Leaves on a gravel drive
 

Hi
Can anyone suggest a quicker way of collecting leaves from a gravel drive other than the very tedious method of rake and hand? I don't have a huge gravel driveway but it is overhung by lots of trees and clearing it is a very slow job.

I did think of a leaf collecting type gadget but want sure if that would suck up the gravel too?

Cheers

How about burning them off with a Weed Wand?

This sounds like fun...whats Weed Wand.....visions of napalm :)

In article ,
zippo4 wrote:

Hi
Can anyone suggest a quicker way of collecting leaves from a gravel
drive other than the very tedious method of rake and hand? I don't have
a huge gravel driveway but it is overhung by lots of trees and clearing
it is a very slow job.

Buy one of those blower-type things .... and make yourself unpopular
with the neighbours. (At least - neighbours like me!)

I have two old bits of 3-ply plywood, about 30cm by 45 cm; very light.
When the winds have dried out the leaves (and blown many of them into
piles already) I use one of the boards to waft the leaves on my gravel
into piles myself; then I use both boards to lift the piles into the
barrow. Unfortunately, the wafting business is very inaccurate, and I
sometimes think I could do with one of the those blower-type things ....

I see that you can buy (hey presto!) plastic equivalents of my bits of
plywood these days. These have very large saw-tooth edges at the
bottom side -- I wonder (actually) if these saw-tooths will do exactly
what you (and I) are looking for, now I think about it.

I saw them in my local garden centre and in the B&Q ... I'll 'ave a look
in the old Pound Shop tomorrow! Red plastic though - not as nice as
scruffy old plywood, 30 years old.

John

"zippo4" wrote in message
...

Hi
Can anyone suggest a quicker way of collecting leaves from a gravel
drive other than the very tedious method of rake and hand? I don't have
a huge gravel driveway but it is overhung by lots of trees and clearing
it is a very slow job.

I did think of a leaf collecting type gadget but want sure if that
would suck up the gravel too?

Cheers


--
zippo4


Best using a blower and pick them up from piles thereby formed unless you
can, even better, arrange to blow them next door !

Pete
www.thecanalshop.com

"zippo4" wrote in message
...

Hi
Can anyone suggest a quicker way of collecting leaves from a gravel
drive other than the very tedious method of rake and hand? I don't have
a huge gravel driveway but it is overhung by lots of trees and clearing
it is a very slow job.

I did think of a leaf collecting type gadget but want sure if that
would suck up the gravel too?

Cheers


--
zippo4

keep the trees..........but cut branches off.

toy

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 14:10:42 +0100, zippo4
wrote:

Can anyone suggest a quicker way of collecting leaves from a gravel
drive other than the very tedious method of rake and hand? I don't have
a huge gravel driveway but it is overhung by lots of trees and clearing
it is a very slow job.

I did think of a leaf collecting type gadget but want sure if that
would suck up the gravel too?

I have a similar problem with a gravelled front garden, which is
planted.
Up the road are a couple of hornbeams and I have discovered that the
leaves do not rot down. In spite of gathering about 8 bin-bags of
leaves over last winter, some of the leaves are still lying there,
quite undecayed, under bushy plants etc. Soon there'll be another
lot.
Anyone any idea how much I might need to pay to hire a blower/vac for
a day (or half)?


Pam in Bristol

"zippo4" wrote in message
...

Hi
Can anyone suggest a quicker way of collecting leaves from a gravel
drive other than the very tedious method of rake and hand? I don't
have
a huge gravel driveway but it is overhung by lots of trees and
clearing
it is a very slow job.

I did think of a leaf collecting type gadget but want sure if that
would suck up the gravel too?

Get one which can blow, suck and shred leaves.

Franz

Cheers


--
zippo4

zippo4 wrote
I did think of a leaf collecting type gadget but want sure if that
would suck up the gravel too?

That's why they invented leaf blowers - you shift them onto the grass
and then rake them up. There are only two snags:
1. In our wet climate the leaves may stay put.
2. It's very decadent, spending all that on a machine and petrol just
to blow a few leaves about.

I find if I wait until, oh May or June, the problem has cleared itself
up.

"zippo4" wrote in message
...

This sounds like fun...whats Weed Wand.....visions of napalm :)


--
zippo4

I just use my rotary mower with the blades set high, it hoovers them up,
then I can use the leaves from the grass box as mulch.

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

"zippo4" wrote in message
...

This sounds like fun...whats Weed Wand.....visions of napalm :)
zippo4

Especially "the smell of napalm in the morning"
Apocalypse now (1979)

Jenny "~)

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 18:59:03 GMT, Pam Moore
wrote:

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 14:10:42 +0100, zippo4
wrote:

Can anyone suggest a quicker way of collecting leaves from a gravel
drive other than the very tedious method of rake and hand? I don't have
a huge gravel driveway but it is overhung by lots of trees and clearing
it is a very slow job.

I did think of a leaf collecting type gadget but want sure if that
would suck up the gravel too?

I have a similar problem with a gravelled front garden, which is
planted.
Up the road are a couple of hornbeams and I have discovered that the
leaves do not rot down. In spite of gathering about 8 bin-bags of
leaves over last winter, some of the leaves are still lying there,
quite undecayed, under bushy plants etc. Soon there'll be another
lot.
Anyone any idea how much I might need to pay to hire a blower/vac for
a day (or half)?


Pam in Bristol

Pam

This autumn, water the leaves in the bags to get them wet. Stick a
shovelful of earth in the top of each bag. Puncture holes in the bags
to let in air. Close the tops of the bags losely, just a twist will
do. Stack away and use as next winters mulch.

Last years bagged leaves could be turned out and given the same
treatment as above. I suspoect that they may have compressed down a
bit so turning them out will introduce some air into the mix.

hth

phil

I think (not therefore I am, but because I'm lazy!) that I am going to invest in one of these blower type gadgets. Can anyone recommend one? Or are they all much of a like?

Aardvark muttered:

This autumn, water the leaves in the bags to get them wet. Stick a
shovelful of earth in the top of each bag. Puncture holes in the bags
to let in air. Close the tops of the bags losely, just a twist will
do. Stack away and use as next winters mulch.

Just one wheelbarrow of last year's leaf mould sorted out a horrible bed of
sticky clay - I could literally *see* the stuff making the soil better -
it's magic, don't waste it.

My missus is full of hot air. I could hire her out for a small fee :-))

--
Regards
p.mc

For personal replies please leave or type signature
"p.mc" In the body of the message otherwise
posts will not be received.
Thanks

"zippo4" wrote in message
...

I think (not therefore I am, but because I'm lazy!) that I am going to
invest in one of these blower type gadgets. Can anyone recommend one?
Or are they all much of a like?


--
zippo4