Raking My American Yard For The First Time 

Lawrence, that rake you are using is not for leaves. You need to purchase a rake designed for leaves. Your body will appreciate you using the proper equipment.

Watching you use a garden rake, which is meant for cultivating soil, was the best part of the video! 😅

Another thing you might find handy, apart from getting a nice leaf rake, ..is use a tarp to rake the leaves onto where they are, then you can just drag the pile wherever you want without having to rake the whole lot each foot over and over. :)

That moment when the snow shovel is ten times more useful than the wrong rake.

While at Lowes I would suggest purchasing a spring rake rather than a steel tyne rake which is not very efficient for raking leaves

If you haven't purchased your lawn mower yet, make sure to get one with a mulching kit instead of a bag. Might as well mulch the grass clippings into the lawn to breakdown and fertilize it instead of emptying a bag. Plus it chops the leaves better (for next Fall/Autumn!)

I haven't seen anyone mention leaving the leaves through the winter as a form of natural mulching. It can help protect the bulbs through the winter, especially if you plant them in the fall; in the spring you rake it off or add wood mulch on top. On a separate note, if you haven't explored This Old House, I have a feeling you'd enjoy a deep dive into that.

Laurence please get yourself some tarps and a leaf rake (has long tines and is lighter weight than the one you are using). Pile your leaves on a tarp, gather the corners of the tarp, and pull it to the location where you want to pile your leaves. Easy, light weight, efficient, less time consuming than trying to push leaves with a snow shovel. Please purchase a grass mower that mulches. This will take care of both your leaves and grass clippings and turn them into instant fertilizer for your yard. Everyone has to learn and you are doing a great job for a first time home owner. Make use of those sales associates at Lowe’s and Home Depot and ask them about which implements to purchase for the job at hand. Tarps are a great investment and you will find all kinds of ingenious uses for them in your yard and around the house. Every homeowner also needs a few rolls of duct tape and some medium sized zip ties. Love to Arthur.

You have an opportunity to have an excellent flower and vegetable garden. There is nothing like coming home from work, going out into the backyard, and picking your dinner!

You definitely need to get a rake for leaves. We always called the rake you used a garden rake, and we used it to level beds for various stuff such as leaf lettuce. A rake for leaves is a bit larger and covers more area to rake.

That's a magnolia tree! They are gorgeous and you're so lucky to have one. They are really popular here in the south, though ours bloomed around Valentine's Day.

One of the greatest joys as a kid is raking leaves into a pile then jumping into them.

I used to hate gardening, but recently I've grown to love it, it's meditative somehow.

Onward to 1 MILLION !!!! Congratulations!!

This man just figured out how to monetize one of the least enjoyable chores a homeowner has. Respect.

As I watch this a few days later and close by in Michigan, it is snowing outside. The temperature dropped from 84 to 32 in 36 hours. Yay weather!

AS the proud owner of a Sycamore tree, the ones that grow HUGE leaves and then hold on to some of them ALL winter long! GET YOU A FAN TYPE RAKE!!!!!! They are lighter and do NOT DIG into the ground as much so raking is easier! AND CONGRATCH on the Snow Shovel IDEA! It shows good old AMERICAN ingenuity is rubbing off on you! My grandparents would rake the leaves onto a tarp and then drag it to where they wanted to pile the leaves at!

2:08 it’s best to leave the leaves until spring.. they insulate the ground providing shelter for many animals over winter.. it’s better fir the bugs

I have a friend that is 93 this year. I think she’s reached this age because she has always and still does her own yard work, even mows during summer in Houston, TX. She takes many breaks but still does most of the work. I just bought my 1st house, or should I say that I bought my first house without some one else on the mortgage. I plan on taking on yard work for the first time in my nearly 60 years. She’s a great role model.

That is a gardening rake for an ‘actual garden’. Like when you grow vegetables in dirt. You need a rake for leaves. Love your channel ❤

Congratulations on the 500k subscribers. BTW that's the wrong rake lol

Ooooo, how fortunate you and your wife are to have a magnolia tree in your yard. The are stunning.

