Shrub bed cleaning

[djsmokin]

Any good ways of removing leaves from BARK covered shrub and flower beds? Can't blow the leaves out without blowing out the bark. Thanks for your help. Dj

[leeslawncare]

get yourself a shrub rake.they fit in tight places.

[greenman]

I always blow em out. Yes, some bark will blow out. Just depends on the kind of bark. If its the worthless pine bark, then most of it will blow out. If it was hardwood mulch and not bark then very little would blow out. This is the time of the year to mulch anyway. Just replace the mulch. Rake? Whats that?;) A bad word?

[djsmokin]

Thanks guys. I was scared you were going to say a 4-letter word like rake.

[jocko1104]

I have a hard time using a rake in my own yard!

[Gravely_Man]

I hate to use the "rake" but sometimes you have to. I have tried the blower just above idle and that will sometimes get most of the stuff out of the beds for you.

Gravely_Man

[Premo Services]

Originally posted by djsmokin
Any good ways of removing leaves from BARK covered shrub and flower beds? Can't blow the leaves out without blowing out the bark. Thanks for your help. Dj

I have a condo that had it in their landscaped areas. It was a real PITA!!!!!:angry:
I used a hand held echo blower-vac. It did a pretty good job, you just couldn't get it down in the bark too much. Because it would clog up the impellers. I talked them into hardwood mulch. Now it is a breeze, just blow out the beds. ;)

[darryl gesner]

I would blow what I can with the backpack blower and then vac the rest with my Echo shredder vac (I'd buy a different brand next time). I have one account that is all beds with cedar bark mulch, absolutely zero turf, and that's how I do it. It's tough if the much is fresh, but it stays put pretty well once it sits for a while. For wet matted leaves I might break out the rake.

Here's my PITA account. The shredder vac works great here, especially in the pachysandra and corners.

[djsmokin]

Thanks for your help guys. Got a question about the blower vac. What brand you think is the best? I have mix of echo and stihl equipment. So far get along great with both. My blower is the Echo PB650 and even at idle it blows the bark out everywhere.

Premo Services.....I am an old Missouri born and raised guy. Used to live in Warrensburg, Sedalia and Lake St. Louis. The sky is crying here this last week. Old Stevie Ray fan too. Nice meeting ya.

Darryl....glad that is your PITA account and not mine. HA.

[extracash]

I agree with one of the previous posts! If you blow the leaves with the blower at or nearly at the idle speed, then you should not have a problem.

Good luck!

[Hud]

I've blown a hole in the bottom of my Echo Shred-N-Vac two times vacuuming leaves from hard, chunk mulch. A chunk gets lodged/bashed between the impeller and the plastic housing knocking a hole in the plastic.

Two times? Yes, I thought the first time was just a fluke. After repairing that hole, I went back, and immediately blew a second hole in it. I learned my lesson. Thank goodness for J-B Weld.

I use an Echo hand held blower to do those jobs now.