Powerful Tools That Make Cleaning Up Fallen Leaves A Breeze

Watching the leaves on the trees change to gorgeous shades of red, yellow, orange, and brown is certainly a highlight of Autumn. However, shortly after the colorful leaves provide us with those breathtaking views, they drop to the ground. Cleaning them up can be a challenging — and certainly time-consuming — process. Whether you have a small yard or a large piece of property, you can easily spend hours outside trying to rake and bag your foliage. 

Fortunately, you don't have to limit yourself to a basic rake when it comes to cleaning up fallen leaves. There are several tools designed to simplify the process and help you get your yard into tip-top condition — without sucking away all of your free time. From devices that help you collect and carry leaves more easily to those that extract them off the lawn for you, we've researched some of the best tools on the market that you just might want to add to your fall cleanup routine this year.

Fall leaf removal just got easier thanks to this lawn tool available at Costco. The Yardforce 22-inch Corded Electric Leaf Shredder can help you shred piles of leaves down so they'll fit in far fewer yard waste bags. Picture 12 lawn bags full of leaves. According to the brand, once they're sent through the shredder, the clippings will be compact enough to fit into just one waste bag. Or, of course, you could repurpose these clippings for a healthier lawn and garden by using them to mulch garden beds or enrich your compost pile. This heavy-duty tool offers different shredding size options and settings that will work with both dry and wet leaves. Plus, each purchase includes safety goggles, a hand rake set, a bungee cord, and 10 shredder replacement lines.

Costco customers are overall pleased with the performance of this leaf shredder. It has a 4-star rating with nearly 400 reviews. Here is what one pleased customer shared about their experiences with the tool: "Leaf season is much less stressful with the help of this shredder!! It works amazingly with dry leaves — mulched our entire yard's worth of leaves without changing the cord. No more dragging the leaves to the front yard for pickup, and we were able to shred them before the wind blew them back around the yard!! We had no problems loading the leaves, like some of the other reviews. Once you get the knack, it's simple and so easy!!! If your leaves are dry, it's a breeze; wet leaves are a little more challenging, but definitely doable if you must."

A leaf blower can greatly simplify the task of clearing fall leaves from your property. It can even make cleaning your garage a breeze. Suit up with the Greenworks Cordless Backpack Leaf Blower and get your yard back to looking neat and manicured. This model blows at speeds up to 165 miles per hour, allowing for rapid leaf removal. You can easily adjust the speed using the variable speed trigger to match the demands of the area you're cleaning. For example, you might want a lower speed around mulched garden beds or when you're working up against the house. Users can also adjust the length of the blowpipe to ensure it is comfortable and appropriately placed based on their height.

With a 4.4-star rating from nearly 600 Amazon customers, this backpack blower looks to be a solid and well-liked pick. Overall, customers seem happy with its power, performance, and overall ease of use. "This tool is very lightweight and of course no gas or oil mess. Also, no cranking. It is so easy to use and the turbo button is an added feature. It works as well as my gas powered blower did. The battery lasts for several uses and we have a lot of concrete driveway," wrote one customer.

The Black+Decker 3-in-1 Electric Leaf Blower, Vacuum, and Mulcher combines the previous two tools into one nifty tool. It not only works to blow leaves from your property, but also features a vacuum setting that sends the leaves through a mulcher before depositing them into the attached bag. The blower is capable of blowing at speeds up to 250 miles per hour, but also features a variable speed dial for precise control where you need it. The high-impact metal fan can cut up to 16 bags of leaves so they'll fit in just one bag. This is a corded option, so you'll need an extension cord, but you won't need to worry about the location of power outlets.

One happy customer said, "I replaced my expensive gas vac/shredder. I was skeptical buying an electric blower at a fraction of the cost of a gas one. I was literally blown away. I could not believe the power this thing has. The best thing is I can suck up almost anything and it won't clog or get a little piece of mulch stuck like my gas one did. 2 thumbs up!" This individual wasn't the only one who was pleased with their decision to try this blower-vacuum-and-mulcher combo, which is one tool that can take care of almost any problem in your yard. It has a high 4.3-star rating based on feedback from more than 2,000 reviewers.

Ever wish you could clean your yard the same way you clean your carpets? Well, with the Gardena Lawn and Leaf Collector, you'll find that the process is very similar. This manual lawn sweeper is designed to be pushed across the grass, sort of like a vacuum. As it goes over leaves, the internal sweeping mechanism works to pull the leaves into the collection bag. You can choose from different height options to match the height of your grass — or even artificial turf. With the ergonomic handles, you might also find that your back is much happier than trying to rake by hand and pick up piles of leaves. Instead, just remove the collection bag when it is full and dump it into a lawn bag or leaf shredder.