I am amazed how you always make the most mundane things entertaining.

Gardening - planting/tending to flowers or food plants Yard work - dealing with leaves, pine straw, brush, limbs, cutting grass Eta: that’s a tulip tree! They are beautiful!

No, Lawrence, you don't want a leaf blower, you want a leaf vacuum. It looks like a leaf blower (and often can be converted into one) but it runs in reverse and has a bag on it. So basically it sucks up (and chops up) the leaves and puts them in the bag. Also, as small as your yard is, you should really consider an electric mower (the ones that are battery powered have come a long way and should work quite well for you). Aside from not dealing with storing gas and oil changes and all that, they're a lot quieter.

Can I just stop in and say how adorable Arthur is? Give him all the pets and belly rubs from my home for wayward dogs in NC.

One of the greatest joys from my childhood was raking up huge piles of leaves and jumping into them along with all the neighborhood kids. It makes a big mess but everyone stays to help clean up after so it's a bit of a party.

As another fugitive from across the pond, I also have problems with different words or pronunciations here in the states. But I hired someone to mow the front lawn, and leave the leaves on the flower beds. ( It helps protect the bed from frost, here in Ohio). The rear yard / garden, we leave natural. As it's just over an acre, it's environmentally friendly, and saves the work. Which is the most important.

Congrats on 500,000 subscribers! You have worked so hard to develop the channel. Thank you for all you do!

Congratulations on the half million !

I feel like snow shoveling is the real Midwestern house experience

To save your back and arms, look at a leaf blower that has a mulching/bagging option. Basically, in one configuration it operates like a leaf blower. Change the placement of the tube and attach the bagger and it operates like a vacuum for your lawn. It will mulch the leaves as they pass through the fan, making them better suited for composting. It will suck up small sticks with little difficulty, too. When the bag is full, dump it out on your compost heap and get back to work. As small as your yarden is, there is no need to get a battery powered one, either.

nothing like watching an adult figuring out how to do something I had to learn when i was 10. Probably should get a tarp btw, very handy for moving piles of leaves.

It took me years to accumulate all the gardening equipment I needed. But, don't make it more difficult by using the wrong tool for the wrong job. It's been a few years but I think I remember. Start slow and add as needed: Leaf rake Hedge rake (for reaching the leaves at the base of hedges; a miniature leaf rake) Spade Tarp Trowel Snippers and Shears (different sizes and types for different applications) Branch saw Composting (long ō) equipment If you want to add power equipment/tools: Mower/mulcher Leaf blower/vacuum/mulcher String trimmer AKA Weed Whacker Shrub trimmer Power washer And a couple really comfortable lounge chairs to rest in after all that hard work! You may want to consider adding a hot tub at some point. (Yes, I'm in California) As you get older, your body needs help to recover from all that exertion. 😉 Or, you could take the best advice in the other comments and pay a gardening company to come in and take care of it all for you. It's what I would do!

We dug trenches 8 feet long, 4 feet deep in autumn. All our leaves went in there, along with all our kitchen plant waste. All winter long, the leaves composted and we had a really fertile garden in the spring. We kept some leaves in bags, so when the snow was on the frozen ground, we put the plant waste on the snow, still in the trench, covered it with ashes from the wood stove, and added the leaves, which were held down by the next snow. No leaf blowers!!!

