Leaf Blowers and Garden Vacuums 

Garden vacuums are effective addition to your garden toolbox, sucking up any debris, mulching and compressing it, ready to be disposed of with your garden waste or left to decompose in a compost bin to make top quality leaf mould for next spring.

The recent cold snap has caused more leaves to fall, in volume. As soon as you sweep or blow the garden clean you then must deal with another enormous pile of leaves. 

Raking leaves can be back-breaking and tiresome so consider a garden vacuum to help you clear up in an instant. They are powerful, quiet, and stress-free!

Garden vacuums are an effective addition to your garden toolbox, sucking up any debris, mulching and compressing it, ready to be disposed of with your garden waste or left to decompose in a compost bin to make top-quality leaf mould for next spring.

Modern models are lightweight and effortlessly clean up leaves, dust, and cuttings.

Here at Mowers Online our range includes garden blowers & garden vacuums from leading brands AL-KO, Echo, Greenworks, ECO, Cobra, Stihl and more. Whether your needs are for home or commercial use you’re sure to find the right garden or leaf blower for you here.

Some models also double as a leaf blower, meaning you can automate the lawn care process with one efficient machine.

How to choose the best garden vacuum for you

The garden vacuum isn’t overly complex and is just a tube attached to a big impeller (fan), with a bag attached underneath. The impeller sucks in the leaves and debris, breaks it down into mulch and deposits it in the bag. Therefore, the prices are very reasonable.

Do I need a garden vacuum or a leaf blower?

Why not have both? Because a garden vacuum works a lot like a leaf blower running in reverse, most models are either dual-purpose or convertible, allowing you to blow leaves or suck them up with a flick of a switch or a quick refit or removal of the tubes and bag. 

You can round up your leaves into a pile, then suck the pile up for easy disposal. Pure garden blowers tend to be a little smaller and lighter, but we’d say the dual-use models are worth the extra size and weight to complete the task.

Choice of power

While garden vacuums are straightforward devices, the question is how they are powered. Mains-powered machines are reliable and powerful but involve dragging an extension cord around and are not ideal for large spaces.
Battery models don’t have that drawback, but if the leaves are wet and heavy you will need a decent battery capacity for a lengthier job.

Many manufacturers also produce a backpack-style model for ease of carry and operation.

Professional gardeners like the Stihl BR 450 C-EF Petrol Backpack Blower which is worn comfortably and safely on your back at £594.00.

Petrol models are a good alternative and carry some great features.

The Stihl BGE71 Electric Hand Held Garden Blower is suited to domestic applications, is lightweight and reasonably priced at £126. Visit https://www.stihl.co.uk/en for more Stihl product information.

Combining both leaf blower and garden vacuum, the Mountfield MVS 20Li Freedom 100 Series Cordless Blower / Vac Kit is keenly priced at £169.00. For more Mountfield product information you can also visit: https://www.mountfieldlawnmowers.co.uk

Another popular and cost-effective blower is the EGO Power + LB5301E Cordless Leaf Blower which comes bundled with battery and charger, on offer at £249.00.

For larger gardens and public spaces, the Billy Goat models are push or self-propelled and operate like lawnmowers where you walk behind, removing the strain. The Billy Goat LB352 Wheeled Push Vacuum comes with a starter kit and costs £1099.

The ingenious design even allows you to pick leaves etc from gravel driveways without vacuuming up the gravel. The debris passes through the fan and is shredded into fine particles, which reduces volume and creates a mulch which can be more readily converted into compost. All collected material can be emptied easily and quickly by simply opening the large zip.

See the wide choice of leaf blowers and vacuums from leading brands to suit all budgets and garden sizes,

Top garden vacuum tips

Another important factor is the type and capacity of the bag and how easy it is to convert the machine from blower to vacuum mode. 

Most garden vacuums use a simple bag to store leaves and debris, with a zip to open it up before releasing the load into the bin. Check that the bag is fit for purpose allowing the mulched, often wet leaves to easily empty.

Some models have a switch that flips between blower and vacuum, but in other cases, you’ll need to remove and reattach tubes, bags and handles when you want to change. This tends to make the device more effective in each mode so worth the change.

Comfortable handles, carrying straps and a low and well-distributed weight are all worthwhile features as the machine can be big and heavy.

Masses of wet leaves are heavy and hard to shift and clog the nozzle making harder work for your vacuum, so it’s sometimes worth leaving it a few days if you’ve had a lot of rain so the leaves and debris dry.

If you use the blower function to blow your leaves and debris into piles on a gravel path or driveway, blow them away from the gravel before you suck them up. 

From Mowers-Online