If you have a lot of pine trees in your yard, you’re probably sick and tired of having to painstakingly remove pine needles from your lawn every fall.
Thankfully, there are plenty of easy and ingenious ways to get those pine needles off your grass–and fast!
Here are seven of our favorite ways to scoop up those needles with ease.
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Pine Straw Rakes
While simply raking up all those pine needles might not sound particularly easy or fast at first, there is a type of rake designed perfectly for thin debris like pine needles.
If you have a riding mower, a tractor, or an ATV, a large pine straw rake is an awesome choice to make quick work of those piles and piles of pine needles strewn all across your lawn.
Pine straw rakes are generally meant to be pulled behind a vehicle like a tractor or riding mower.
They have uniquely shaped heads with very narrow spaces between the tines, making them perfect for gathering very small or thin leaves, pine needles, straw, and other plant material, which other rakes will pass over and miss.
They’re also great for extensive yards, as most pine straw rakes are very wide and meant to cover much of the ground in one sweep.
Don’t rush to chop down the huge pine tree in your yard just yet–opt for one of these instead!
For example, this Field Tuff Pine Straw Rake is a whopping 60″ inches wide and can be towed behind your tractor or riding mower easily.
It’s made of durable steel and has powder-coat paint to prevent it from rusting over time, so you know it’s a worthwhile purchase.
It’s a bit of an investment, to be sure, but it’s worth it if it saves you hours of tedious raking by hand!
Don’t have a riding mower or an ATV?
Opt instead for something like Midwest’s 24″-Inch Aluminum Landscape Rake.
It’s designed very similarly to the Field Tuff rake mentioned above with the narrow spaces between its tines, but it’s intended to be used by hand.
If you have a smaller yard, a handheld rake like this one is best for easier control and getting up pine needles covering smaller spaces.
Leaf Bagger
Another great option for folks with riding mowers is simply using a leaf bagger to scoop up those pesky pine needles.
While you’d think most leaf baggers only work on large debris like leaves and twigs, most are designed to pick up even smaller objects like pine needles with just as much ease.
If you want to make quick and easy work of the pine needles and debris in your yard, we highly recommend something like TerraKing’s Leaf Bag.
Notably, it’s available in four different sizes and price points to suit yards and wallets of various sizes, and it’s made of durable nylon and polyester, so it won’t wear out after just a few uses.
The abrasion-resistant fabric won’t tear or snag on any sharp branches or thorns it happens to come across, and the material simultaneously promotes airflow, meaning you won’t be covered with dust when you empty the bag later.
Plus, with its corded locking mechanism, you’ll be sure the bag will stay secured on your mower for as long as you need it to.
This mechanism is also what makes it so easy to empty when you’re finished; simply unlock it, remove the bag, and dump the piles of needles, leaves, and other debris wherever you’d like.
Hand Rakes/Leaf Scoops
If your yard is relatively small and/or you just don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a device you’ll only use a few times per year, perhaps some simple hand rakes (also sometimes known as leaf scoops) and a collapsible bin would do the trick!
Hand rakes are exactly what it says on the tin, so to speak; they’re merely small, yet wide scoop-like rakes designed for you to hold one in each hand and go to town on whatever leaves (or, in this case, pine needles) are covering your lawn.
Many hand rakes come with bags or collapsible bins, such as these from Sleek Garden.
Their bins are available in two different sizes: 30 and 45 gallons, so you’ll be able to choose the one which suits your yard best.
Sure, this method requires a bit more elbow grease, but it’s super inexpensive, saves plenty of space, and is convenient to use in a pinch!
We love how Sleek Garden’s bins are collapsible because it makes the product so much easier to store if you have a limited amount of space or don’t have a huge shed to keep your garden tools.
The bin even has drainage holes, so you won’t need to worry about water sloshing around in it if you’re using it on a wet day, and it has a latch to secure it shut for storage, too!
Hand rakes, in general, are already great for small spaces, and Sleek Garden’s collapsible bins make their product a cut above the rest.
Use their hand rakes on pine needles, leaves, and even heavier debris like stones and branches!
Leaf Vacuum
Regardless of the size of your yard, leaf vacuums are an excellent choice for getting up all the hard-to-reach debris like leaves and pine needles from your lawn.
They’re one of the more efficient methods for lawn cleanup, thanks to how lightweight and easy they are to use.
Price-wise, they’re a good middle ground between more costly devices like the aforementioned tow-behind pine straw rakes and leaf baggers and more basic tools like simple handheld rakes.
In terms of labor required, leaf vacuums are also right in the middle, as you’ll need to do a bit of walking, but you won’t necessarily have to get on your hands and knees and scoop the debris manually.
Leaf vacuums come in various sizes and capacities and often have multiple functions, such as those with added blowers or mulchers.
We love BLACK + DECKER’s 3-in-1 Electric Leaf Blower, Leaf Vacuum, & Mulcher, as it combines three useful tools into one lightweight and easy-to-use device.
Additionally, BLACK + DECKER’s 3-in-1 tool comes with several optional add-ons you’re able to choose from, such as safety glasses, a gutter cleaner attachment, and a leaf collection system.
