With “Sweater weather” (said in my best SNL voice), warm soups and cozy fires comes the annual Autumn clean-up. This is your Fall yard work checklist and a great tip to make it easier and faster.
Have the leaves started coming down where you live? I’ve heard that certain parts of Canada have seen their first snow already, so I know that it’s just a matter of time before the deluge begins.
As it stands, we’ve already started round 1 of our Fall yard work with the pine needles that have dropped from the giant evergreens behind our house.
This is just a small section. Did you know that evergreens lose roughly 1/3 of their needles in Fall? The first year we lived here I was sure the trees were dying for all the needles coming out, but it’s just part of their natural cycle, and my yearly frustration.
I’ve created a little Fall yard work infographic for some of the chores that need to get done now if you want your yard and gardens to be lush and fertile come Spring:
I like to start at the top and work my way down so that any water being used is multi-purposed for both cleaning and watering.
Most of the tasks are self-explanatory, but there is one task in that list that most of us hate, but it has to get done…
raking.
I don’t know about you, but we have to rake once for the pine needles and a second and sometimes even third time after the leaves have fallen from the trees.
The rakes get jammed up with leaves and pinecones, my hands get blisters and callouses and my back usually protests for a day after I’m done – so this year I contacted my buddies at WORX® Tools and asked if they could help me out of my misery.
Look what they sent me!
Up until recently you had to buy a blower and a leaf vacuum as separate tools, but WORX® has come up with a combination leaf blower, leaf mulcher and leaf vacuum IN ONE!
Seriously – one machine, all three jobs.
I was already a fan of WORX® Tools (remember my pole saw?), but this invention cut my Fall yard work down by hours. Truly – HOURS, and I’m only at round 1 of the leaves!
I started by testing out the vacuum system on the pine needles – and while they were dry, they do have a bit of sap at the tip of every single needle making them more difficult to pull up from the grass.
uThe WORX® Turbine Fusion vacuumed them up without a problem. (note: I would normally vacuum in neat rows, but I was desperately trying to keep my rear-end from facing the camera.)
The puffs you see coming from my leaf vac are not smoke – it is the Turbine Fusion mulching up the pine needles and pinecones as they travel through to the attached collection bag.
It cuts down on your compost pile and speeds up decomposition by mulching leaves with its dual-stage metal impeller down to a 24:1 ratio.
Impressed? I was, but wait till you see the blower in action:
The TURBINE Fusion Leaf Blower, Mulcher & Yard Vacuum features our patented jet engine technology that delivers extreme blowing force. With air speeds up to 60 mph and an air volume up to 525 cfm, the TURBINE Fusion is the quickest way to clear your lawn from leaves and debris.
My Fall yard work, that normally would have taken hours and blisters and callouses, was done in less than two hours pain-free!
Want to see what 24:1 mulching looks like?
I filled three large bags with pine needles after mulching it ended up being ½ full.
HUGE difference!
The WORX® Turbine Fusion comes with a leaf collection bag that easily snaps into place without any tools, so you can go from suck to blow in two clicks (get your mind out of the gutter!) The dual-speed motor can handle light loads as well as heavy accumulation with just a flip of the switch.
Oh, and if you’re worried that the unit is too heavy (it isn’t, weighing in at only 9lbs) – it also comes with a shoulder strap to lighten the load as your leaf collection bag fills.
From sticky, messy and suffocating the grass to:
Clean, clear and ready for winter.
If you want a visual for why you should not leave yard waste on the lawn – check out the roots beneath the tree in the above photo. Leaving needles and/or mulch on the ground creates an area for moisture to gather and tree roots will come to the surface to reach it. This is a bad thing.
There’s also the potential for bugs to hibernate and infest your yard come Spring, for excess moisture accumulation when the soil can’t dry out easily and of course for the risk of mold and mildew forming.
There are some plants, like clematis that prefer to “keep their feet warm”, so sprinkling some of your freshly mulched leaves (as long as the tree isn’t highly acidic like pine) around the base of the stem will keep your vines protected from winter damage.
I was so amped after getting my Fall yard work done in record time that I even finished up with my last mow of the season. Mow low (but not less than 2″) so that the soil can dry out easily come Spring.
Pin the above infographic to your Pinterest wall so you have your Fall yard work checklist handy year-after-year and get your WORX® Turbine Fusion leaf blower, mulcher and vacuum asap to make your work SO MUCH easier! If seeing is believing, try out the Turbine Fusion with WORX® 30 day guarantee and keep it with a 3 year warranty
Reward yourself afterwards with a hot drink and a warm buttertart.
Have a great one!