Rake at the right time: You should always wait for dry day to rake your leaves because they will be lighter and easier to work with. Of course, less windy days are better because you will not be overwhelmed with more leaves blowing around as you try to pick up the leaves that have already covered your yard. A lot of people spend almost every weekend raking their leaves. Yet several days of blustery conditions just brings many more leaves for the next weekend.

Think about mulching your leaves: You might want to consider using your leaves for mulch if you do not have very many to deal with. Many leaves may be used as a sort of home made mulch to keep your plants warm through the long winter months. You can use a leaf chipper to chop your leaves into tiny pieces that can serve as mulch.

Use the right tools: Electric leaf blowers are popular, but they are loud and dirty. Some people depend on leaf blowers more than is necessary. Leaf blowers are broad blowing tools that can sometimes spread more leaves around your yard. For tight spots don’t try to use a leaf blower, instead use a medium-sized leaf rake to pull the leaves out into the open where you have more space. You can also get creative and use a mower to pick up leaves.

The tricks above can you complete your leaf clean up quickly and easily and give you more time to think about your next favorite outdoor task: shoveling snow! Almost no one enjoys cleaning up leaves every fall but most people love the shade provided by those trees during the summer. With a little planning the task of raking leaves from your lawn could be much less time consuming than you think.

Looking for more ways to spruce up your home for the holiday season? Check out our hundreds of diy home repair articles with lots of details.