CHARLOTTE – When autumn leaves get into your flower beds and mulch, you want to get them out easily and quickly. Here’s how:

Use Your Hands – To remove leaves from delicate plants, grab your gardening gloves and a kneeling pad. Raking isn’t going to work for this delicate operation. Instead, pick the leaves off by hand and pile them next to your garden beds where you can mulch them into the lawn later.

Light Raking – Your standard leaf rake is too cumbersome for raking leaves from mulch. You’ll need a narrow rake to get in there between your plants and loosen up all the debris that’s settled. Be gentle. Some leaves may be wet and stick to the mulch or wood chips. A hand rake or shrub rake may work well to remove leaves in tight spaces around plants.

Use A Leaf Blower or Vacuum – If there’s enough space between your plants, you can use a leaf blower to save time. However, don’t use too much force. Remember, this is a delicate operation.  Once you’ve blown out most of the leaves then use your hands or a rake and remove anything left over.

Leaf Vacuum/Mulcher – Another option for getting leaves out of your mulch is to use a leaf vacuum/mulcher. By keeping the vacuum on low level of suction, you can avoid sucking up mulch, sticks, or rocks from your beds.

Create a Leaf Barrier – If you are looking for an easier way to keep leaves out of your mulch bed you may want to install a leaf barrier. Lay landscape fabric on top of your mulch in early fall. As leaves fall on your mulch, the leaf fabric will keep it from mixing with the mulch. Simply pull up the landscape fabric and get rid of the leaves.