Is the leaf blower the laziest invention ever . . .

[BalloonSlayer]

Or is there something else that's even lazier which I have never seen?

There are two gardeners in the block of flats up the road, blowing all the leaves off the astroturf-green weeny lawn of the communal garden into the street. Then giving them a final blast so that they really fly off and don't come back.

They they will probably come to roost in my front garden, which doesn't bother me all that much as every other leaf, crisp packet and fag end does also, and of course we have our own leaves waiting to fall.

It dawned on me that if I had my own leaf blower, I could launch a counter-attack, blowing back all the leaves they have blown at me, whilst shrilling: "Get a rake and a broom for fucks sake: you are supposed to be gardeners, not blowers!"

If other people in the street cared to join in we could have a battle.

I am starting to like the sound of this. How much are leaf blowers anyway?

But really, is there anything lazier than not being arsed to pick up your own leaves and blowing them into other people's gardens for them to deal with?

[claricebeansmum]

I don't get lead blowers either. They just blow back.

We have a leaf sucker - sucks up the leaves which can then be disposed of.

[cheeseandeyeballsarnie]

but on the other hand they keep my ds2 amused for hours.i heart the leaf blowing man.

[StretchStinkyandFatso]

Every friday, a man from the council comes to blow all our leaves away...! He looks soooo bored!

Leaf sucker sounds better!

[Morloth]

Leaf suckers are excellent and make perfect sense, leaf blowers are just bloody stupid.

[Chickenshavenolips]

Sorry, slight hijack, but do you reckon a leaf sucker/blower would be able to clean up feathers? My hens are moulting, and we're trying to sell the house.

[Sassybeast]

Dh bought a leafblower. I refused to let him use it for EXACTLY that reason.

[BalloonSlayer]

Don't leaf suckers suck up little critters and kill them?

[Callisto]

Leaf suckers and leaf blowers are both for lazy people, though the blowers are completely ridiculous. Get a leaf rake and make some leaf mould compost.

[Morloth]

Dunno BalloonSlayer the ones I have used didn't seem to have enough suction to pick up an animal, bugs though for sure. We have a fab one at home, that sucks them up and mulches it and pops it straight into the wheelbarrow ready for distribution as mulch.

[echt]

Sweet Jesus - come to Oz for the leaf blowers. Because most trees aren't deciduous, they shed all the time and the lazy feckers are out every five minutes, tidying up. The they want to cut the trees down because they're untidy. And drop leaves. And are full of possums which are full of possum shit.

And breathe.

[madamearcati]

We have a leaf sucker that sucks them up and then chews them all up for mulch.
I really don't get the pointo of blowing leaves from one place to another.

[andirobobo]

The only leaf blowers I have seen round here are the council - blow them into the road and then the street sweeper machine comes along and brushes them up. That all makes sense!

Domestic leaf blowing - no point at all as you will end up blowing them away just for them to blow back with the wind!! Utterly pointless!

[CowWatcher]

I guess it depends on the volume of leaves and what you do with them after you've blown them. IYSWIM. We blow ours into a pile in front of the garage door, then collect them up & compost them. If you blow them onto someone else's land, that's just littering.

[BalloonSlayer]

I wouldn't try a leaf blower with your chook feathers Chickenshavenolips.

I keep imagining bizarre scenarios where someone who has had the misfortune to tip, say, a large jar of golden syrup over themself happens to walk past as you are going about your task.

[GrimmaTheNome]

Up till this year DD and I have had the job of leaf-raking as it buggers DHs back. This year he's bought a leaf blower/sucker/shredder (don't know why, I didn't mind leaf raking).

I'm not sure why it needs to blow... but anyway, the procedure seems to be blow leaves into pile on lawn for DD to jump in/get tipped out of the wheelbarrow into, and then the leaves get sucked, shredded and rotted/used as mulch.

Blowing your leaves off your property is stupid and antisocial.

[brightongirldownunder]

Echt - so true!!!
There is a strange obsession with the blower variety in Sydney. On a Sunday all the men are in their gardens blowing the leaves around for hours. This horrific din can last the whole day. Luckily DH is bloody useless at anything to do with anything so I have no worries there.

Our nextdoor neighbours pay a man to blow their leaves of their tiny patio twice a week .

I caught the guy opposite blowing about 5 leaves off his car with it the other day. It would have been easier to have picked them off one by one, especially as they were getting caught in the windscreen wipers. Maybe its some weird fetish.....

[BalloonSlayer]

My sister lives in Australia and a few years ago (prob before leaf blowers were all the rage) there was an outcry about the introduction of water meters.

My sister, (tight-arse extraordinaire BTW, Scrooge would take her correspondence course) was scathing about the complainers. She said that many people would clear leaves away with water rather than sweep them away. They would come out at the weekend with their high pressure hoses and blast their driveways clean instead of using a broom.

I guess the water meters bit them all on the arse and they went out and got leaf blowers. Funny as I would not put Aussies as a lazy nationality in other ways. Try finding a ready meal in an Australian supermarket, for example - it's thin pickings.

[ABatDead]

They are only lazy if they are used to blow the leaves away into the street. Saw someone doing yesterday.

I have one and it is my favourite gardening tool. Blowing all the leaves into a pile then gathering them up into a bin or compost heap is so much easier than raking.

[southeastastra]

if the leaves are gathered up thats great but i have seen so many people just blowing them into the road then leaving them there. dangerous

[ABatDead]

Sassybeast - I do feel sorry for your DH.

If you let him use it you will make him ever so happy. Its a gadget, noisy and pointless but if DW banned me from using mine I think I might feel deprived.

Really looking forward to having a bit of a blow in the next few weeks once the leaves have all fallen off. I agree, through there is absolutely no point in doing it before then though.

[claw3]

Escalator are pretty lazy, not sure if they beat leaf blowers though.

[Morloth]

Leaf suckers are strangely satisfying, it is like vacuuming outside, for some bizarre reason this is fun, while vacuuming inside isn't.

I think Australians are lazy, I am, and pretty much everyone I know is - why do it the hard way when there is an easier option available? Why work at something longer than necessary when you can get it done quick and bunk off? Lack of ready meals doesn't signify not being lazy, just means we like to eat the good stuff. Throwing a steak in a pan and washing a lettuce requires pretty much zero effort . I don't actually consider laziness a vice!

Using the hose to clear leaves is just criminal though, water is such a huge concern. Sunday morning mowing time is nice though, I love the way it smells and you have to mow in the morning because it is going to be too hot to do it by 10am.

echt don't get me started on those jokers who buy houses on the LEAFY North Shore and then complain about the trees blocking their feckin' view. the trees are the view!

[carocaro]

I don't get the blowing leaves thing either, I like to just leave this, is au naturelle nature FFS, I know this really annoys my neighbour as their garden is so tidy and neat, all the plans are tip top smart and stand to attention. They are a retired couple with a camper van and I have two young children!

[ImSoNotTelling]

Oooh I glared at someone up the road earlier. They were blowing all the leaves from their path onto the pavement (which is what everyone does round here ). But the main reason you get rid of leaves is in the damp they get very slippy and a bit dangerous for old people/doddery people etc.

So he's blowing them off his path, which has hardly any traffic, and onto the pavement, where all the old people are having to skid around. What a selfish twat.

Plus who the fuck does he expect to some and clear them off the pavement? What happened to social responsibility?

Makes me seethe...

[ImSoNotTelling]

Conversely the other day I helped an exremely elderly lady round the corner who had swept up the leaves on the pavement and was painstakingly putting them all in her green bin.

Presumably only for some total nobber to then come and blow another load over her bit of pavement.

I'm all riled now.