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Feeling Rakish? Try This.
Posted Mar 20, 2009 by Kim Franke-Folstad
Updated Mar 20, 2009 at 10:08 AM
I was so close to buying a leaf blower last weekend! We have a section of patio that is constantly covered in leaves, and it’s a pain to clean up.
Then we got this new True Temper rake at Lowe’s for $25.
Not only does it do a great job of grabbing up leaves in planting beds and in the grass (you don’t have to pry them off the ends every few minutes), but it works like a big wide broom gathering up the dirt and leaves on the concrete patio. It works much better than our other leaf rake. And it’s more comfortable to use—I think because it has a longer handle.
I sort of got turned off to the leaf blower idea, anyway, after reading USF professor Craig Chandler’s piece about them for Sunday’s (March 22) Baylife Magazine. I’ll admit I was going to overlook the environmental issues (oh, the guilt!), but he also mentions some safety factors. And since it’s my son who would be using the leaf blower most often, I’m not willing to go there.
We’ll be doing things the old-fashioned way until a better alternative comes along.
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Reader Comments
Posted by (Donna at Suburban Sanctum) on March 20, 2009
You made the right choice on the rake, Kim. We have a leaf blower that just sits in the shed because it’s such a pain to use. Granted we’ve had it a while and the new ones are probably better, but I find it heavy, slow, and dirty to use. Ours can be used to vaccuum leaves and chop them up too, so I pulled it out last year, thinking I’d convert all our wonderful leaves to compost or mulch, but it was just too slow and backbreaking. I gave up after one bag. So much for that idea… Back to the rake!