If you don’t need any of those add-ons, though, you’re free to simply select the basic blower/vacuum!
The basic vacuum is more than enough for clearing debris like pine needles with its powerful airflow and huge bag capacity.
While the BLACK + DECKER leaf vacuum is a corded electric device, other options, such as gas-powered leaf vacuums, aren’t restricted to a cord.
Gas-powered vacuums are great for larger yards where you don’t want to carry a cord with you wherever you go.
Push Lawn Sweepers
There are two main types of lawn sweepers: manual push-behind sweepers and tow-behind sweepers designed to be attached to a riding mower or four-wheeler.
Push-behind lawn sweepers are operated similarly to a standing mower: just stand behind it and push the device over whatever debris you want to pick up!
Push lawn sweepers are another good option if you have a smaller yard, are on a budget, and/or simply aren’t interested in something too elaborate when it comes to getting those pine needles off your grass.
Their design is quite simple: a couple of wheels with attached brushes feed debris into a large hopper bag on the back.
At first glance, many push sweepers look a bit like a push mower, and they function somewhat similarly, too!
In addition to scooping up pine needles, a push sweeper will also grab leaves, twigs, and even heavier, denser debris like small stones and pebbles with ease.
If you’re considering a push sweeper to eradicate the pine needles coating your lawn, we recommend something like Agri-Fab’s 26″-Inch Push Lawn Sweeper.
It’s reasonably priced compared to some of the more elaborate lawn care tools on this list, and you have the option of selecting add-ons like a corded dethatcher and a leaf mulcher if you’re willing to spend a bit more on achieving a healthy lawn.
Agri-Fab’s push sweeper is lightweight, just wide enough to pick up debris without being too unwieldy to use, and its brushes have adjustable height settings.
Are you having trouble scooping up certain debris?
Just adjust the height of the brushes and get back to work!
When you’re done, the hopper bag detaches easily, so you’ll be able to empty it in seconds.
Don’t fret if you have limited storage options, as the hopper bag on this sweeper is collapsible.
Even if you don’t have a dedicated tool shed or a huge garage to store it in, this push sweeper won’t take up much space when you aren’t using it.
Tow-Behind Lawn Sweepers
Like the manual push lawn sweeper mentioned above, tow-behind lawn sweepers function in basically the same way with a few key differences when it comes to how you operate them.
Instead of standing behind a tow-behind sweeper, you just hitch it up to your tractor or riding mower and drive it over any debris you want to pick up.
The brushes will rotate as the sweeper gets pulled behind your tractor, in turn scooping up even the most hard-to-reach debris, such as the unsightly blanket of needles coating your lawn.
These sweepers are a bit more costly than a manual push sweeper, but they save a lot of time if you have a large yard or just don’t want to push the device yourself.
They also tend to be much wider than push sweepers, so they cover a lot more ground in a single sweep.
There are plenty of great tow-behind lawn sweepers on the market.
Still, we had to go with Agri-Fab once again for our recommendation here. Agri-Fab’s 44″-Inch Lawn Sweeper is certainly one of the more pricey options out there.
What it lacks in affordability, it more than makes up for in ease of use, convenience, and quality.
This sweeper is almost twice as wide as the push sweeper we mentioned previously, so you’ll be able to make quick work of even large yards with lots and lots of debris (in this case, pine needles) to pick up.
It has a lever to adjust the height of its four brushes just in case you have any issues with getting up very small and fine debris, and it also has a dump lever to make emptying the hopper bag simpler than ever.
Overall, tow-behind lawn sweepers are one of the best ways to clean up a yard full of dead leaves, pine needles, twigs, and more, and Agri-Fab has you covered if you opt for one of these unique and easy-to-use devices.
It’s a worthwhile investment and an ideal tool if you want yard work to be a simple one-and-done task rather than a tedious weeklong project.
The Amazing Rake/Telescoping Rakes
To finish off our list, we had to include another surprisingly high-quality budget option for those of you who aren’t ready to drop hundreds on yard tools.
With its telescoping handle, durable construction, and scoop-like head, The Amazing Rake completely revolutionizes the standard leaf rake.
This handy tool will pick up dry or wet pine needles as well as any other pesky debris in your yard, from wet leaves to dead grass to rocks and branches.
The scoops have finely-spaced tines on end to pick up just about anything, and you won’t have to bend over constantly or push a heavy device for hours on end.
It’s inexpensive, but it sure isn’t cheap; it’s rust-resistant and won’t break easily under pressure.
Sure, telescoping rakes, in general, are a great option for picking up pine needles and other debris, but The Amazing Rake takes this type of product to a whole new level of convenience.
It’s tough yet lightweight and has a comfortable, adjustable handle to suit your height, partner’s, or even your kids’, depending on whose turn it is to do yard work.
Plus, it comes in a range of bright, fun colors and is also suitable for shoveling snow or picking up dog poo.
Even when the seasons change, you’ll still be getting a lot of use out of The Amazing Rake!
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