I used to live in northern Indiana not far from Chicago. A few of my unsolicited recommendations: 1) Get a leaf rake. These half longer flexible tines. The rake you're using, which obviously works, is a garden rake designed for raking the earth, dethatching, etc... 2) Get a spade shovel. You won't need it until you do, and you'll be glad you have it when you need it. 3) Get a tarp. You can obviously use the tarp to cover things such as your leaf pile, but you can also use it to transport leaves. Lay it out in the front yard, load your leaves onto it, and drag it into the back. 4) Invest in some inexpensive'ish power tools, but not too cheap though! Avoid power tools from Walmart and other places that sell very cheap tools. The inexpensive brands from home improvements stores such as Ryobi and Kobalt are fine for basic homeowners and would recommend spending a tad more and getting the better versions within these brands. For instance, Ryobi has a HP line that is actually pretty good - more powerful, quieter, more comfortable to use, and higher quality than their entry level line. I'd personally stay away from Craftsman and Black and Decker, they're unfortunately pretty terrible nowadays. Lawn mower, weed eater, and leaf blower should be considered. Sometimes you can get a tool that will do multiple things, such as a Ryobi weed eater with their attachment system. You could get a blower as an attachment to the weed eater for less cost than a separate blower. You can also get edger attachments, small snow blower attachments, and others, that will all work with the same weed eater power head. Corded yard tools mostly kind of suck. Managing the cord gets old real quick. I'd personally stick with either gas, battery powered, or some combination of the two. Battery tools are reasonably priced for the most part, but gas versions are almost always cheaper. Battery mowers, which are great nowadays, are still considerably more expensive than a gas mower. I've switched to entirely battery powered yard tools at this point and have been happy. 5) For the flower petals, a blower is your friend. Raking those sucks, and a battery powered blower is quiet enough that you can use it frequently without constantly annoying your neighbors. 6) Don't put off raking the leaves in the autumn. Stick to whatever schedule you come up with. Putting it off only makes it worse and more back-breaking when you do eventually get around to it. Snow will eventually go away on its own if neglected - leaves mostly won't. 7) Buy once, cry once. With your tools, even as a simply homeowner with the most basic tool needs, buying overly cheap tools will make your life harder than it needs to be. You don't need contractor grade stuff or anything, but find that middle ground for tool brand. It's definitely worth it, even if it takes longer to collect all the tools you might want or need. 8) Take breaks while doing yard work in the heat, the cold, or for extended periods of time. If it is excessively hot or cold, make sure your wife knows you're out there doing it so she can check on you periodically.

Laurence, I genuinely laughed out loud at the "Beware of Dog" sign. Also, what you need is not a lawn blower, but one that sucks the leaves up and mulches them. It spits them out into a bag you can then dump onto your compost (and I say it like Tara does) pile. They also make compost bins so you don't wind up with a huge pile of it. Cheers!

We had a huge yard with trees. To easily move the leaf piles, we put a tarp on the ground, put the leaves on that, and then dragged the tarp to where the leaves were being dumped. In our case, it was down the ravine at the back of the property. My father always joked that we were trying to fill it in.

Speaking of "thunderstorm situation," you should secure your BEWARE OF DOG sign to your fence with some wire through the holes. Or it will surely blow away. A leaf blower/vacuum is what you need. You can blow the leaves into a pile (if you want) and then "Hoover" and shred them up into bags. Shredded leaves make wonderful mulch for a vegetable or flower garden.

We rake every fall. Over the winter leaves that didn't fall off until the snow flew are there for the raking in the spring, not to mention all the leaves that are picked up by wind from our neighbors and land in our yard. It is what it is and boy, it never seems to end!

Now there's a man who enjoys his yard work almost as much as I do.

Next time you go to Lowe’s, pick up a leaf rake. It’s so much easier than the garden rake you’ve been using! Of course your biceps and back will not get as much of a workout.! 🤔😉 From NH, Patricia 👵🏻 🤗

I am absolutely loving the House Across The Pond Saga. I click as soon as I see it!

US landscaping jargon I picked up from shows like This Old House: The word "yard" ("yahd" if you're from Boston) denotes the "areas in front or back of the house that don't have cars on it" (if it's meant to let cars drive on top, it's called a "driveway"). "Garden" usually means just the part where there are non-pest plants growing. So whether it encompasses the entire yard or just a few pots on a patio, that's the "garden". Some people distinguish the "garden" from the "lawn", because you don't work on a garden with a lawnmower unless you're getting rid of the garden and you don't want to do it the hard way or rent a roto-tiller. A "patio" is usually a part of the yard that is hardscaped (paved with stone, bricks, concrete, etc.). They're used for entertaining guests or just chilling outdoors with a drink near an optional fire pit. Yeah, Americans will usually rhyme "compost" with "outpost". And please do a short on the origin of the word.

