Homeowner Shares Brilliant Hack That Makes Raking Leaves A Breeze: 'Life Changing'

The autumn leaves, in shades of gold, auburn, pumpkin, and ruby, are lovely on the trees, but every season comes to an end, and, unfortunately, those leaves have to fall. Some trees lose their leaves faster than others, creating a constant barrage of piles, and your job is to mulch, rake, or blow them into something manageable. After all, you can't leave them on your lawn. They block the sun and trap moisture, which encourages mold, pest, and disease infestations. But collecting them into piles is only one part of the problem — you'll still need to collect them into a container of some sort. To make your efforts easier, you might as well benefit from @todayshomeowner on TikTok, who suggests a tarp trick that he swears has simplified his leaf collection cleanup.

He simply folded a 4-foot by 8-foot tarp in half, stapled wooden dowels on two opposite ends, raked the leaves onto the tarp, and then grabbed the dowel ends like handles to lift the tarp full of leaves and easily funnel them into a trash bag or trash can. While there are reasons you should or shouldn't rake fall leaves to consider, when they start to take over your lawn, this hack might keep them manageable. Here's how to do it yourself. 

If you don't have the supplies necessary to shave time spent collecting leaves, you can grab a 4-foot by 6-foot tarp from Dollar Tree for $1.50 or an 8-foot by 10-foot tarp for $3. Dollar Tree also sells a two-pack of dowels for $1.25. From there, you just pick your collection tool of choice: a rake or a leaf blower. You can even transform your shop vac into a leaf blower in a pinch. Simply use your tool to gather the leaves onto the tarp, lift, and funnel them into your chosen container. 

But how are critics responding to @todayshomeowner's TikTok solution? The responses from those who have tried it are highly complimentary. "Absolutely genius," "life changing," and "nice and easy" were some of the rave reviews. One person who attempted this leaf-gathering trick did say this works best for smaller yards, while a larger yard might require mowing and mulching the leaves to better manage the task. The creator agreed, suggesting you should "always use the right tool for the job."