Rains and winds are shifting the last of the leaves quickly so that a lawn or drive cleared one day is covered the next.
There is a good old-fashioned leaf flurry every time a wind starts a-blowing so that you really can’t leave the leaves lingering on lawns any longer.
So here are ten top machines to let the light back to the grass and flower beds and stop paths and drives turning into what is now known as a slip hazard.
First is a light, silent and simple machine which can clear a large area in no time. It’s also a best seller all year long as it clears paths and patios and tennis courts of debris all year long.
The Agri-Fab 26″ Push Lawn & Leaf Sweeper (45-0218), still on special offer, has a clearing width of 66cm. Each time the wheels revolve once brushes turn four and a half times to sweep leaves and debris into the catch at the back.
And it is ideal for those in inner city areas it has the added advantage of being totally silent.
The sweeping height can be adjusted according to the surface being swept so you won’t brush away all the gravel on a drive when clearing leaves.
The catcher at the back can hold 200 litres and is simply unclipped so the debris can be dumped on the compost pile.
It is delivered free the next working day with a five year warranty and costs £139, £40 less than the price recommended.
Here’s another best seller, the Einhell BG-PL 26/1 Petrol Garden Vacuum / Leaf Blower, a great little machine which lets you switch from blowing the leaves into a pile to vacuuming them up and shredding them into the collector bag at the flick of a lever.
The shredding fan will reduce the volume of the material to one tenth of the original and compact them into the 55 litre bag.
Once full it can be unclipped and emptied onto the base of tender shrubs where it acts as a garden mulch. It also rots down far more quickly on the compost heap.
The engine starts very easily and the machine has a carrying strap to make it easier to use over longer periods.
It costs £139.95, has a two-year warranty and is delivered free the next working day.
The Echo PB-251 Petrol Handheld Leaf Blower has a 25.4cc engine and has the maker’s Power Boost Tornado technology to give a 71 metres a second blast of air.
It weighs 4.5kg and has anti-gyroscopic technology to make it less tiring to use.
This is a really serious blower and costs £179, £60 of the maker’s recommended price, and it has a five year warranty. Delivery is the next working day and free.
While we’re about it, there are a couple of other machines form Echo worth considering.
The Echo ES-250ES ‘Shred N’ Vac’ Petrol Blower-Vacuum has a 25.4cc engine giving a 243km/h blast or air – enough to lift matted leaves and to make it easy to use, it has a three-position top handle.
It costs £209, £60 off the maker’s recommended price, has a five year warranty and is delivered free the next working day.
And the Echo PB-265ESL Backpack Blower is the type of machine you’ll often find professional gardeners and council workers using.
This gives an even more powerful 58 metres per second blast of air, so that it can pile up leaves, twigs, litter, the lot.
It has been designed to be easy to use as it is lightweight and has padded shoulder straps to make longer jobs less tiring.
It is on sale for £259, £120 off the maker’s suggested price and has a five year warranty and free delivery.
You know what a pain leaves are if you’ve got a medium-sized lawn and a small drive. Imagine if you’ve got a bigger area. This machine will do the trick for you.
The Agri-Fab 42″ High-Speed Leaf-Sweeper (45-0261) has a sweeping width of over 106cm and works on the same principal as the first on our list.
It is also very efficient so that you should not have to sweep the same area several times just to collect a few stray leaves missed on the first pass.
It comes with a universal hitch-pin which will fit any make of garden tractor. And it can be emptied without leaving the driver’s seat.
It costs £349, £120 less than the price recommended and has a five year warranty. We deliver it free the next working day.
This vac for the lawn and patio will make light work of the autumn clear up.
The Al-Ko Hurricane 750B Lawn Vacuum / Leaf Sweeper (Briggs Engine) has a 158cc engine which starts very easily and gives great clean-up power.
And it works just like the vacuum cleaner in your own home.
The working width is 75cm and the collector can hold 300 litres and there are four working heights.
You can also buy a hose kit for £139 so that you can clear garden steps and awkward corners and can suck leaves from flower beds around shrubs.
It costs £485, has a two year warranty and is delivered free the next working day.
The Ariens APV PUSH Hand-Propelled Wheeled Vac (995303) is a similar machine with terrific suction with its 190cc Subaru engine which produces low emissions and vibration levels.
The vac has a five-bladed steel impeller to reduce the waste by a twelfth before it is blown into the 195 litre collector. It also has a skirt to limit dust in the summer.
There are five operating positions for the handlebars and 17 suction heights.
It is for sale for £599, £180 off the recommended price and it has a three year warranty. We deliver it free the next working day.
This is a beast of a machine which will clear gardens of around an acre of all sorts of debris.
Leaves, twigs, cans, bottles, the Billy Goat KV600 Estate Series Lawn Vacuum currently on special offer, will gobble them all up.
A Briggs & Stratton engine provides the power, it has a suction width of 68.5cm and a 151 litre bag with strong commercial fasteners.
A steel impeller gives great suction and shredding power and it has an adjustable working height.
You can also buy a hose kit for clearing leaves and debris where the Billy Goat can’t get to. This hose has a 10cm opening to collect a wide range of debris.
It costs £819, £80 off the list price, is delivered free the next working day and has a one year warranty.
Finally, a piece of kit which will get rid of all the woody debris you get at this time of year when you begin pruning.
The Earthquake CS10 Petrol Chipper-Shredder is a heavy-duty USA-manufactured machine made for the home-owner and professional gardener alike.
It has swinging triangular hammers to deal with leaves, twigs and the like, reducing them to a useful mulch.
And there is also a chipper to deal with branches up to 7.5cm to reduce them to woodchips.
It has a 70 litre collection bag and sits on large-diameter wheels to make moving it about simple.
There is also a vac kit available.
It costs £999, has a two-year warranty and is delivered free within two to three working days
These are just ten of as huge range of leaf clearance machines we have on our site, see these pages for a huge selection. And give us a ring on 020 3026 8712 if you would like our advice before purchasing.
Keep an eye on our blogs, we’ve got loads of suggestions on the way for great and practical Christmas presents.
