This time of year, lots of people are out raking. Some people do it themselves and others hire companies to come in and do it for them and others do kind of a combo.
If you are doing it yourself, we hope you don’t have a lot of oaks. We lived in one house that had a lot of oaks around it. Besides there being a lot of leaves, they were a pain to deal with. Some leaves are very soft and easy to rake. Oak leaves are very stiff. That isn’t so bad, but what make is a lot worse is that their stem is also very hard and stiff and it tends to have a curve to it. So, if the curve is facing down, it tends to get caught in the grass and not want to move when you rake it. Even more so with a blower. You can sit and put a blower on a single leaf and it will just stay there stuck in the grass.
One thing that can help with doing the raking job yourself is a holder for the bags. It makes the job so much easier. Some fit inside the bag and hold it open. When the bag is full, you pull the holder out. Others you put the bag inside of it. Whatever the design, it is a great time saver.
Some people just use the lawnmower to chop up the leaves and leave them on or in the grass to provide nourishment for the lawn. If you just leave the leaves on top of the grass without chopping them up, they will tend to kill the grass under them.
The hybrid method is to get the leaves to the curb. Then a company comes along with a truck with a giant vacuum attachment. They suck up all the leaves into the truck and charge a nominal fee to do this. If you have an old bedspread, they are very useful. Or you can buy a tarp. You rake the leaves onto the tarp and then drag it to the curb and dump it. Then go back for the next load until you are done and call for the truck to come.
Raking grass can be a good excuse to get outdoors and get some exercise. And unlike shoveling heavy snow, it doesn’t usually lead to heart attacks. But some people are too old or sick or just don’t want to be bothered. In that case, you can get people who come in with blowers and rakes and clean up all your leaves for you and cart them away. Of course, this costs the most, but is the easiest to do. You just write a check.
