Garden vacuums differ from their close cousins, the leaf blowers, in one major way: one sucks, the other blows. If you’re looking to give your garden a tidy-up this autumn, especially if you’ve got trees and a slippery layer of leaves has covered the lawn, then a garden vacuum could be just what you need.
Rather than blowing the leaves and other debris into a pile to be dealt with later, a garden vacuum allows you to blow the leaves into a pile before operating in reverse, collecting and compressing the leaves into its collection bag – and sometimes mulching the fallen foliage in the process.
So if you’ve decided it’s time to ditch the rake and broom in favour of something more high-tech and, let’s face it, fun, these are the best garden vacuums you should be looking at.
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How to buy the best garden vacuum for you
The line between garden vacuums and leaf blowers is a slightly fuzzy one. Dual-purpose models are common and are among the most convenient and best value. They streamline the task of clearing up leaves, and while there’s often more to changing modes than flicking a switch, being able to both blow and suck saves a lot of work and potential backache.
The best news of is you don’t need to spend too much. The garden vacuum isn’t a sophisticated tool, mainly a tube attached to a motor with a bag slung underneath or worn on the back.
Do I want a garden vacuum or a leaf blower?
Many gardeners, including council workers, use a petrol-powered blower to round up the leaves, before disposing of the pile by hand. This works well if you’re a professional with a lot of space to clear, but if you’re looking for a time-saving tool for a suburban garden you should look into a combination model that will suck the leaves back up again. Such tools have now taken over the market – pure garden vacuums are rare – but the efficiency savings will offset any increased outlay.
What features should I look for?
Garden vacuums are generally simple devices, so features come down to capacity, whether they will also mulch your leaves into a more compressed state, and what they use as a power source. Petrol gives a powerful motor, and is portable, but necessitates frequent trips to the filling station with a special container. What’s more, you’ll need to mix with oil if you’re using a two-stroke machine, and the fuel is also flammable.
Mains power is reliable and powerful but ties you to a wall socket, while rechargeable batteries can leave you short of sucking power and with a running time that might not cover your whole garden. These negatives can offset the gains you make in portability. Decide how often you’re going to use the device, and for how long each time, before you choose.
What else might I need?
Ear protection is recommended by manufacturers, as the powerful motors can emit a lot of noise. Eye protection is another must, and you’ll want sturdy gardening gloves and shoes too. If you’re using a mains-powered model, an extension reel will be a necessity, as even the longest of supplied cables isn’t going to be enough to let you roam freely across a garden.
For a petrol model, you’ll need an approved container to collect the fuel from a filling station, and two-stroke oil (a small bottle is often supplied by the manufacturer to get you going) to convert standard unleaded into something the machine can use. Failure to do this will eventually cause a lubrication failure, where the increased wear on the parts of the engine exposed to the fuel mixture will eventually make it seize up.
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The best garden vacuums you can buy
Blaupunkt Garden Tools BV4000: The best mains-powered garden vacuum
Price: £70 |Buy now from Amazon
With a 3,000W motor putting out a stream of air at 270km/h, the BV4000 has enough power to deal with leaves, twigs and other garden debris. Mains powered, but with a 5m cord to let you roam further afield, the unit switches between blow and vac with a simple lever. Power levels can be turned down with a dial if you don’t need the full speed, and the mulching function fills the 45l collection bag with small pieces perfect for the composter. At only 3kg when empty it’s a lightweight machine, but it’s supplied with a shoulder strap and nose wheels to take the strain off your back. The bag unzips at the bottom for emptying, so doesn’t need to be disconnected from the vacuum. You’ll need a screwdriver to assemble it, and some may see the need to constantly hold down the trigger as a drawback, but this is a good all-rounder that’s available at a more than reasonable price.
Key specs – Type: Electric Garden Vac, 3,000W; Bag capacity: 45l; Mulching: Yes; Dimensions: 119 x 15 x 32.5 cm; Weight: 3kg
Mcculloch GBV325: The best petrol-powered garden vacuum
Price:£130 |Buy now from Amazon
Powered by a 25cc two-stroke engine, the GBV325 can blow at up to 320km/h. Rather than switching to vacuum mode at the flick of a switch, it uses a more involved process that sees you change the front-mounted tube. This sounds like a hassle, but the benefit is that this machine comes apart very easily for storage. Shredded material is collected and compressed in a 45l bag, reducing its volume by up to ten times in the process.
