We have two absolutely humongous sycamore trees in our garden. Between October and November each year, they shed what feels like a metric tonne of leaves and whirlygigs; onto the ground and onto the roof of the cottage.
For the first few days, it’s an easy job to just bend down and collect up the scant leaf litter on the paths and begin to store it into a large bin liner. We save it all to turn it into leaf mould, a process that takes about 2 years. If we have a windy period or cold snap, the leaves fall in a veritable avalanche overnight. That’s when it becomes a bigger job to clear.
The path isn’t such a big deal; however, the leaves that fall on the roof quickly block up the gutters and downpipes. That’s why we’ve been looking at these gutter cleaning tools. The choice is an easy one for us… it has to be #2.
The Home Valet option seems all well & good, but it doesn’t look like it would easily cope with the volume of leaves. The Guttersucker is the kind of kit that would suit a professional window cleaner who could do a seasonal sideline in gutter clearing. Or else, someone that lives in a huge mansion or towering home. Our favoured option would only need to be installed the once – and then unblocking gutters will be a task of the past!
- The Original Home Valet® gutter care kit: £8.95, eBay
Clears 4 metres of guttering without the need for you to move your ladder along - Gutter protector: £12.79, Coopers of Stortford
Comes in 4m (13ft) lengths. It has a hook at either end making it easy to join together to form a continuous run along the entire length of your gutter, or it can be cut to length. - Guttersucker Junior: from £462.00, Gutter Sucker Direct
A safe & effective way to keep gutters up to 12m/30ft/4 storeys, free-flowing
- The Original Home Valet® gutter care kit: £8.95, eBay
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