How do you handle leaves every morning?

I used to spend half my morning skimming leaves too. What helped me most was adding a leaf net cover overnight. It’s super easy to toss on after you’re done swimming and pull off in the morning. That alone cut my leaf cleanup by more than half. I also keep my skimmer baskets clean and added a fine mesh insert to catch smaller debris before it hits the pump. If you’ve got trees close by, it’s pretty much a daily task, but using a combination of prevention and a good leaf rake makes it less frustrating. Sometimes I run my pool robot in the early morning too, just so I’m not starting from scratch each day.
 
I totally feel your pain. I have a big maple tree that drops leaves nonstop. What I do is skim quickly first thing in the morning, before the leaves get waterlogged and sink. I also trimmed back branches that hung directly over the pool, which helped a bit. On bad days, I’ll run the pump and skimmer for a little longer to catch the floating leaves before they sink. I haven’t tried a leaf net yet, but it’s on my list. Unfortunately, with trees around, you’ll always have some daily cleanup. I just try to keep it to a quick 5-minute skim instead of letting it pile up.
 
Honestly, I think my pool has a “leaf collector” side hustle. 😅 It’s like no matter what I do, it’s always getting paid in leaves. I might start giving my trees a “leaf quota” you know, like, “Only 10 leaves today, please!” Anyone else feel like your pool's main job is being the neighborhood leaf catcher?
 
I started training my dog to fetch the leaves floating in the pool — now he thinks it’s his morning game. Honestly, it’s the most entertaining pool maintenance I’ve ever done.
 
I hear you! My pool is like a leaf magnet too. I tried a few things, but the best solution I found was using a mix of mesh covers and trimming the trees regularly. I even set up a little automated vacuum that runs in the morning, which saves me a lot of time. It’s not perfect, but it helps a ton. I’ve also started calling it my ‘leaf farm’ seems like I’m growing more leaves than anything else!
 
I used to spend ages every morning chasing leaves too, until I started combining a few strategies. First, I cover the pool with a mesh net at night, it’s a lifesaver during windy days. Then I make sure the skimmer baskets are clear and use a fine mesh sock to catch the tiny debris. For anything that still makes it in, a quick 5–10 minute run with a robotic cleaner or manual vacuum in the morning usually does the trick. It doesn’t stop every single leaf, but it cuts the daily cleanup down dramatically.
 
I fought this for a couple seasons because my yard backs up to a line of trees and every windy night the pool looked like a compost bin by morning. The leaf net helped some, but what made a bigger difference for me was improving how the surface water moves toward the skimmer.

Before that, leaves would just sit on the surface until they got waterlogged and sank. I adjusted the return jets so they create a slow circular flow across the top of the pool that pushes everything toward the skimmer throat. Once I did that, the skimmer actually started grabbing a lot of the leaves automatically while the pump was running.

Also check your pump schedule. I used to run mine mostly midday, but leaves usually fall overnight or early morning. Now the pump kicks on early and the skimmer starts pulling stuff in right away. My filter pressure even bumps up a couple psi during heavy leaf weeks because it’s catching so much debris. It didn’t eliminate leaves completely, but it turned the morning cleanup from a 20 minute job into a quick skim. If you’ve got trees nearby that’s about as good as it gets honestly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top