With a yard full of trees and plants I've been having a hard time keeping it clean, this is because of the copious amounts of dead leaves and twigs that fall, when I'm done sweeping one section I'll find myself staring at a pile that isn't quite large enough to warrant me jumping in (*like the child in me wishes it can do, had the pile been large enough) and yet the pile isn't small enough simply to pick up a couple of handfuls of and be done with.
I suppose the continuous bending and picking up of yard debri is a good work out for my back (it'll creek for a day or two afterwards simply to remind me I had a good workout) but it is questionable whether the good outweighs the bad, the bad results in a messy yard (and that just won't do). So I've come to the conclusion that my yard would be 75% cleaner had I a good way to pick up the debri, which is why I decided on a large sweeper-bucket from Home Depot (about $20).
The sweeper bucket is hardly sold for yard clean-up purposes but I found that it works great. It's not nearly large enough to get my yard trimmings in one scoop but it does the job more efficiently and without me having to bend over repeatedly or get my hands dirty. The handle is also on a hinge that allows the bucket to be seen as (pictured above) for easy sweeping or for the bucket to simply hang down with the opening facing up, this way it is easy to carry your debri without spilling it all about or you doing a funny thing with your arm to adjust the sweeper bucket in a position that keeps all the debri inside.