The Best Way to Bag Leaves: 10 Tried-and-True Tips

Ready to bag those autumn leaves? The right techniques and supplies can save you a lot of time and effort. Learn the best way to bag leaves by following these 10 practical tips.

1. Wait Until Trees Are Mostly Bare

If you already know you’ll be bagging and removing the leaves on your lawn, save yourself the hassle of doing the job multiple times by waiting until most of the leaves are off your trees and on the ground. Trees of similar species tend to shed their leaves around the same time based on temperatures, which makes timing your cleanup project easier.

But if you have a wide variety of deciduous trees on your property, they’ll drop their leaves at different rates—in which case you’ll have no choice but to gather leaves more than once. Ash trees tend to shed their leaves early and quickly, for example, while hickory and oak trees are often among the last trees to change color and drop their leaves.

2. Grab a Few Pieces of Safety Gear

You don’t need special clothing for a typical leaf cleanup project, but a few key pieces of safety gear will make the job much more comfortable. Be sure you have:

• Heavy-duty padded gloves. Leaves can have lots of needles, twigs, and even thorns in the mix. A good pair of gloves will also keep your hands dry if the leaves are a little damp.

• Knee pads or a kneeling mat. After you’ve kneeled a few times to gather the last bits of a leaf pile, you’ll start to appreciate the importance of knee protection.

• Face mask. Leaves can be dusty, and they often carry mold spores. A face mask will shield you from breathing in these potential irritants.

3. Get the Right Rake

If you’ve ever raked leaves before, you know that not all rakes are created equal. Many rakes struggle with leaves, which can easily get trapped in the tines. To upgrade your rake for a leaf-ridden backyard, you have a couple of options.

One choice is a “clog-free” rake. These rakes have uniquely-designed heads that keep leaves from building up in the tines. Another option is a pair of handheld mini-rakes that you can use to both gather leaves together and pick them up to bag.

4. Use Paper Lawn Bags

Paper lawn bags are readily available at home improvement stores. They can be made from recycled materials or are at least completely biodegradable, which makes them more environmentally-friendly than plastic yard waste bags. Plus, they’re designed with a flat bottom so that they stand up easily on their own and are less likely to roll over or collapse at the worst times. Best of all, they tend to be significantly less expensive than plastic trash bags.

The only concern with paper bags is that they can start disintegrating in the rain or when filled with particularly wet leaves, so they work best in dry conditions. Otherwise, they’re the go-to choice for bagging your leaves.

5. Wait For a Dry Day With No Wind

Wet leaves are harder to rake and pick up, and they can make your paper lawn bags disintegrate. Even if the forecast calls for sun, it’s best to wait until any morning dew has evaporated. And of course, there’s nothing more frustrating than watching a gust of wind scatter your perfect leaf piles and undo hours of work, so make sure there’s no wind in the forecast.

6. Consider Mulching Leaves First

If you’re short on time, you can skip this step. But if you have a way to mulch leaves—like a dedicated mulcher, or a kit that lets you mulch leaves with a lawn mower—you may want to start by shredding leaves before bagging. Leaf bits are easier to rake and handle than full leaves, and you can fit them in bags more easily, too. Plus, you can save some of the mulched leaves for your compost or similar purposes.

7. Divide and Pile

As you rake, divide leaves into manageable piles. Each leaf pile should be no more than a few feet across—small enough to easily pick up or push into bags when you’re finished raking. This approach also works well if you’re working in tandem with someone else who can follow behind and start bagging.

8. Bag Carefully

Bagging leaves isn’t rocket science—for the most part, you’ll be lifting piles of leaves with your rake or other tools and dumping them inside yard waste bags—but several tips will help you get the task done in short order. Be sure to practice good posture: Avoid hunching over for long periods of time, and focus on lifting with your legs. You’ll also save yourself a lot of time if you walk around the yard and pick up any fallen branches or other large pieces of debris before starting your cleanup project; these items can get tangled in paper lawn bags and can rip them.

9. Bring Out a Tarp If Necessary

For particularly big leaf cleanup jobs, it’s often easier to get a large tarp and pile leaves on it rather than trying to bag everything up. Using a tarp has several advantages. You can easily drag very large leaf piles wherever you want them. You can move the tarp to a truck or trailer if you want to avoid bagging altogether. And if you or your family loves playing in the leaves, a tarp pile makes for lots of fun with easy cleanup afterward.

10. Look for the Best Way to Get Rid of Your Leaves

With leaves bagged and ready, you need to choose a method of disposal, which is trickier than you may think. Household trash bins are rarely large enough to hold all the leaves that you’ve collected. Taking them to a dump or landfill will cost money, and many landfills will outright reject yard materials like leaves. So what do you do with your bags? The best solutions we’ve found include:

• Check your local government website to see if they have any leaf removal days. Many municipalities schedule special days where they will pick up leaves at no extra expense. Occasionally, you’re even discouraged from bagging leaves and can just pile them in the street instead.

• Look up community trash collection and see if there is a local dump site that doesn’t have the same restrictions as landfills.

• Post on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or a similar site to see if anyone’s interested in taking them. Sometimes local gardening groups or community gardens will take bags of leaves to use for mulch. 

Now you’re ready to bag and remove leaves like a pro! Of course, you can always hire a leaf removal company near you to do the job instead. Professional leaf removal costs between $190 and $550.