"davout" wroteI have a large garden (1 acre+) with a lot of trees. This
time of year the
great leaf clearing operation starts. Because of the trees, their shade, a
stream that runs thru the garden, and the generally wet weather, the
fallen leaves get wet and sticky pretty quickly.

In this context do these leaf blowers/vacs really work?

If so, any product recommendations?

I've just bought a Flymo petrol blower/vac £99.99 and found it does the job
although I mainly wanted it for clearing leaves etc from around pots and
other obstructions on hard standing, not grass.
It's quite quiet, and the blower is quite powerful such that if the leaves
are dry you daren't use full power unless you want them in the next county,
on my fist attempt I blew them all into my neighbours front garden! :-(
Once blown into a suitable corner then you convert to vac and suck/chop them
all up for the compost bin. Like all power tools it takes some practice to
use effectively. :-)
A lot quicker and more effective than a brush.
--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London