Confessions of a serial leaf stealer: the garden gadget that actually made tidying fun

I love the colours in the trees at this time of year, but I know the joy won’t last. That beautiful kaleidoscope will drop to the ground and create a mulchy brown carpet. While wonderful for soil and many of the creatures that thrive as a result, leaves often need clearing up from our lawns, drives and pavements.

Many of us will reach for rakes and leaf grabbers – tried and tested tools that remain perfectly sufficient for the job for most people. However, for those of you with a larger garden, deciduous trees or a growing disinclination for thankless, laborious jobs (as I do as I get older), I’ve tested a selection of electric leaf blowers and garden vacuums designed to reduce the physical load.

A lack of leaves

The trouble is, you can’t produce a test like this overnight. I contacted the first supplier in August, gathering review samples over the late summer. In the end, I had 10 leaf blowers ready to test, but one serious hurdle – the leaves were still on the trees.

I lined up contingency plans. I slowly gathered hedge trimmings, until someone tidied the bags I’d been hoarding and took them to the recycling centre. I gave our bay trees a serious haircut, which smelled amazing, but it didn’t yield many leaves. I was on the verge of raiding my local woods for anything left of last year’s fall. But then the horse chestnut trees on a neighbouring street gave up after the dry summer and started ditching their leaves. I’m a little worried for them – they dropped long before the other trees even started changing colour – but it didn’t stop me gleefully filling a couple of bulk bags, dragging them back to my house and tipping them on to my lawn.

Blowing up a storm

The ‘satisfying’ testing setup. Photograph: Andy Shaw/The Guardian

From then on, the testing ran smoothly. I timed the battery life, and ensured a decent air speed of at least 45mph, using the anemometer I have to measure the airflow through vacuum cleaners.

It was the leaf-blowing tests I enjoyed the most, though. For each blower, I tipped a 14-litre bucket full of leaves in front of a marker, then had to dig deep into my reserves of self-control not to kick the pile around the garden. Instead, I cranked up the power of the blower I was testing and blasted a hole into the middle of the leaf pile. It wasn’t quite as satisfying as redistributing piles of leaves with my feet, but it came a very close second.

I measured how far leaves travelled and how big a hole was created, to get an idea of the overall power and the working area of each one. My favourite blower, the Milwaukee M18 Fuel Blower FBLG3-802, sent leaves an impressive distance, despite being light and easy to carry around. For smaller jobs, the svelte Bosch Universal leaf blower 18V-130 would do well – with a much narrower working angle for focused, targeted blowing.

After all this, I had leaves all over the place. Thankfully, half of the blowers I tested were also garden vacuums (the Stihl SHA 56 proved particularly efficient at sucking up leaves). Testing and tidying up at the same time? It’s a reviewer’s dream come true.

This week’s picks

• The best beard trimmers to groom in comfort and style, tested

• The 10 best e-readers in the UK, from Kindle to Kobo and beyond – tried and tested

• To wash or not to wash? How to look after your knitwear

• The best beauty Advent calendars in 2025: 13 favourites for a festive glow-up, tested by our expert

• ‘Two pairs aren’t enough’: the things our Filter experts swear by when they’re off duty

• The best dehumidifiers: 14 favourites to beat damp and cut bills, tested

Editor’s pick

Gently does it: a sunrise alarm clock can help provide a more sensitive start to autumn and winter mornings.

The clocks changing can wreak havoc on our sleep, and the colder winter mornings make it harder than ever to get out of bed. So, how do you make your mornings brighter and easier? We’ve rounded up the best recommendations from our readers and our own testing, whether that’s a gentler alarm clock or an eye mask to block out that troublesome hour of extra morning light.

If your mornings mostly revolve around breakfast, we’ve tested the best supermarket bacon (plus eggs and baked beans, if you’re a vegetarian like me). And when nothing but coffee will do, one of our favourite cafetières is bound to help. Rise and shine!

Monica Horridge
Deputy editor, the Filter

In case you missed it …

Seasonal reset: a cold-weather-specific beauty product may give your skin and hair a boost. Photograph: Kellie French/The Guardian

Winter can also be rough on our skin and hair. “It’s common to find that a hitherto favourite skin, body, hair or makeup product isn’t keeping you as comfy as it should come winter,” wrote Sali Hughes. Her guide to winter beauty has tried, tested and affordable suggestions for every beauty gripe (and if it’s chapped lips that are bothering you, we also have a roundup of the best lip balms).

Get involved

Rest assured? Let us know the sleep tips that have worked for you. Photograph: Getty Images

How do you drop off to sleep? What tips and tricks help take you to the land of nod – and stay there? What products have improved the quality of your shut-eye, and what’s been a waste of money? Let us know by replying to this newsletter or emailing us at [email protected].