x
Skip to main content
Golf Logo
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
10 essential leaf-raking tips every homeowner needs to know
SHARE
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email
Golf Logo
  • News
    • Latest
      • News
      • Features
      • Shows
      • PGA Tour Schedule
    • Series
      • Tour Confidential
      • Monday Finish
      • Hot Mic
      • Rogers Report
    • Shows
      • The Scoop
      • Subpar
      • Seen & Heard
  • Instruction
    • Game Improvement
      • Driving
      • Approach Shots
      • Bunker Shots
      • Short Game
      • Putting
      • Rules
      • Fitness
    • Series
      • Top 100 Teachers
      • Rules Guy
      • The Etiquetteist
    • Shows
      • Warming Up
      • Play Smart
      • Short Game Chef
      • Pros Teaching Joes
  • Gear
    • Clubs
      • Drivers
      • Irons
      • Hybrids
      • Fairway Woods
      • Wedges
      • Putters
    • Other Gear
      • Balls
      • Shoes
      • Apparel
      • Golf Accessories
    • Series
      • ClubTest
      • Winner’s Bag
    • Shows
      • Fully Equipped
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • Travel
      • Course Finder
      • Courses
      • Resorts
    • Lifestyle
      • Accessories
      • Celebrities
      • Food
      • Style
      • Betting Advice
    • Shows
      • Super Secrets
      • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Shop
      • Clubs
      • Shafts
      • Training Aids
      • Balls
      • Bags
      • Technology
      • Apparel
      • Accessories
      • Our Picks
      • Shop All
    • Collections
      • The GOLF Collection
      • The Birdie Juice Collection
      • The Fully Equipped Collection
      • Shop All
  • Newsletters
    • Sign Up for GOLF’s Newsletters
      • Hot Mic
      • Monday Finish
      • Play Smart
      • Our Picks
      • Top Stories
      • Sign Up for All
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Features
    • Shows
    • PGA Tour Schedule
  • Instruction
    • All Instruction
    • Driving
    • Approach Shots
    • Bunker Shots
    • Short Game
    • Putting
    • Rules
    • Fitness
  • Gear
    • All Gear
    • Drivers
    • Irons
    • Hybrids
    • Fairway Woods
    • Wedges
    • Putters
    • Balls
    • Shoes
    • Apparel
    • Golf Accessories
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • All Travel
    • All Lifestyle
    • Course Finder
    • Courses
    • Resorts
    • Accessories
    • Celebrities
    • Food
    • Style
    • Betting Advice
  • Series
    • Tour Confidential
    • Monday Finish
    • Hot Mic
    • Rogers Report
    • Rules Guy
    • The Etiquetteist
    • ClubTest
    • Winner’s Bag
  • Shows
    • The Scoop
    • Subpar
    • Seen & Heard
    • Warming Up
    • Play Smart
    • Short Game Chef
    • Pros Teaching Joes
    • Fully Equipped
    • Super Secrets
    • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Clubs
    • Shafts
    • Training Aids
    • Balls
    • Bags
    • Technology
    • Apparel
    • Accessories
    • The GOLF Collection
    • The Birdie Juice Collection
    • The Fully Equipped Collection
  • Newsletters
    • Hot Mic
    • Monday Finish
    • Play Smart
    • Top Stories
    • Our Picks
    • Sign Up for All
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
InsideGolf
Lifestyle

10 essential leaf-raking tips every homeowner needs to know

By: Josh Sens
  • Follow on Twitter
October 15, 2021
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email
photo of a rake gathering leaves on a lawn

Come this time of year, leaf-raking is serious business.

Getty Images

There’s a reason autumn’s other name is fall.

Everywhere you look, leaves are dropping, cluttering the gutters, covering your lawn.

How to deal with them? Ken Benoit is a former superintendent, a longtime member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, and the founder of Eco Turf Consulting, which serves all 50 states from its headquarters in Bedford, New York.

Here are Benoit’s 10 top tips for handling nature’s seasonal debris.

1. Stay on top of them

Why do today what you can put off til tomorrow? Fair question. You could, of course, always wait for all the leaves to fall. But Benoit doesn’t recommend it. For starters, you’re not really sparing yourself work; you’re just letting it pile up for later. Nor are you doing your lawn any favors. In many parts of the country, including Benoit’s home in the New York area, grass is still growing when leaves start falling; it’s storing carbohydrates for the winter. If that grass is covered in a blanket of leaves, it can’t absorb the sunlight that it needs to go into healthy hibernation.

2. Keep mowing

The shorter the grass, the easier it is to get leaves off it. If yours is still growing, keep mowing. At this time of year, Benoit says he is still cutting his grass about once a week.

3. Work with dry leaves

Name the task. Raking. Blowing. Bagging. It’s much easier when the leaves aren’t matted down with moisture or clumped together in a sodden mess. More reason to stay on top of your leaf-management. And to keep an eye on the weather report.

