Landscape rakes are a pretty handy piece of equipment with tons of different uses. If you’re a novice to gardening, you’ve probably just associated rakes to gathering leaves during the fall season. But, we’re here to tell you everything that this little piece of equipment can do. If you are looking for a good rake for leaves, check out our article here.
Spreading and Mixing Compost
Compost is an organic material used in gardening to improve the quality of the soil and, indirectly, the greenery that comes out of it. The enormous head of the rake can cover a large surface area at one time and spread these materials pretty easily while the rake digs deep into the surface of the soil to plant the compost and fix the soil back up once you are done. This process will also allow you to get rid of some of the stone and other filthy stuff from your garden and allow you to grow the best quality product your garden can produce.
Spreading Bark Chipping and Mulch
Spreading mulch like bark clippings can be quite a tedious task if you’re spreading it out manually. A tool like a rake can do a lot to chip down the work hours to a bare minimum. It lets you spread out all the mulch evenly across the surface due to the product’s light weight.
Midwest 10036 Aluminum Landscape Rake, 36-Inch , Blue
- Power Source Type: Wood
- Features long, rounded teeth provide a smooth, non gouging raking action, while its striking edge is excellent for grading
- It has a solid alumum plug in the head to handle connection; measures 66-inch length by 46-inch width by 4-inch height
Removing Pond Weed
This usage of a rake is a bit different from what every gardener might need but it’s still a great way to utilize this tool’s potential. Its gigantic head along you to pick up pondweed pretty easily. Not only that, but you can also use a rake to remove some garbage from your pond. There’s no need for a fancy leaf net if you have one of these lying around in the garage. One small thing to be careful of would be the material of your rake. If you have a wooden rake, it’s probably not the best idea to soak it in water as it could damage the rake and cause it to break within just a few days. If you’re looking to removing pondweed with your rakes, it’s advisable to get a rake with all metal parts.
Extreme Max 3005.4095 36" Commercial-Grade Screening Rake for Beach and Lawn Care with 66" Handle, Silver
- 36" rake head featuring both screening teeth and a grading edge
- 66" handle attached through wrap-around bracing for stability and durability
- Heavy-duty commercial-grade construction
- Tooth design traps debris, but leaves grass and sand behind
Free shipping
Gathering Leaves and Debris
This one you’re already familiar with but it’s still important to go over it quickly. Even though gathering leaves is one of the most common applications of rakes, it’s one of the more unproductive ones. For starters, if the leaves are wet, you’re not going to be doing many gatherings. Rakes only work with dry leaves and can’t do much to deal with the wet ones. Secondly, with some of the uses, we mentioned above, digging into the surface of the soil was a necessity. Not with this one, however. It’s difficult to control the rake and keep it from going in too deep. If you use it a bit more roughly than intended, you could end up damaging your soil unless you’re careful.
Leveling Soil
The front of the rake is resourceful, but the flat side has its fair share of benefits as well. It’s particularly helpful when you have to level the surface instead of digging into it. Leveling soil can prepare your garden for plantation and greatly reduce the working hours you’d have to spend otherwise.
Structron 12102 (LR36) 36" Head Landscape Rake, 66" Yellow Fiberglass Handle, Cushion Grip
- Heavy-duty aluminum head and wrap-around bracing
- 66" fiberglass handle with cushion grip
- Replacement handle available (#SA20400)
- Head size is 36"
- Made in USA
Dethatching Your Lawn
Thatch is like a layer of dead soil that sort of separates your seeds from nutritional content and water on the soil. To ensure healthy soil and produce, it’s important that you get rid of this dead layer and dethatch. There are specific tools for dethatching that would do a much better job than a rake, but if you don’t have a dethatcher at hand, a rake is a great alternative. Look for damage over the surface of your lawn and check where there is a dead layer of soil. In early spring, we highly recommend using a rake even if you have a dethatcher. There is barely any dead soil on the surface and using a dethatcher would rip out some new soil as well. If you have to dethatch a larger surface area, things can become pretty difficult as a rake won’t be as fast as some of the tools made specifically for this task.
Closing Thoughts
There are not many tools as multipurpose as a rake. It’s an incredible tool and it’s something every gardener’s shed should have. If you’re planning on growing some greenery in your garden, you need to get a rake to help you out.
