Trees are beautiful additions to any garden. They provide a thick and cool shade to chill under on sunny days and attract singing birds that make your outdoor space even more lively. However, nothing in this world is perfect and trees have their downsides too.
When trees start shedding their leaves, not only are you left with a bare tree, but also with a mess that’s destroying the perfect balance of your landscape. It doesn’t even have to be your tree, thanks to the wind, leaves from trees hundreds of metres away can find their way to your yard. Therefore, leaf blowers are a must-have tool that can help any garden owner clean his windblown walkways, front porch or garden beds from debris as well as some light snow. If you are looking for a leaf blower, here are a few steps to help you make a smart purchase.
The Best Time to Shop
If you’re thinking Well, isn’t it early to think about cleaning leaves, I’ve just finished with my autumn clean up?, I have some mind-blowing news for you. The best time to shop for garden tools including leaf blowers, is during winter. This is because a lot of online and offline supply stores offer discounts in order to reduce their autumn stock before the new collection arrives. And if you think that buying now means your leaf blower will gather dust until its season arrives, you haven’t considered how helpful it can be during light snowfalls. With a leaf blower you can quickly clean up any snow gathered on your car or on your front porch.
Gas Vs. Electric: Speed, Convenience and Budget
Like everything that runs on gas, so do gas-powered leaf blowers display a lot of power. This makes them the fastest and most potent tool for cleaning a yard full of leaves. And because they are cordless, gas-powered blowers can conveniently go anywhere you need them to. However, their downside is that they can be very heavy to carry and make a lot of noise that can disturb your neighbours. Gas-powered models are also the more expensive option.
The electric leaf blowers on the other hand (with models similarly powerful to their gas counterparts), can dispose of any unwanted tree debris, only as long as they are close enough to a power outlet. This means that their scope of use is limited to how long the cord is and where the nearest power outlet lies. The advantages in favour of this type of blower are that it’s very quiet, easy to use and more affordable than gas models. There are also cordless electric blowers which are typically lightweight and cheap, but with a runtime that’s limited per battery charge.
Additional Features to Look For
Blowing the leaves and raking them into a pile can sometimes be exhausting, especially when it’s been a long time since your last clean up. To make yard work easier, many models of blowers have additional features integrated in them. For instance, if you hate raking leaves, you can simply vacuum them with a blower that has a built in vacuum and a collection bag. This kind of unit can help you clean up any outdoor space from leaves, small twigs and any other unwanted debris. There are also models that have a mulching functions which means that you can use everything collected in the bag to enrich the soil in your garden beds with nutrients.
