The Lemon Fool

Anyone got any recommendations? My old one has died (from Aldi) and I am having to rake them up. With a large oak tree and numerous other trees nearby this is quite a job each autumn. And my old one shredded for composting (can't get using the lawnmower idea to work). Preferably not too heavy, mains electric and not too expensive. Under £50.

As far as those which fall on the lawn are concerned, my rotary mower picks them up, shreds them and they go in the compost bin.

Those which fall on the drive, and they are mostly needles from an Arizona Cypress and a yew, have to be swept up and the big leaves get put in the hedge bottom, while the needles go into the dip between my drive and the road, where they cushion the fall as we leave. Heavy lorries pack them down, or else they get washed away if we get heavy rain. The needles are a year-round job. A good bit of exercise every few weeks. The hedge bottom has risen by about a foot or so in 40 years.

TJH

granretire wrote: Preferably not too heavy, mains electric and not too expensive. Under £50.

There's a brand called Handy which is available from all the suppliers you might expect. A Google search shows it on offer for under £ 50. I've had one for several years. I've needed to replace the collection bag a couple of times, once because it got a hole in it and second time because the zip jammed. Spares are readily available on-line.

I'd prefer a battery powered cordless model for convenience, but unlike lawn mowers I'm not aware of any.

granretire wrote:
Anyone got any recommendations? My old one has died (from Aldi) and I am having to rake them up.

With a large oak tree and numerous other trees nearby this is quite a job each autumn. And my old one shredded for composting (can't get using the lawnmower idea to work).

Preferably not too heavy, mains electric and not too expensive. Under £50.

This Titan one from Screwfix is currently on offer at £39.99 with a tenner off the normal price. Have a good read of the user-reviews, but they seem to indicate that it's a good unit -

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb547 ... uum/61840#

Comes with a two-year manufacturers guarantee, and Screwfix are generally good with regards to customer services etc.

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

This Titan one from Screwfix is currently on offer at £39.99

I bought it a few days ago for £34.99 (a further reduction).
It seems well built, and is effective - but a bit on the heavy side

I also purchased from Screwfix following sggestion here. I agree, it is a little on the heavy side. I also thought it had died on me the other day as it wouldn't start. But after changing from suck to blow, it behaved. No doubt because I ignored the instruction not to use it on wet leaves. My old, defunct one from Aldi usually coped with wet leaves.

I am amused to see this posted on The Natural World Board. Nothing natural world about one of these ghastly machines. Better to rake the lawn, to remove leaves and it will have a marginally beneficial effect on the grass as well. I hate garden machinery although I have to use a lawnmower. I have many leaves on my grass as well at this time of year but a rake two or three times over November/December deals with them.

I am also the recipient of many oak leaves at the front of my house but most can be swept up and a lot go into the border.

Dod

Dod101 wrote:I am amused to see this posted on The Natural World Board. Nothing natural world about one of these ghastly machines. Better to rake the lawn, to remove leaves and it will have a marginally beneficial effect on the grass as well. I hate garden machinery although I have to use a lawnmower. I have many leaves on my grass as well at this time of year but a rake two or three times over November/December deals with them.

I am also the recipient of many oak leaves at the front of my house but most can be swept up and a lot go into the border.

Dod

From the menu
"The Natural World
wildlife, gardening, environment, Rural living, Pets and Vets "

I mainly rake or collect with the lawn mower, but there are areas , like under the beach hedge and various nooks and crannys, where the leaf vac/blower is the only way to collect them all.
And as we suffer from Horse Chestnut Miner Moth the instructions from the RHS are to be a scrupulous as possible in removing all of the Horse Chestnut leaves before spring. given the way they mix, this means removing all fallen leaves, most of which are not on the lawn.

Hopefully I have only one more wheely bin full to go this year as the advice is that a garden compost heap doesn't get hot enough to kill off the caterpillars.

Slarti