Nice that you have that saucer magnolia tree in your "yarden". There were two GIANTS of them at my old family home. This time of year the flowers smell AMAZING. I think it's what Heaven will smell like! CONGRATS on hitting 500K subscribers (of which I am one).

Lawrence, two things, 1) Get yourself a leaf rake, makes things much easier. 2) At Lowe’s or Home Depot you can get large paper bags made for leaves/yard waste, fill them up & you can put them out for trash pickup. Glad you’re enjoying your new home!!!

Laurence, as I see it, right now your Ace/Home Depot/Lowes shopping list consists of: 1. A leaf rake, 2. A leaf blower; 3. A lawn mower; and 4. A composter. With that chain link fence at some point you'll want a a weed whacker too. In NJ we pronounce compost the your wife does which is consistent with the way we pronounce it without the "com". Keep up the good work!

Oooo, LAWRENCE, I've finally caught up and have now watched my first episode on the same day it aired! Seemingly within the first hour! Everyone has recommendations for mowing/mulching/chewing up yard waste and whatnot. It always helped me that when I was composting, collecting the yard trimmings to add to it helped greatly. The new green matter adds nitrogen and speeds up the process. Wheeeee!!!

Still remember when I was a young child and my parents would rake leaves into a huge pile my first mission was always to go jump and play in the middle 😊❤ that was back in the 60's

Just imagine the joy when you get a lawn mower for Summer, a leaf blower for next fall, and a snow blower for next winter. 😊😂 The rake you have is more for leveling out soil in your garden, or de-thaching excessively thick dead grass. A proper rake for leaves is much wider and often made from plastic. You may want to set up a compost bin for your leaves and Summer grass clippings.

Oh the joys of home ownership. We took 10 loads of leaves to the dump before the snow fell & another 10 trips, once the snow melted. The trees are worth it but they definitely put a damper on my love of Autumn! Cheers!

Leaves. The bane of many a homeowner’s existence. Considering that you only rake and it is a light enough load that it can be done by a single person, you have it easy. We had several hundred leaf bearing trees in our yard. And getting rid of those leaves is the annual challenge I never looked forward to.

I would recommend a rake with longer tines, it will help tremendously. Also, not sure if this would help you, but raking your leaves onto a tarp and then moving them around (to where they need to go---we dump ours at the front of our yard and the township vacuums them up in a truck) becomes much easier. Could also help your back. You're doing fine though---yarden care is a journey. We've lived in our house for quite a few years now but we're still learning new things every year. Take care! Loved the snow shovel--very creative. If it works, it works! 🙂 Edit: And congrats on 500k! I love your channel. 🙂 Have learned a lot, including about America and I've lived here all my life.

I thought Tara's way to pronounce compost was the only way, until just now.

You should really get a purposed leaf rake. The garden rake you have is good for wet or dense material but is much heavier than a leaf rake. An alternative to moving leaves with a shovel- lay down a tarp and rake the leaves onto the tarp. Bundle of the tarp and drag it to your compost pile and then open your tarp and spill the leaves onto your pile by pulling the farthest edge up and over your pile. Congrats on your 500k subscribers!

Lawrence's Lowes Shopping List 1.) Lawn Mower (Remember to pick up sticks before using it) 2.) Leaf Blower 3.) Leaf Rake (Yes, you'll want both) 4.) Tarp 5.) Approximately eight decently sized bricks (to put on the corners and edges of the tarp to hold it down)

There is actually an alternative to a leaf blower. Several companies, including Toro, make leaf mulching kits that actually are vacuums. They suck the leaves up, mulch them, and dump them into a bag you've got slung over your shoulder. You can then dump them into your flower beds as mulch, or compost them more easily than most full leaves. I absolutely adore mine. But I also have three full-grown oak trees in my backyard. And oak trees are notorious for not dropping all of their leaves until early spring. So I have to pull this out twice a year, once in early December or late November, and then again in late March early April.

