With the battery attached, the blower weighs in at a hefty 9.6 pounds. The only drawback to its design is the size of the battery. The design is streamlined and well thought out. The motor is located in the middle of the blower, and is well protected from pant legs and windbreakers. With the battery attached, the Ego LB7654 is very well balanced. It's all the power you need to take care of a large yard. The Thrust power button proved most effective at clearing out large, embedded piles of leaves, but that same power can also eliminate most of your mulch if you're not careful. Most of our tests were conducted on the low setting, as there is plenty of power to accomplish a variety of yard jobs. The speed control button has a tab that makes one-handed operation easy. It has an intuitive design, with buttons placed where the hand naturally falls. This battery-powered leaf blower can move 765 cubic feet of air per minute and you can feel it as soon as you hit the Thrust button. Fewer seeds now, fewer weeds next year.If you need a cordless blower to access the back corners of your yard, the Ego Power+ LB7654 is your best bet. ? Weed! Besides cleaning up around diseased plants, this is a giant “must.” Even if you can’t weed, exactly, deadhead your weeds now and discard the seeds.
The wirecutter leaf blower how to#
How to stash non-hardy plants is at this link (with some extra details below, in the “overwintering tender plants” section). More tricks on weather-proofing and overwintering pots are in this story, with Ken Druse. ? Protect or store weather-vulnerable pots and the tender plants in them: At a minimum, move pots under cover, where they will dry off (to minimize heave/thaw effects of weather).
Topdress with a half- or three-quarter-inch layer of compost onto thin or trampled areas. Here’s why that’s smart (hint: it helps prevent weeds later). ? Late-season lawncare: Do your heavy raking now-not in spring-and overseed if there’s still time where you live. Again, though: leave as many leaves in place as you can. Once crumbly after aging in a heap, they make great mulch, or can be turned into beds to add organic matter. ? With the leaves you do need to rake up, start a leaves-only compost pile. ? Stabilize woody plants: Identify any vulnerable limbs, removing broken or dead branches now to make sure winter weather doesn’t worsen things. ? Remove sickly things first. Destroy the debris to minimize next year’s issues with squash bugs, cabbage worms, and other pests and diseases. (If you also put up bird feeders in fall and winter, here are my basic tips for that.) Don’t act as if you’re vacuuming the living room clean up beds tactically for maximum enjoyment by you and the birds. ? Leave especially ornamental or wildlife-friendly plants standing. How and why to back off too-tidy cleanup, from Doug Tallamy, author of “Nature’s Best Hope.” (available at the Altadena Main Library) I don’t rake the looser outer beds at my place, or mow down my meadow till sometime next May, for example. Leaf litter is prime habitat for many important creatures that can help us with pollination and pest control as adults next year. ? Identify some areas that can be left “messy,” particularly fallen leaves left in place under native trees and even a brush pile–to act as essential habitat for overwintering beneficials, from moths and butterflies to spiders and more. (Lifted from Margaret at A Way to Garden )