of you can focus on raking up the leaves, while the other transfers the pile into your leaf bags or bin. This is especially helpful on windy days when the leaves you collect might rapidly be thrown about the yard, therefore undoing much of your effort. If you're having a hard time convincing others to help you, remember to keep the raking session short and sweet.

If you're tired of single-use bags (plastic or paper) and the cost that they bring with them, consider investing in a pop-up lawn waste bag. These collapsible and expandable trash cans are lightweight so you can easily move them around as you're raking various areas of your yard. Some are designed to have a zippered closure system, so you can save your leaf collecting until the bin is full, then dump it into your larger yard waste trash bin if your area offers them. When you're done using the pop-up bin, fold it away.

While you don't want to rake first thing in the morning when things are dewy, you also should avoid raking during the heat of the day if your schedule permits. Instead, try heading outside in the late afternoon or early evening when the heat has started to ease off a bit. Even a day with highs in the 60s can feel very warm after 15 minutes of raking and expose you to UV rays. Choosing to wait until the sun is lower in the sky will make raking easier and more comfortable.

Fall often brings windiness with it, and while heavy gusts can be frustrating as you try to round up your yard's leaves, a soft breeze can actually help with some of the heavy lifting. Soft breezes can move dry leaves around for you, making it easier to collect them into a pile — especially if you rake in the same direction the wind is blowing. Just remember to do something with the piles, or you'll risk having your work undone by the wind.