Cleaning up leaves etc. on a patio

June 3, 2020 12:38 PM

I have an interlock patio, that I am spending more time on these days. Neighbouring trees and a windy environment mean there are leaves, mulch and tree detritus everywhere, especially after a rain storm.

With chairs, tables and a BBQ, it is a tricky space to sweep. Also, sweeping interlock pavers themselves is a pain, as everything gets caught in the seems.

Hosing the patio down, directing all the leaves etc. to one side sort of works, but wastes water.

I'm considering a leaf blower (never had one... no lawn) How to you gather up what you've blown off ?

What works for you? There must be a better way!

posted by walkinginsunshine to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

Shop vac?
posted by impishoptimist at 12:49 PM on June 3, 2020

Consider an electric vacuum mulcher like this one.

Pros: it picks all the stuff up rather than blowing it around and shreds it up for mulching or disposal with less landfill space. It is quieter than a lot of blowers.

Cons: It is kind of awkward to wear/hold and you still need to sweep/rake the stuff into piles if you are trying to cover larger spaces -- i.e., you can't just walk around vacuuming like you are doing a rug, it would take forever. But, you could stick the vacuum part under furniture/small spaces and suck stuff up without sweeping/raking.

I've used on of these for years on my small yard.
posted by Mid at 12:53 PM on June 3, 2020

Push broom, large metal dust pan.
posted by SaltySalticid at 12:54 PM on June 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

A leaf blower works well, as long as there is an "away" you can blow them to, like nearby woods. If the patio is enclosed you are just going to blow them around, unless there is a variable setting on it so you can corral them into a pile. Then, some blowers are reversible so they can suck that pile into a bag for disposal. Something like this.
posted by beagle at 12:58 PM on June 3, 2020

I have a Worx blower/mulcher and it never works well enough on leaves for me to not get frustrated and use my rake instead. We use a corn broom for our deck and patio but a shop vac will work pretty well too, maybe even better.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:41 PM on June 3, 2020

I have pavers. A small electric pressure washer (example, not an endorsement) works great and uses very little water compared to blasting things with an open hose. That greenworks washer uses 1.2 gallons/minute and a typical garden hose is like 10-14 IIRC.

You can work close to the ground to get dirt out of crevices, or blast the surface from a higher stance to blow leaves and junk out of the way. You have a lot more control than a hose. And, I'll admit, they're fun to use. They have plenty of other uses.
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:47 PM on June 3, 2020

I use an Ego electric blower, and once you've gotten used to it you can use the blower itself to push leaves into a remarkably tidy pile without recourse to a broom/rake. The air stream spreads out in a fairly predictable way, so you can kinda use the edges of the blast to "sculpt" things pretty well.
posted by aramaic at 1:48 PM on June 3, 2020

I sweep everyday a porch with a tree that makes several kinds of messes. I have a two broom pack I use on for outdoors and one for indoors. Broom and a dustpan, use a leaf bag, fill it each day, and dump in in the garbage, use the bag again, to transport leaves to where they go. Those plastic brooms you can hose out, so they are sparkly clean again. I do that occasionally.
posted by Oyéah at 2:38 PM on June 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

Seconding shop vac. Something like this. One of the things that's great about them is that they can handle wet stuff.

I don't know anything about the one I linked above, it's just an example of one so you can read about them.
posted by mareli at 2:49 PM on June 3, 2020

I had the same situation. Sweeping with a broom was pointless since the tree droppings would get caught in the cracks between the pavers.

Electric leaf blower works great. Blow everything into a pile and snow shovel into an organic material bin (my city picks up yard waste) and the patio is clear in 5 minutes.
posted by mygoditsbob at 4:49 AM on June 4, 2020