Spring Has Sprung, Bring On The Tools

Wow I can't tell you how excited I am that it's springtime finally. Well it may not be spring officially on the calendar but the weather has changed and I was able to get outside and get some fresh air and work in the yard. Hallelujah. I don't think that it has escaped anyone's attention that I am a bit of a tool fanatic. So today I'm going to share with you one of my new favorite tools. It is an Agrifab Manual Lawn Sweeper, and as the name suggest it is fabulous.

 I begged the hubs for a lawn sweeper because there are two solid rows of pine trees down the side of the back yard, as well as on both sides of my corner lot, and one in the front yard. And if that alone weren't enough to warrant a happy dance at the purchase of the lawn sweeper, in addition to the pine trees, there are two large live oak trees in the front yard.

For the last several years I have done everything I can to make picking up pine needles and oak leaves as easy and efficient as possible, electric blower, gas blower, cordless blower, but this tool makes all those years seem futile. Two of the three blowers are pictured here.

We first considered a lawn sweeper to pull behind the riding lawnmower, the one I mentioned here. However, with the size of the riding lawnmower and the size of a lawn sweeper it just seemed as though it was not something that we could maneuver in the yard and around the obstacles.

After much searching on the internet, reading reviews and comparing prices I finally decided on the Agrifab.  Through the magic of Amazon Prime and a fantastic deal I soon had my very own Agrifab lawn sweeper. I couldn’t wait to put it together the moment it arrived.  After the kids went to bed I assembled it in my living room, where it sat until the weekend. Then first thing Saturday morning I took it out to the back yard and told my husband I was only going to try it out and that I would be right back in.


Fast forward 40 minutes and the entire back yard was done and a giant pile of pine needles neatly piled and waiting to be bagged.  I know my neighbors must have thought I was crazy, picking up pine needles in my PJ’s, with my hair all crazy, pacing back and forth with my new toy. I even sent a Facebook post to my Mother to show her how clean it was. 

This past weekend I used it to clean oak leaves in the front yard. You can see what a great job it does for the amount of leaves these trees can drop.   

After each pass with the sweeper on the oak leaves in the front yard, there is a noticeable difference. If you like to remove every single leaf then this is not for you, but if you don’t mind mulching a leaf or two in the grass then you will for sure appreciate the job that this tool does. 

Now after I have all the leaves corralled, how do I make light work of the bagging you ask? Two other favorites I have to mention.  First my leaf scoops, these things make a regular appearance for yard clean up, because they pick up so much and I don’t need to wear gloves. It is like having an extra pair of hands.

Mine are bright green, they are laying here next to the rake that I use to keep my pile nice and together. 

And last, but certainly not least, a tool I borrowed from my neighbor for months before buying two of my own, the Bag Butler. Before I married the hubs I did yard work alone, and this handy tool made it possible to bag easily without someone to hold open the bags. 

So there you have it, my tool tip for the day.  The Agrifab is something I use year round, pine needles in the fall and leaves in the spring.  It is a good investment in my book.  Come back soon to see all the projects I managed to squeeze into this sunny weekend we had.  I can’t wait to share.