Home & Garden: Making raking leaves easier -- and maybe, funPublished Oct. 21, 2012

Metro Creative Services

Raking leaves is an annual event for people in many parts of the country. Some people enjoy getting out in the crisp, autumn air and spending a day cleaning up the yard. Others do not relish the idea of hours upon hours of leaf removal from their lawns. Making the process easier and more enjoyable benefits all involved.

The majority of homeowners realize that in order to keep their lawn pristine, leaves and debris must be routinely removed from the yard. Raking leaves is an activity that takes time and energy. It also can be strenuous work. However, by employing a few techniques, the work doesn't have to be that difficult and it might even be fun.

o Invest in a quality rake, particularly one that bends a bit with each stroke. This will help maximize the number of leaves that will be collected with each pass.


o If raking routinely causes aches and pains in your arms, shoulders and wrists, look for ergonomic rakes that are the proper height for your body.

o Move your legs when you are raking instead of remaining stationary and just using your arms. This will help reduce your risk of back pain.

o Use smaller passes of the rake to collect leaves. This method is more efficient and less taxing on your muscles.

o Turn on music while you are raking. Sing along to the tunes or move with the beat, and it just may take your mind off of the task at hand.

o Be sure to rake downwind; otherwise every pile of leaves you collect may end up blowing around and giving you more work.

o Rake leaves in groups. Enlist the help of all family members so that it will take much less time. Plus, everyone gets to spend time working together. Talking and joking around will certainly pass the time more quickly.

o Use a leaf blower sparingly. It may seem advantageous to simply blow the leaves to the curb, but this can take more time and leaf blowers are much more noisy. Use the blower to dislodge leaves from hard-to-reach areas, like behind bushes or under decks. Then rake the leaves into manageable piles.

o Wait until after the peak time for leaves to be falling before you do the majority of raking. Otherwise, you could spend just about every Saturday and Sunday cleaning up leaves.

o Create family-centered games while raking. Have contests to see who can rake the largest pile in the shortest amount of time. Take breaks so that everyone can enjoy jumping in a giant leaf pile or horsing around.

o Host a leaf-raking party with friends and family members. Tie it into a day when there is a football game on television, or toss around the old pigskin after the job is done.

o Use two garbage pail lids to pick up leaves and put them into disposal bags. You'll grab more leaves in each pass.

o There are some leaf blowers that can vacuum up leaves and mulch them at the same time. Put a portion of this leaf mulch into a compost pile or in your garden beds.

o If your town collects leaves curbside, be sure to keep them in a neat pile to reduce the likelihood of leaves making their way into a nearby sewer.

Leaf cleanup is a necessary task, but the task doesn't have to be tedious and time-consuming.