Quickly Remove Fall Leaves From Your Lawn With This Winter Staple

While some excitedly await autumn so they can enjoy breathtaking fall foliage, others know that all those falling leaves will inevitably lead to hours of yard work. Countless hours of wonderful autumn weather that could otherwise be spent at a fall camping spot or on a fall hike are spent raking leaves. However, those hours could be significantly shortened simply by using a better tool.

A standard leaf or garden rake has been the go-to tool for most leaf raking chores for decades. Through time, some have found it easier to use a shovel — or better yet, a snow shovel — to scoop the leaves once they've been raked into neat piles. While utilizing these two implements in conjunction does expedite the process, you can actually make things even more efficient by combining the two. Hence, the use of a rake shovel, or shovel rake as they are sometimes known, allows you to quickly remove fall leaves from your lawn.

As the name suggests, rake shovels (or shovel rakes) are combination tools. By combining the tines of a rake with the scoop of a shovel, these combination tools allow users to complete a variety of tasks that would normally take one or the other — or both — of these handheld yard tools. Implements such as the MLTOOLS 3-in-1 Garden Tool, which combines a rake, shovel, and sieve, and Root Assassin 2-in-1 Rake allow you to rake leaves as you normally would, then spin the tool and scoop them. Although some people attempt to do this with a traditional rake, a rake shovel is much sturdier and can handle even larger objects such as fallen fruit, pine cones, and sticks.

While the National Wildlife Federation, among others, have encouraged homeowners to stop raking through the Leave the Leaves movement, they also acknowledge that many homeowners are required to remove fallen leaves from their lawn by either homeowners associations or city ordinances. Additionally, there are some who simply prefer their lawn not be blanketed by decaying leaves. However, just because the leaves are lifted from the lawn doesn't mean they must be destroyed by burning, mulching, or throwing away. There are ways in which you can have a kempt lawn and allow the leaves to benefit the environment.

Transforming fall leaves into fuel for your garden is one such way. This task is infinitely easier with a rake shovel. Simply rake leaves close to your garden or compost area, then spin the handle and scoop them into the appropriate area. For leaves that have fallen a further distance from your compost area, rake them into piles, then scoop them into a wheelbarrow and bring them to where they need to be.