my favorite garden/yard tool
 

without a doubt the nod goes to my gas-powered leaf blower/shredder. it
makes debris cleanup (and re-use!) super easy...

whenever needed, i fire it up as a blower and push everything off into the
bushes or beds or wherever. then, a couple times a year i go through the
whole yard with it set up as a shredder...but here's the trick: instead of
using the ridiculously small shoulder bag to catch the mulch, i remove the
bag and turn the elbow that it attaches to around so that it points forward.
i just blow the mulch right back down where it came from!

it takes a little bit of practice to get it down nicely, since it ends up
6-8ft away and the air stream is strong enough to blow the gound bare if you
point it straight down. but once you've got the pattern, it makes a quick
one-step job of an otherwise tedious process.

also worth noting: i don't think this would work so well with a
lower-powered machine (electric, or low-end gas). but with a quality
machine, anything the blower can move the shredder can eat, including
sticks, bark, pinecones, sweetgum balls, etc. it is a bit hard on the
shedder...i replace the blades and impeller almost every year, and have
broken the impeller housing from the inside out as pebbles get rocketing
around in there.

so what's your favorite?

fwiw,

dookie