Rakes

Rakes are an essential tool for working in the garden, and for lawn maintenance. A rake is a long-handled tool with a row of teeth, or tines, at the end. Most modern rakes have steel, plastic, or bamboo teeth and a handle of either wood or metal. The history of the word rake is that of the Old English word raca, cognate with the Dutch word raak, and the German word rechen, from a root meaning "to scrape together," or "heap up." This is a fitting etymology for the word since it is used in lawn maintenance for the collection of leaves, cut grass, and other debris ("scraped together"), and in gardening, for loosening the soil, light weeding and leveling ("heaping up").

Raking leaves is an important part of lawn maintenance. Leaf removal will improve the appearance of your lawn, and prevent messy wet leaves from being tracked into your home or vehicles. Removing leaves will be easier if they are mounded together, making it easier to pick up. A leaf rake is most useful for this chore. Leaf rakes are typically constructed with a wooden handle and a fanning set of tines made of metal or plastic. Leaf raking can be a fun chore, if looked at as healthy exercise and a way to enjoy the lovely fall weather. To successfully rake the leaves, you will probably need a leaf rake and leaf bags to collect the leaves for disposal. Some cities and municipalities will haul off your bags of leaves if left on the curb on certain collection days. It may also be useful to save your collected leaves for composting.

For collecting grass trimmings, a lawn rake will suffice. One possible solution for collecting grass trimmings would be a small rake, or even a bamboo rake, since these would be lightweight and easy to manage. Grass cuttings may also be saved for composting. For your lawn rake needs, a 48 inch lawn rake may be just the tool.

Garden rakes are often heavier duty and of more sturdy construction than lawn or leaf rakes. Rather than the closely bunched, fanning tines of a leaf rake, a garden rake will typically have a head of short, wide steel teeth spaced apart for more aggressive tasks such as weeding, leveling soil, or spreading soil, mulch or even rock in and around your garden. That being said, it is still not unheard of to use plastic garden rakes if they will meet your individual gardening needs.