This is loud machine making a 08dB racket – about the same as the average rock concert – but it’s relatively light at 4.35kg. Controls are intuitive, with a trigger switch at the top and a translucent fuel tank so you can check the level. Left-handers may want to make sure the hot engine doesn’t accidentally touch their leg during use (or possibly hold it in the other hand).
Key specs - Type: Petrol Garden Vac, 25cc; Bag capacity: 45l; Mulching: Yes; Dimensions: 38.8 x 57 x 28.8cm; Weight: 4.25kg
Black & Decker 36V Lithium-Ion Blower Vacuum: The best cordless garden vacuum
Price: £240 |Buy now from Amazon
The rechargeable garden vacuum is less common than the petrol and mains-powered variants, probably because it requires particularly strong batteries to give it the power it needs. With this Black and Decker model, a full hour-long charge gets you around 20 minutes of use, and there’s an eco mode to eke it out longer at the expense of performance. While it lacks the top-end vacuum grunt of the others, there’s nothing like the freedom it offers you to wander about the garden, attacking disparate piles of debris. Conversion from blower to vacuum means swapping tubes, which click into place.
At 4.9kg it’s slightly heavier than other models, and that’s not really reflected in its rubbish-clearing abilities – this one’s more suited to lighter garden work. However, the mulching function reduces leaf volume by up to seven times, so the 17.5l bag doesn’t fill in an instant. What’s more, the freedom the rechargeable battery pack offers is a trade-off many will be prepared to make.
Key specs – Type: Cordless Garden Vac, 36V; Bag capacity: 17.5l; Mulching: Yes; Dimensions: 27.2 x 51.8 x 21.4cm; Weight: 4.9kg
Worx WG505E Trivac: The best blower, vacuum and mulcher for a quiet garden
Price: £90 |Buy now from Amazon
Styling itself as the only vacuum that can be operated with one hand – although not too many people are going to have a problem with most models in the 4kg range – the WG505E weighs 4.4kg, a little heavier than the Blaupunkt. It’s a mains-powered model with a 3,000W motor that only puts out 70dB; similar noise levels to a household vacuum cleaner. The blower manages a wind speed of up to 335km/h, with a large orange dial controlling the power output. Mulching claims to reduce the volume of leaves by as much as 16 times, and the large 54l bag capacity means that you can grab a whole garden’s worth of leaves, depending on the garden. A clever safety feature means the switch that converts it into vacuum mode won’t engage unless the bag is attached, to stop you spraying debris everywhere. The design of the unit makes it easy to slide under patio furniture and garden benches, while an extra-long 12m cord means you’ll go further before you have to break the extension lead out.
Key specs – Type: Electric Garden Vac, 3,000W; Bag capacity: 54L; Mulching: Yes; Dimensions: 54 x 25.6 x 39.8cm; Weight: 4.4kg
Billy Goat KV600: The best garden vacuum for larger areas
Price: £999 |Buy now from Amazon
A real monster, the KV600 sits more in the light commercial class and only makes sense if you have a big lawn and a lot of trees. It can suck up over 150l of leaves before it’s full, even managing glass bottles and aluminium cans. A pure vacuum, the Billy Goat doesn’t convert to a blower and doesn’t even mulch. An optional hose kit extends its reach into flower beds and other areas a large wheeled device couldn’t reach, and while it’s not self-propelled, the 6hp four-stroke petrol engine gives it enormous power.
The unit is quite heavy, at 51kg, though it’s not meant to be handheld, while noise output, at 88dB, is enough to warrant ear protection, especially if you’re using it for long periods. A recent redesign of the collection bag sees it equipped with nautical fasteners rather than a zip, making it less prone to bursting open and spilling leaves everywhere. If you’ve got a good-sized garden full of leaves and debris, this goat will happily munch the lot.
Key specs – Type: Petrol Garden Vac, 6hp; Bag capacity: 150l; Mulching: No; Dimensions: 6.5 x 68.6 x 157.5cm; Weight: 51kg
