The best garden rake for a bang tidy backyard this year

This award-winning rake from trusted garden brand Spear & Jackson is soil rake with a handsome, traditional design. The classic hardwood shaft has been weather proofed for durability. The rake's head is crafted from stainless steel that has been given a mirror polish treatment. This makes it resistant to rust and means soil will be less likely to stick to the tines. The head is 30cm wide and the overall length is 129cm.

Customer review: "Sturdy. Really well made as you would expect from this company. You can buy cheaper, but this is really worth the difference. Very happy."

This wallet-friendly AB Tools option is great to have in the shed for occasional use. This garden tool offers a strong steel shaft that has a durable rust-resistant finish. There's a handy rubber comfort grip for non-slip raking action. The rake's head is made from super-strong carbon steel and boasts 12 polished tines.

Customer review: "Happy with it, it's solid enough too rake over all my mud garden, which is full of roots, etc, as just chopped down six foot of brambles in garden so needed a sturdy rake. Does the job fine."

Many gardeners are converts to modern plastic leaf or lawn rakes, opting to use this kind of tool when gathering fallen leaves or collecting up grass cuttings. Plastic rakes are lightweight and easy to manoeuver. Such rakes are also less likely than metal versions to damage plants. This Draper leaf rake's wide head gives you 23 sturdy tines. The head is securely fixed to the varnished natural wood handle.

Customer review: "Used to use metal rakes until I watched a garden program and plastic ones were recommended. They are so much easier and quicker to get leaves off grass. This model is extremely light too."

This innovative Greenfields option is great for anyone short on outdoor storage space as its telescopic design means both the head and the handle can be collapsed down. The 15-tine head can be adjusted from around 18cm to a full 56cm wide and locked in place. The handle can be adjusted from 55cm to a full 75cm length. The tines are made from rust-resistant alloy steel and the metal handle has ergonomic finger grips.

Customer review: "I needed a good leaf rake after moving to a garden nearly knee deep in leaves. Very pleased with this rake, it's a good weight and solidly made. The telescopic handle and rake are great to adjust to your needs. It's a good price too."

While this rake can be used for lighter, everyday garden tasks, its heavy-duty construction and 'bow rake' design means it can tackle tougher jobs too. This can be used to loosen and break up compacted soil, levelling planting areas, and spreading mulch, topsoil, compost, sand, or gravel. This larger rake has a 45cm wide head with 6cm tines for wide ground coverage and soil penetration.

Customer review: "We needed a solid rake to prepare fresh ground for a lawn. This looked good, cheap(ish), and well reviewed. It arrived in a pretty small, fairly light box - slightly worrying - but after putting it together it is solid, robust and a really useful tool. The tines, (get me, remembering the right word), are strong, and if you turn the head over there are sort of short, blunt tines, a bit like blunt spoons, to break up lumps. All in all, excellent."

Another heavy-duty choice, this Rough-Neck 'Sharp-Edge' rake features exactly that. One side of the head has 14 recessed tines and the other boasts a serrated back blade designed for breaking up earth, levelling rocky ground, and scraping. Roughneck states this tool is "built to last," as it's manufactured from carbon steel giving a corrosion-resistant finish. This rake has a rot-proof, tough, and durable fibreglass handle that measures 150cm.

Customer review: "Strong and sturdy. This is the best garden rake I have ever had. It is so easy to use without much effort and keeps the garden nice and tidy. 10/10."

If you've gone down the artificial grass route for your outdoor space, a standard garden rake could be too robust for your faux lawn. You can get specialist brush rakes for your Astroturf to gently maintain it and remove debris without damaging it. This has a polypropylene plastic rake head and polyamide bristles. The alloy steel handle collapses down for space-saving storage.

Customer review: "Works perfectly! I had a seven by 12 metre area cleaned up in 10 minutes. Doesn't get clumped up with leaves, and simply letting it glide across the grass works best, i.e., don't put any downward pressure on the rake."

A hand rake is not a replacement for a full-size garden rake but can offer some very useful functionality. A mini rake is great for clearing flower beds and vegetable patches from leaves and weeds, offering you a nimble way to work around existing plants. This Gaoge hand rake boasts military-grade steel tines and a wooden handle. This comes in five-tine and seven-tine versions and in two different handle lengths.

Customer review: "I like this because I am unable to bend and rake. Used it to remove moss from my lawn. Worked well and now have moss free lawn."