Hedge trimmers
Now in this post I won’t be following the usual course of my other tool reviews as to be honest, I haven’t had a lifetime of experience with hedge trimmers. Like many people, I use one a few times a year in my garden, but in my professional life I haven’t had that many long term hedge cutting contracts. So this is not so much about the best hedge trimmer, but more about pointing out something that is so obvious to me now, but clearly wasn’t at the time that I could have acquired one of the best trimmers on the market. The trimmer I should have in my garden shed is pictured at the bottom of this guide – not there yet but it soon will be!
My big mistake
From time to time in the job that I do, tools do come my way for purposes of photographic demonstrations, reviews, and ‘how to’ guides. Some are loans, some I keep, many I give away. Anyway to get to the point, I had in my possession what I thought was a pretty average tool – a ‘cheap’ battery operated cordless hedge trimmer. Okay, I thought, well made, but I bet the battery doesn’t last long, and why are manufacturers making all this cordless stuff? Is it really necessary? Moan, moan, don’t need it, I’ve got a corded one that works fine……. ‘Big mistake, Huge!’, as a certain Pretty Woman once said.
My chuffed mate
So a gardener mate was giving me a hand loading some fence panels and so I let him have the trimmer as a thank you. When I saw him the next week, to say he was chuffed with his new toy, is rather an understatement. I was almost expecting to see headlines in the local newspaper about a phantom hedge trimmer being at large in the town, or the mystery of topiary sculptures appearing overnight in gardens across the county. Okay, slight exaggeration, but I did see him wandering around town recently, hedge trimmer in hand, and I’m sure he wasn’t on his way to work – he just needs it with him all the time now.
Talk about obvious
It’s just all so obvious now. Of all the tools that are perfect to be cordless its a hedge trimmer. If you haven’t done it yourself, you’ll know someone who has cut through the lead when trimming their hedge. I’ve got one friend who’s done it 3 times – what was a 5m lead is now about 2m. Basically however careful you are, it’s just so easy to make the mistake. So for the sake of safety alone, this is just a great tool. No more chopping through the lead, no more wrapping around the step ladder, no more knocking off flower heads, no more tripping up the kids.
This model has Bosch quality, the batteries can be used on some other cordless tools, it’s just a great piece of kit that I will now be going out to buy! Is it the best hedge trimmer on the market? If not, then it’s certainly one of them, and even if you don’t choose this exact model – Bosch produce many, many, more.
