Tidying Up The Garden In Autumn

Autumn Gardening

It is traditional in Autumn to tidy up the garden in readiness for the cooler seasons in the UK. Apart from essential maintenance most regions in the UK have little gardening activity other that a general clean up and preparation for the winter months, and the frosts that may come at this time.

Any plants that may succumb to these cooler months will need protection by way of being moved into a greenhouse or other garden structure, or be protected in some other way, possibly by use of bubble wrap or horticultural type fleece.

As far as tidying up the garden in Autumn one major task can be collecting and disposing of fallen leaves and twigs, especially on lawns and grassed areas.

As autumn and winter approaches and the days get shorter and cooler this activity forces trees, bushes, and other plants to go into a state of hibernation. Woody trees, branches, and twigs can endure this process but not the plants leafs. With reduced amounts of sunlight and a noticeable drop off in temperature it is more energy efficient for a tree or plant to shut down its operation and go dormant, hence this leaf drop process takes place.

For the homeowner or business user that has trees on their land the biggest job connected with this process is the actual clearing up and disposing of these fallen leaves.

Rather than manually collecting them up by hand an alternative would be to use an item of powered garden machinery such as a petrol leaf blower.

For large areas this piece of garden machinery is available in two different formats; a hand held unit or a backpack version.

As the name suggests a hand held model is used by one or more hands, a backpack model is carried on the back of the operator in a carry frame fitted with shoulder straps.

There are several leading brands of back pack petrol leaf blowers available with there being three main ones sold in the UK. These are the machines manufactured by Echo, Honda, and Stihl.

Between them these three manufactures have a range of models with slightly different specifications and performance giving the purchaser a good choice in buying the model that suits them best. Selling prices can vary from brand and model to model as would be expected with any type of powered garden machinery.

A big advantage in using a backpack leaf blower is the blowing performance they deliver. Unlike hand held units they typically have larger petrol engines (two or for stroke) that deliver more power resulting in increased performance. In simple terms they produce a greater airflow in a shorter period of time. This allows a backpack leaf blower to be able to move even wet leafs that are stuck to hard surface areas such as drives, paths, and car parks.

Of the three brands mentioned you will find a common denominator is thier high build quality over other brands. Echo, Honda, and Stihl are all renowned for producing high quality garden machinery that is simple to use, easy to start, has a network of servicing dealers, and above everything else gives high performance for their intended useage.

Which Backpack Leaf Blower Should You Buy?

This is not an easy question to answer. Starting points on deciding which make and model to buy should include your available budget, weight and size of the machine itself, two or four stroke engine (or possibly a stihl 4 mix engined model which is a combination of both), any loyalty you have towards one brand (remember all three mentioned here are very good), the factor of can you buy any brand from a local dealer? etc.

To make the decision easier it is recommended you contact a local specialist that offers free advice and help on the brand and models they sell. By a process of elimination you will come to a point where the right make and model is quite clear to you, allowing you to go ahead with the purchase.

Popular Backpack Garden Leaf Blowers

At the time of writing several popular models are the:

Echo PB 265ESL

Echo PB500

Echo PB770

In the Stihl range of landscaping machinery the:

BR380 (two stroke engine)
BR500 (four mix engine)
BR550 (four mix engine)
BR600 (4 mix engine)

All of these petrol garden leaf blowers can be purchased from MF Hire

For further details contact:

MF Hire (Sheffield)

Tel: (0114) 2750431