hedge trimmer recommends

charlysez

hiya, i am seeking opinions on hedge trimmers, i loved the idea of the qvc garden groom, but a lot of reviews are slating it. can anyone say something good about it?

i think in the end i will need a petrol one but obviously not too heavy, i am a girly you know!! :j

so, any advice, very welcome. thanks in advance

WestonDave

We've got a lot of tall hedges to maintain and find a normal electric trimmer fine - get a reasonably long cutting blade (40cm plus) and make sure you don't pick a small wattage one - 400W is fine. Petrol driven stuff is very nice but the engines are a lot heavier than an electric motor - my petrol strimmer is hard work and that's held downwards - I wouldn't want to use it higher up!

What sort of hedge have you got and how long?

charlysez

hiya, mainly laurel, but some leylandii. i have about 200ft garden , so not sure if electric is feasible. my shears are just not upto the job, or maybe its my arms.

MUMMYTO2BOYS

Laurel shouldn't really be pruned with a hedgetrimmer (secetuers or loppers) and a cordless electric hedgetrimmer for the leylandii would be much lighter than a petrol one but best to go to B&Q or somewhere and try a few for size, or hire a petrol one for the job once, and if you like it you can invest in one.

Vibrant

An good electric hedge trimmer will easily cope with a 200ft hedge, the only advantage a petrol trimmer has, is (some models) a wider cut and more power.

I cut quite a few hedges in the course of my work and almost always use my Bosch electric trimmer (AHS 52, has a very long blade).
If the customer is out and there is no power supply, I use a Bosch cordless, providing the job isn't too big (say about twenty feet of 8ft tall conifers, with a years growth).
The final resort is my Flymo petrol trimmer, but I avoid using it if possible, because it kills my arms, after a very short period (getting old).

I have had a play with a garden groom type cutter, except I thought it was a Flymo (it was a while ago). It wasn't very good for the conifers I tried it on, but might be okay on a well kept box, or similar.

Incidentally, you can use a trimmer on Laurel, use a scalloping motion moving upwards, this greatly reduces the "chewed by a bear look". Remember a lot of Laurel are quite toxic, so wear gloves when clearing up.