Rake, bend, rake, bend and it took hours! There has to be an easier way to pick up leaves. There is that too. And this article has it for you. We provide information about tried and tested methods including their advantages and disadvantages. If useful machines are used, collecting leaves can even be fun.
What methods are there to collect leaves?
To collect leaves, you can either rake, sweep or remove them with a lawnmower. Raking and sweeping is quiet and does not require a power source, but can be strenuous. The lawn mower makes the work less physically demanding and shreds the leaves, but requires a power source and is noisy.
Pick up leaves or leave them lying around?
Before you get an insight into the different options for collecting leaves, you may be wondering whether it is really necessary to collect all the leaves. Surprisingly, you can save yourself a lot of work in this regard. You can leave the leaves in beds without worry. The layer of leaves not only insulates the cold in winter, but also enriches the soil with nutrients after decomposition. However, you have to remove the leaves from the lawn. Here the advantages mentioned above have a negative effect on the development of the grass. Due to the deprivation of light and oxygen, your lawn will collapse under a thick layer of leaves.
Use leaves
Of course, you will benefit from saving a lot of time by leaving the leaves lying in the beds. However, to achieve an even better effect, it is worth making the effort to collect the leaves and compost them. Proceed as follows:
- Pick up leaves
- Chopping leaves
- Store leaves in the compost
- check regularly for mold formation
- If necessary, mix with leftover vegetables to increase the nutrient content
- distribute again in the beds
Various methods
The easiest way to collect leaves is by raking or sweeping (depending on the surface). Many gardeners now also use lawn mowers to clear the garden of leaves. It's best to test for yourself which method you personally like better. To make things easier, we have put together a brief overview of the advantages and disadvantages:
raking/sweeping leaves
Advantages:
- not tied to a power source
- possible on many surfaces
- no costs for expensive machines
- low noise
Disadvantages:
exhausting
Removing leaves with the lawnmower
Advantages:
- hardly any physical work
- Leaves end up in the catcher
- Leaves are shredded
Disadvantage:
- loud
- tied to power source