Get a leaf rake gravel rake is hard unless you’re trying to thatch grass

a great tip: if your roof is not too steep to walk on, a leaf blower is also very good for blowing the leaves out of the gutters.

Ooh, Laurence, congrats on the 500k subs! Your "yarden" is starting to look good. But please, on your trip to Lowe's, save your back and get some proper "yardening" implements, such as the aforementioned leaf rake, a convertible leaf lower/vacuum and a compost bin. Or at least the scrap wood, hammer, and nails to make one. Maybe get a wheelbarrow and some grass seed. There are also things called "leaf scoops" which look like giant plastic claws and make picking up leaves, especially wet, mo[u]ldy, disgusting ones, much easier. I was going to mention "yardening" gloves, but you finally put some on. I tended a Midwestern yard for about 40 years and I miss it so much. Enjoy!

"Yard" and "garden" derive from the same Germanic root. You and your biome are far healthier using a rake. You've made a great rake's progress.

You have to keep up with the leaves and get a proper rake for the job

Well done! However, as I’m sure many others have noted . . . Use a leaf rake. What you are using is a garden rake - as in vegetable garden - for raking dirt. Don’t buy a leaf blower. Get a device that can blow leaves, but also can suck them up into a bag - sorta like a vacuum cleaner. I’ve been using one for so many years (over 20) that I bought my second. Besides sucking up the leaves, it kinda chops them up. Much easier to bag - if that’s the way you are going.

You truly are becoming American. Half a$$ the job with whatever tools you have available: dirt rake (not leaf rake), plastic red shovel, and broken tree branch. Excellent job, fellow Yankee!

I've always wondered...if people in Britain call a yard a garden, then what do they call an actual garden? And if your yard is your garden, then what's a yard? Fun reaction, as always. 👍

Where I live in the US we do a lot of raking in late winter early spring too. This is because not all the leave fall in Autumn. Many hold on to their tiny little branches until the next year. Congrats on 500,000!!

As has been mentioned, with the right tools (which you've consistently not used) this chore would be 1/4 the effort. A leaf rake vs a regular rake for starters. Get a self-propelled push mower with a quick connect bagger/mulcher. You could use the mulcher to quickly shred the tree flowers into the lawn. You could use the bagger for leaves to make them better for composting --- or carrying to the curb.

Raking onto the sidewalk so you can use a snow shovel to push to the back of your yard is borderline brilliant. Almost makes up for your choice in rakes. Of course none of it will matter when you get a leaf vac. And a word of advice before going to Lowe’s… Don’t… Don’t… Don’t let anyone talk you into a manual push mower, also called a reel mower. You need something powered and self-propelled, trust me. Although, a reel mower could produce a lot of self-deprecating RU-vid comedy Gold!

I'm so glad to see that I am not the only one that uses a snow shovel for leaves just the same way. You go Lawrence

Your rake.....it's steel. That's for tilling hard soil. You need a LEAF RAKE. Much lighter and wider.

Oh, Lawrence!! That's not a leaf rake, that's a gravel/soil rake. Get yourself a proper metal leaf rake with fiberglass handle, don't skimp on quality! (I find the narrow rakes pretty handy too.) Hang your tools up on the garage wall to keep them nice; they will last longer when they are cleaned a bit after each use. I've gone without a leaf blower for over 30 years here in my suburban yard. A mulching mower is a good idea though. (IMHO, electric is better than gas- quieter, not stinky.) My garden tool kit: trenching spade (great for planting everything); sturdy trowel; Japanese Gomboy folding handsaw; Felco hand pruners; long loppers; a pair of thick fleece-lined suede gloves for prickly brambles and calfskin garden gloves for everything else. Two gallon watering can; good garden hose with sprayer attachment (just one of those simple brass nozzle things is fine, the fancy ones don't last long); tarp for gathering stuff. I rake my leaves underneath my bushes. There are different kinds of compost bin arrangements, but I finally decided they were all too much work, so our leaves just go under the bushes behind the flower borders. Beautiful Magnolia! Did you know that's one of the most ancient of all flowering plants?

