Best Garden Hedge Trimming Tools to Achieve the Perfect Trim

Early spring is the perfect time to plant hedges. With minimal maintenance, those pink and white flowers make the garden visually appealing. While they have a tendency to develop into thick deciduous shrubs, maintenance is the key to keep bush overgrowth in check. A great garden hedge shear is a blessing for managing best hedging plants like cherry laurel or bushes with white flowers. It not only saves you a lot of time but also requires less effort in handling and prevents aching arms.

Garden hedge shears is a tool that is very useful year round. They usually come in a range of sizes, styles, and prices – hence you need to be wary of your choice because there are quite a number of them to choose from.

There are many factors and features to consider before you can settle on a pair of shears that will work for your hedging plants. This usually depends largely on the kind and quantity of hedges or decidious shrubs you have in your garden.

Our guide below runs through the key garden hedge shear features to look out for when you are shopping for one.

What Are the Things to Consider When Purchasing Garden Hedge Shears?

Here is a list of things you should check out in your garden hedge shear before making a purchase.

Manual vs. powered

To figure out what might be right for you and your garden hedges, watch this informative video by Ace Hardware.

Size and weight

The weight and size of the shears play a huge role in reducing fatigue during use. Trimming dense hedge is a year round task that often requires you to reach above your shoulder height – hence the weight of your tool is a crucial consideration to make during your buying decision. If your garden hedge shear is heavy, this will lead to fatigue. Sometimes, to get the job done, you might actually need weighty telescoping handles, so be sure to consider this along with your upper body strength. Typically, aluminum and fiberglass handles tend to be lighter than steel and wood handles, which tend to be heavier. 

Cutting blades

The kind of blades that are featured in your garden hedge shear determine how efficient they will be for what you want to use them for. If what you’ll be doing is mostly up-close work, then you should opt for shorter blades and short handles. For more large-scale jobs, longer blades with longer handles will be much more effective and suitable. 

Your hedge shear blade should ideally touch only at the cutting point to reduce friction and sticking. For your tool to be most efficient, it’s important that you keep the blades very sharp. Sharp blades are really crucial so try to ensure that the garden hedge shear you select can be easily taken apart for sharpening. 

Type of blades

Here are some of the types of blades you’ll come across in most garden centers:

• Straight blades: These are the most common type of blades. They are ideal for pruning smaller branches. You can usually sharpen this type of shear on your own using a millstone or sharpening stone
• Curved or wavy blades: This kind of blade gives room for more precision, is easier to cut with, and minimizes slippage. The disadvantage of curved blades is that they require the services of a professional to sharpen
• Non-stick coating: Some of the shears you’ll come across will have this feature. A blade with a non-stick coating is sufficiently rust-resistant
• Pivot bolt design: Shears with an adjustable pivot bolt assembly will allow users to adjust blade tension when needed. Being able to purchase replacement pivot bolts is a huge advantage because they are usually the first part of the tool to malfunction

Cutting mechanism

In garden hedge shears, properly designed geared mechanisms can relatively ease up the stress of cutting those early spring overgrowth. Geared technology will enable you to perform more difficult cuts with less effort. A properly placed and effective design can be what’s holding you back from enjoying your hedge trimming. These mechanisms can be helpful, depending on what you need your tool for. If the hedge plant you need to trim is soft new growth in shrubs, then you may not need this extra power.

Cutting capacity

Before selecting any garden shears for your hedge plant like cherry laurel, you need to know exactly how thick the twigs or branches that you plan on cutting are. A lot of the commonly available models of shears on the market can be used to cut twigs and branches that are within the range of half an inch in diameter. If you’ll be cutting thicker objects then you’ll need a pair that can withstand that thickness. For example, you can go for a pair with a limb notch – this will enable you to cut slightly larger branches.

Ease of use

A lot of the brands of garden shears on the market offer comfortable alternatives to ease up the process of using their tool. You should look for features like cushioned handle grips, shock-absorbing bumpers where the handles come together, and/or an alternate bumper system. These factors will reduce the strain on your arms and ultimately make the tools a lot easier to handle year round.

Telescopic handles

In a situation where your hedges are very difficult to reach due to their tall height, then you should probably consider purchasing a pair of shears that feature a telescoping handle. When you extend the handles, you’ll be compromising how much control you have over the cut. The shears will be harder to control but it’s a fair tradeoff. Also, the handles of shears with this special design are usually heavier as a result.

Replacement parts

When you are choosing garden shears, it is always safer to select a brand that offers replacement blades and other parts, especially if you clean, sharpen, and refurbish your tools regularly. The availability of replacement parts is a big plus.

Some Helpful Buying Tips

Garden hedge shears are designed to cut through twigs and branches, but they obviously can’t cut through thick branches or box hedge with white flowers. When you’re shopping for shears, to get the best garden hedge shears for yourself, look for a pair that’s light and well-balanced. It has to feel comfortable and give you the leverage you need to easily cut through foliage and twig overgrowths. Here are some more tips to assist you in making a good choice:

• Garden hedge shears that come with hardened and tempered high-carbon steel blades will cut beautifully and can hold an edge for long periods of time
• Shears with coated blades will usually cut through thicker branches more easily than plain blades. The coating also prevents rust and debris from sticking to the blades
• If you have very tall hedges, then the obvious choice for you is to get shears with telescopic handles. Otherwise, plain non-extendible handles should do the trick
• Always opt for the best garden hedge shears you can afford. This is because the higher-priced premium models usually come equipped with all the features you’ll need to ease up your trimming and add more cutting precision. Low-priced shears don’t last nearly as long and need more maintenance since the blades tend to lose their edge rather quickly
• Finally, if in doubt, you should check out user reviews. Reviews will give you a practical insight into each of the models you’re considering, and a better idea of how they might function for what you want to use them for