With 4.2 stars on Amazon from more than 1,600 customers, this manual leaf sweeper is a popular pick for keeping the lawn tidy. Customers have highlighted its ease of assembly, performance, and speed at picking up leaves. "This is a great product! It's super lightweight and easy to fold away for storage. It's very easy to use and very effective at picking up leaves. Love it!!," shared one user.

If you have artificial turf and are intrigued by the idea of a lawn sweeper, consider the GreenSweep V2 Artificial Grass Electric Sweeper. This model features a 1,600-watt electric mower, helping it quickly clear grass, twigs, and other debris off artificial lawns. As the sweeper pulls debris off the lawn, the 4,000 RPM brush roller spins to help revive flattened turf. The sweeper features a 10.5-gallon collection bag to hold all the leaves, sticks, and other items it cleans up. When the bag gets full, simply remove it to empty it into a lawn waste bag and return it to get back to working.

More than 400 customers have reviewed this artificial turf lawn sweeper on Amazon. With a 4.1 average star rating, most of those reviews have been positive. One customer wrote, "I tried a lot of solutions to get the leaves and small debris off of my turf and kept striking out. The GreenSweep V2 has been the only solution! Easy to use and extremely effective, it even picks up the very small bits that the turf brushes and rakes simply can't get. It's pricey, but I can say after using it for a month or so now, it's worth it."

If you're searching for clever tips to make it easier to rake your leaves, take a look at the Gardease ReLeaf Leaf Scoops. These large "claws" are designed to make the process of picking leaves up from the ground much more efficient. If you get frustrated with leaves constantly dropping out of your hands or the rake as you try to lift them from the ground into the collection bin, then you'll appreciate how the closed design of these hand rakes lets you pick up more leaves without them all escaping. When not in use, the claws nest together and can be hung up on the wall to keep them out of the way. In addition to their uses for removing leaves, they can also come in handy when mulching garden beds.

According to customer ratings, these are a popular and top-performing pick. More than 4,200 Amazon reviewers have given them an average rating of 4.6 stars. Here's what one satisfied user shared, "I'll admit I was a bit skeptical that this product would work, but I was amazed at how good it actually was. I would say it cut the time and effort I spent bagging leaves in half. Not only do the large clamshells hold way more leaves than I could typically handle without them, but the extra reach the product gives you means I don't have to bend over nearly as far."

One of the hardest things about clearing a lawn can be transferring the leaves from the ground into a yard waste bag or bin. Whether you've raked them into piles or blown them into a corner, you still need to pick them up. This process can be both time-consuming and painful for your back. The UQM Portable Pop Up Leaf Bag is designed to make this process a bit easier. The leaf collector works much like a large dustpan. Lay it out on the ground and rake or blow your piles of leaves into it. Once it is full, carefully lift it up and dump a huge pile of foliage into a bag all at once. The flexible design and double side handles help make it easier to maneuver the flow of leaves right into the collection container.

"We have a large yard with 10 plus trees that shed at various times of the year, so clearing up leaves is a massive task. This helps so much and greatly reduces the time and effort needed. The biggest advantage is the wide opening to rake the leaves directly into and the back that keeps them from falling out the other end when emptying, unlike when using a tarp," shared one user. Others have also commented on the overall ease of use and portability of this leaf collection tool. With more than 300 customer reviews, it has earned a 4.3-star rating on Amazon.

Ride-on mowers can help you cut your grass quickly, but did you know that they can also help simplify the task of leaf removal? Well, if your mower already has a material collection system, attaching the TerraKing Leaf Bag to it can help you collect more leaves without interruption. Simply drive the mower up and down your lawn, and the leaves will collect in the massive collection bag, which offers an extra-large, 12-cubic-foot capacity. Once full, loosen the integrated locks to remove the bag from your mower and unload it wherever desired. You can then reattach it and continue the leaf collection process until your yard is clean and clear.

More than 200 Amazon customers gave this leaf bag a 4.2-star rating, indicating that most were pleased with how it performed and simplified the job of cleaning their yards. Overall, users found that the bag holds a lot and is easy to use, though a few thought it could be a bit easier to empty. One customer shared, "I wasn't sure if this would work as advertised. However, I was absolutely amazed at how well it worked. Easy on and off. Fit my three-bag mower perfectly. Made quick work of a large yard with lots of leaves. Love it! Highly recommend!"