I want to like this video twice! ‘Yarden’ 😅😅😅

A'reyt Laurence. In UK, I have two rakes that are much larger and like wires spread into a V shape, meant for getting out moss. Used together they can grab a pile of leaves like hands. Also, I use both like ploughs to collect a much bigger leaf pile quickly. No leaf blower required.

Oohh, Lawrence, you can use a big rolly garbage can as a composter. It wouldn't take up much space , and easy to transport. I am looking forward to your videos on your yard!

You have a HUGE Magnolia tree in your backyard that looks to be at least fifty years old! I know people who buy young Magnolias then complain that they take too long to get big enough to be even called a small tree. Yes the fallen blossoms look messy, but they dry up and disappear in a week or so, especially after your first mow. Now all you need to do is get a leaf rake and maybe a compost box at Loews. . You could also make a small patio with pavers (Lowes, again) using the soil from preparation to fill in low spots especially around the Magnolia tree. Add a grill, some outdoor furniture and viola you have an outdoor living room. Loews is going to love you!

Bamboo fan rake!!!! Will not damage the lawn. Well done you on the 500 thousand count!!

I use an old bedsheet for leaves. Open the sheet, rake your big pile onto it, then either bundle it up and carry it or else just drag the sheet. You probably have some high brow term for this technique, like ‘loamlinnens’ or something.

congrats on 500k subs! I clicked on this video just 2 minutes after release and there's already 40 likes!

I like the shovel method, work smarter not harder. I would suggest getting a tarpaulin, rake/ shovel leaves onto it then drag it to the pile. Also, to keep your compost pile in place ask Lowes for a free pallet and build a box for the leaves. I wish you all the best with your Yarden!❤

You can get a compost bin online. You really should hover up the leaves with your new lawn mower(bag attached) so they are shredded. You can layer it with the fresh cut grass and vegetable scraps. The smaller the pieces the quicker it turns into terrific compost! Even amounts of green matter and brown matter.

That rake is called a garden rake or dirt rake. You need to go buy yourself a leaf rake it will make your job a lot easier. Thanks for the video.

Congratulations on 500k! You'll want to buy a leaf rake, though.

That's not a dandruff tree, that's a star magnolia! At least, that's what we call them around here. Mom had one she was very proud of.

A leaf rake as mentioned by others is amazing. My bad back appreciates it. I also got a battery powered mulching lawnmower. It is nice to only have to charge the batteries and sharpen the blade. The battery packs also fit in the leaf blower, hedge trimmer, small chainsaw, and many other yard tools. The lawn mower has held up to my use of it over the lawn, leaves, and other yard waste. I no longer need a number of fuel cans, oils, spark plugs, filters, and all the supplies for gas powered machines. My shoulders also appreciate not having to pull a cord. This neighbor to the north of you can't wait to see your upcoming home adventures, hehe.

If you're ever looking for quirky bits of American culture, there's a 7 story basket shaped building a few hours drive from Chicago called the Longaberger Basket. It really is a sight.

Laurence, by now I'm sure you know that you need a leaf rake. A garden rake will get the job done, but it will be a lot harder and create more work. A leaf rake makes it easy...but you knew all this I'm guessing. I just know all your efforts will pay off, and this Summer you will have a beautiful yarden! Would love to see a video of you and Tarah buying a leaf rake at Lowe's...or maybe head back to Home Depot, and get some tile. At any rate, your new home vids are a hit...any squirrel updates? I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like an update on the pesky buggers ("tree rats" as my Dad used to call them). At any rate, Happy Spring to you and yours, and anyone willing to read all this! Hope it's just fabulous! Cheers and God bless!😇

I have neighbors who use snow shovels to clear their leaves, so if naught else, you're using one of the acceptable New England methods. Definitely get a leaf rake, that will help not rip all the grass out. The iron rake shown is really good with rocks or dirt

My household has a machine called a Leaf Multcher. It blows the leaves into a pile and then it can switch to the multcher and break down the leaves. We love it.