Lifestyle
dry bad grass in a yard
How to fix an ugly lawn: 7 easy cures for unhealthy-looking yards
By: Josh Sens

4. Mulch ‘em

Many mowers come with mulching attachments. Benoit suggests that you employ them. It’s an easy way to rid yourself of leaves, and the mulch you leave behind provides nutrients for your lawn. Not enough nutrients to substitute for fertilizer, Benoit says. But the process is a win-win for you and your yard.

5. Use the right rake

Benoit favors wide, lightweight plastic rakes over narrow metal rakes because they’re easier to wield and they cover more terrain. Feel free to be vigorous with your raking, but don’t be so aggressive that it looks like you’re tilling. “I see some people really cranking hard at it,” Benoit says. “You don’t need to do that rake up leaves.”

6. Use the wind and the terrain to your advantage

It’s a simple rule, rooted in basic physics: rake from high ground to low ground, with the wind at your back, not in your face. “With any luck, you can have both in your favor at the same time,” Benoit says.

7. Take a two-pronged approach

On golf courses, maintenance crews use both rakes and blowers. That’s a good approach to take at home, as well. While electric blowers have come along way, Benoit says that gas blowers are more efficient.

Lifestyle
growing grass in the fall
5 must-do’s for growing grass in the fall, according to a golf course superintendent
By: Josh Sens

8. Pick up the piles, pronto

Once you’ve gathered up your leaves, bag them up right away, so they don’t get rained or snowed on, or the wind undoes your work. Over time, piles are bad for grass. Let them sit there for the winter, and you’ll have a dead spot underneath come spring.

9. Use a tarp

Another way to haul off leaves is to pile them onto a tarp, and then drag them to wherever you plan to dispose them. This is a standard practice on golf courses, and it makes good sense at home, especially if you’ve got a lot of ground to cover and a mountain’s worth of leaves.

10. Make your kids do it

Why should you do all the heavy lifting? If you’ve got offspring, put them to work. “Isn’t that why you had kids in the first place?” Benoit says.

Latest In Lifestyle

1 day ago

Father's Day gift ideas we love from Johnnie-O

1 day ago

This delicious pasta became an LPGA veteran's tournament-week go-to

2 days ago

The 8 golf items we're buying this summer

3 days ago

PGA Championship weekend betting guide: 4 picks for the final rounds

Josh Sens

Golf.com Editor

A golf, food and travel writer, Josh Sens has been a GOLF Magazine contributor since 2004 and now contributes across all of GOLF’s platforms. His work has been anthologized in The Best American Sportswriting. He is also the co-author, with Sammy Hagar, of Are We Having Any Fun Yet: the Cooking and Partying Handbook.

  • Author Twitter Account

Related Articles

Lifestyle
course care

7 maintenance mistakes that golfers make too often, according to superintendents

By: Josh Sens
Lifestyle
lawnmower

8 things you should do to prep your yard for fall weather, according to a superintendent

By: Josh Sens
Lifestyle
A golf flag.

Why flagsticks are way more interesting than you ever knew

By: Josh Sens
Lifestyle
many pins on a green

When does a tough hole location become tricked-up? A superintendent explains

By: Josh Sens
Lifestyle
reel mower

Are you using the wrong lawn mower for your grass? Here’s how to know

By: Josh Sens
Lifestyle
flooded yard

How to protect your grass after heavy rainfall, according to a golf-course superintendent

By: Josh Sens
Lifestyle
Drought sign displayed on dead grass next to road

Tired of lawn-maintenance? Try swapping out turf for these low-lift alternatives

By: Josh Sens
Lifestyle
brown lawn

How to revive your drought-ravaged lawn, according to a golf-course superintendent

By: Josh Sens
Lifestyle
a sprinkler system on a golf course

4 reasons your sprinkler system isn't working, and how to fix it

By: Josh Sens
Sign up for GOLF's Newsletters
Get the latest news, the hottest instruction tips, new product releases, golf media insider reports and more delivered directly to your inbox. Choose your favorites now.
Sign Up
Categories
  • News
  • Instruction
  • Gear
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
Services
  • Masthead
  • GOLF Media Kit
  • GOLF Magazine Customer Service
  • TERMS OF SERVICE
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • Opt-out of Ads/Sharing
  • Your Privacy Choices
Social
  • facebook
  • x
  • instagram
  • youtube
Membership
InsideGOLF Logo
More than $140 Value for JUST $39.99

INCLUDES 12 SRIXON Z-STAR XV GOLF BALLS, 1 YR OF GOLF MAGAZINE, $20 FAIRWAY JOCKEY CREDIT - AND MUCH MORE!

LEARN MORE

© 2025 EB Golf Media LLC. An 8AM Golf Affiliated Brand. All Rights Reserved. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy a linked product, GOLF.COM may earn a fee. Pricing may vary.

Go to mobile version