Fall is my favourite season. I enjoy the crisp, cool temperature and the trees changing colours. Though I love being outdoors this time of year, I don’t like the job of raking up all those leaves so over the years I’ve come up with some ways to make the chore a bit easier.
Here are my tips for making this task less burdensome:
Tip 1: Prioritize comfort over size! Choose a rake you feel comfortable using. Big rakes may cover more area but can be quite cumbersome and heavy after raking for a few hours.
Tip 2: To avoid bending over all the time to pull leaves out of the rake tines, look for a “no clog” rake that has angled tines that won’t pierce the leaves.
Tip 3: Stay on top of the job. Instead of waiting for the leaves to finish falling, rake periodically so it doesn’t become an overwhelming and burdensome chore.
Tip 4: Pay attention to the weather forecast. Choose a dry, sunny day with no wind to help contain the job you’re doing. Wet leaves are much heavier and make the job that much more difficult.
Tip 5: Have a good supply of leaf bags on hand so you don’t end up having to delay the job in order to purchase more. Also, invest in a leaf bag holder to keep the bag open while filling the bags.
Tip 6: Instead of using your hands to scoop the leaves into the bags, use yard scoops. It takes much less time to fill the bags this way and you don’t have to bend over as far!
Tip 7: For larger jobs, rake leaves on top of a tarp and drag the tarp to a location where the leaves can be dumped and left to compost. The tarp turns what could be a two-person job into a single-person job. A good quality, light-weight tarp can be reused many times and will last for years.
Tip 8: Using a leaf blower can make the job more efficient when you can blow the leaves into the woods but there is a technique to using a blower. Avoid standing too close to the leaves which tends to just blow them all over. It’s best to blow in an organized, grid-like fashion, or else the task of blowing leaves into piles can be difficult and frustrating.
Tip 9: Don’t wait until too late in the Fall season to rake as the task will just become more difficult as the leaves become heavier. And avoid leaving a heavy layer of leaves on your grass all winter long because the weight can kill your grass.
Tip 10: Familiarize yourself with what days your municipality will be picking up leaf bags. Here is the link for City of Kawartha Lakes. www.kawarthalakes.ca