A garden is where you grow things. Like vegetables or whatever. A yard is just the grass and stuff surrounding your house. A field is a yard without a structure on it. A garden on a yard without a structure (Feild) becomes a vegetable farm. If you sell those vegetables for profit they become crops. If you don't sell them, Then they are just vegetables. I know weird. :)

There’s also yard vacuums, it’s like a leaf blower in reverse, you wear a bag on your back that slowly fills up with the leaves. Might be more expensive than a blower though.

Just remember that everything you take out of your yard came from your yard. The leaves and grass clippings you take leaves the soil nutrient deficient. What I do is just mulch it with a lawn-mower

Couple tips for you. A leaf rake is fan-ned on the end and can be made of plastic or steel, but it looks different from what you are using, which is to move loose gravel or dirt. Your yard is small, so man up and just use a rake, I wouldn't do a leaf blower. As others have stated get a mower to "mulch" the grass clippings. Unless you have a good compost system you will have a pile of wet rotting crap in your small yard that will stink. Buy paper yard bags, bag it up and put it out for the garbage. You can also contact a local grass cutting company that will take it for you for a few bucks because you will only have that type of clean-up a couple times a year. Good content and always funny.

For those who are saying Laurence is using the wrong type of rake: I recommend having both types. The fan type (in metal, like many said) is for dry, kind of the fluffier leaves. But he referred to them as wet. So he's using the right tool, in my opinion. A garden rake is preferable for wet and compacted leaves. As well as being useful for the other uses other people mentioned. Used several with bits of dry concrete for wet leaves over the years.😁 Grew up on a farm with a bunch of sycamore and white maple trees in the front yard, and scattered around the farm. Both types got regular use. (You'll never muck leaves out of a ditch with a fan rake, but dried and a flatter area, they are removed fairly fast with a fan rake. Mucking them out from around a fence, I'd prefer the garden rake like he was using.

Love you. But that's a garden rake, not a leaf rake 😊

The rake you are using is a garden rake which is for smoothing soil in the vegetable garden. If you get a leaf rake, which is designed for leaves, much longer and wider, and MUCH lighter, your job will be MUCH easier. Ah, bless your heart. You must have been sore after raking the yard with a garden rake!

That magnolia tree has beautiful flowers and smells so lovey.

500k!! Congrats!!

Wrong kind of rake. You need a leaf rake. It is bigger.

Lawrence, mow the leaves (and petals in the spring). I have a very large tree in my front yard that's about 40-50 tall and I've never raked a leaf in the many years I've lived there. Mowing the leaves converts the leaves to food for your lawn and provides a really good layer of protection for the grass roots. Add to that I enjoy seeing some of those leaves blow into an unliked neighbors yard and its fun to see him scowl in our direction while he rakes the leaves that have invaded his lawn...

Your tulip tree is lovely, but those things bloom in the worst of the spring windy season. It's the only reason I won't plant one and instead enjoy the neighbor's tree that is a few house down where it can't blow into my front yard. You need a lawn/leaf rake. You are using a garden rake, which is for dirt and is used in a large in ground vegetable plot, generally. The side with the tines digs into the dirt and the flat side smooths out the dirt. You can make small furrows with it and plant tiny seeds that will need to be further thinned out later. It is much easier to move through good soil. You can also use it in flower beds, but most people just use hand rakes for that. Hand rakes tend to be used in taller raised vegetable beds as well, since the garden rake is so unwieldy. Congratulations on half a million subscribers.