Cleaning up fallen leaves in the garden can be time-consuming cold work. But with the right tool, this task can be made a whole lot easier. For many home gardeners their leaf blower is their most useful garden tool, making autumn maintenance – quite literally – a breeze.
If you are thinking of purchasing a leaf blower this autumn, there are various options for consideration:
Petrol or electric
Both petrol and electric leaf blowers are available for purchase.
Electric leaf blowers are typically cheaper and have an advantage in that they do not require refuelling. The disadvantage is that they have to be connected to a power socket which can make them retractive and they can be quite a bit less powerful than petrol-powered blowers. However, with less power comes less weight.
Despite the complication of having to ensure they are always fuelled up, petrol leaf blowers are more portable and more powerful; this means they can often blow high volumes of leaves making any job quicker. Additionally, they can usually blow wet and damp leaves, a task that electric blowers can struggle with.
New or Used
New leaf blowers come with the benefit of a manufacturer’s warranty but used commercial grade petrol blowers can be good value for money and by being commercial grade are often of higher quality and, potentially, longer lasting than a new leaf blower at a similar price.
A recent customer of a new Sanli leaf blower from SGM said:
“My first leaf blower was a used petrol blower which I think cost around £90. It did a great job for until this year when I decided to upgrade it with a new Sanli leaf blower which cost £103 plus VAT. This brand new machine was even more powerful than the used item that I had, and whilst I have not yet done so, I should be able to still sell my used blower for £50-£60. For anyone considering buying an electric blower I would recommend buying new. If buying a petrol blower, by all means consider a used one but for a small extra cost I have found my new Sanli leaf blower to be an excellent tool.”
Backpack or Hand Held
Leaf blowers come in two basic styles – those that you hold in your hand and those that you wear on your back like a rucksack. Backpack blowers tend to be more suited to commercial work and very large areas of blowing over a long period of time. For more domestic situations, a hand held leaf blower is usually more than adequate.
Blow or Blow & Collect
Some blowers include an attachment to enable collection of leaves. Whilst the collection unit can be useful for collecting small quantities of leaves and doing general tidy up jobs around the garden, many find that, when it comes to autumn leaf clearing, it is just as easy to blow all the leaves into a pile and then manually transfer them into a green bin/compost heap.
Other Uses for Blowers
Blowers can be useful for a number of garden jobs – not just for clearing leaves.
During snowy weather in the winter blowers can be used for clearing paths and driveways. Most good blowers will be able to clear 3-5cm of fresh snow without any problem though, obviously, once snow begins to crust over it becomes too dense for blowers to handle. However, regular blowing shortly after snow has fallen is a quick and effective way of keeping paths and driveways clear throughout winter.
In spring and summer months blowers can act as an alternative to a hard brush for keeping patios, paths and driveways neat and tidy. For example, after cutting your lawn grass cuttings that have strayed onto hard surfaces can be cleared up quickly with minimal effort using a blower.
In Conclusion…
Leaf blowers are useful tools for anyone who has a garden and wants to save time and effort on keeping it neat and tidy. For smaller gardens a good quality electric blower should be adequate. However, for those with larger gardens the maximum labour saving device for all year round is a petrol blower with collection option.
SGM’s range of leaf blowers can be viewed here.
