The Drew&Cole Leaf Chief, a manual leaf collector that operates without electricity, is now available for £68.40 on Yimbly during its Black Friday sale, down from £99.99, with discount code AUTUMN10 taking an additional 10% off.
In a review, the gadget was tested in a garden with trees overhanging both sides of a narrow plot, where clearing leaves is a recurring autumn task. The task appeared to arrive earlier than usual this year after storm Boelo brought gusts reaching 85mph in certain areas of the country.
Why clearing leaves matters
According to advice from gardener Alan Titchmarsh, it is important to clear leaves from the lawn because they deny grass crucial light and air, which can trigger fungal diseases. Speaking on his YouTube channel earlier this month, he said: "The sooner you clear them up, the better it is for your garden."
The Leaf Chief is described as "a vacuum for your garden" that promises to "make quick work of fallen leaves". It operates manually by pushing it back and forth across the garden, rotating integrated plastic rakes and pulling leaves into a supplied 100L removable nylon collection bag. It has no operating costs compared to a conventional leaf blower.
Assembly and performance
The Leaf Chief requires some assembly, but it was operational within roughly 15 minutes of opening the box. The instruction manual was noted to have grainy and small images, and one of the screw sets appeared to be numbered wrongly.
In testing, the operation proved straightforward - simply push it back and forth across the lawn and watch it gather leaves. The handlebar height can be adjusted between several settings, which proved useful when alternating between the reviewer and a 6ft tall husband. One drawback noted was that pickup performance can struggle on uneven sections of lawn, potentially requiring experimentation with the collection head height settings.
Easy cleanup and final verdict
After just 10 minutes of use, the vast majority of leaves had been gathered, more than enough to prevent them from smothering the lawn over winter. The collection bag clips on and off smoothly, making it simple to empty into a garden waste bin or compost heap. The Leaf Chief also boasts an adjustable sweeping height, controlled via a straightforward dial.
The reviewer concluded that the Leaf Chief is a simple but effective design that does one job really well, and noted it uses no power, so users don't need to worry about adding to energy bills. The gadget is available on Yimbly, an online marketplace owned by Reach plc, for £68.40 with code AUTUMN10 during the Black Friday sale.
