Battery-Powered Hedge Cutter: Is It Worth It?
I defeated a hedge monster today, which had taken over a client’s front garden. I was quite nervous about hedge cutting because I’ve only done it a few times before with those horrific petrol-powered, super-loud and super-vibrating hedge cutters that threaten to take your arm off if you’re not careful. I could only hold up one of those beasts for a few minutes until the back strain kicked in, and I would nicely return it to a lead gardener. They also grate on your ear without ear defenders, so much that I usually prefer to be as far from the hedge cutting action as I can get.
My basic instincts told me that there must be a way to make gardening tools more user-friendly and less petrifying. The solution was not electric lawn mowers, hedge cutters, or grass trimmers. The cords on those and the danger associated with cutting through them while on the job, coupled with the constant need to ask for a power supply from the client, make electric tools even more annoying than petrol ones.
No. The solution would be cordless, lightweight, and non-dirty-petrol! That’s right, battery-powered. But I didn’t think these even existed until I stumbled across an article in The Garden by the RHS about a year ago, which mentioned cordless battery power tools
I researched whether I could get a battery-powered hedge cutter, and voila, something came up! The Lithium-battery powered cutter by Bosch. Although a bit pricy, it was the answer to all my concerns:
Lightweight
So I could easily carry it to my client in a backpack (even while looking like a maniac with a long black blade sticking out. Thankfully, it came with a cover!).
Battery-powered
No cords, no petrol, just pure and way less noisy hedge cutting. The battery on mine lasts about an hour, but there are options to get a larger one with up to 6 hours of charge for longer jobs. Something to consider for
Powerful cutting
Easily cuts branches of 2cm and has a special set of teeth on the tip of the blade to cut tougher branches up to 2.5cm. I trimmed a triple hedge of choisya, berberis, and some unidentifiable twiggy shrub. All worked fine, although getting through the choisya was certainly the easiest.
A few people looked at me and stopped to comment on the street. It is not often you see a girl doing the hedge cutting, but I felt like it was totally manageable. I also had a good ladder to get to the top of the hedge, and the lightness of weight didn’t make my arms or back hurt. I did feel some residual vibration in my hand afterward for a bit. But I suppose some wrist protectors would have been useful for this kind of job.
Now I want the whole range of battery-powered tools. For gardening, Bosch also offers a grass trimmer, lawn mower, and leaf blower. Yesss please!
Good Investment?
I think I’ve definitely had to look at this hedge cutter as an investment for the long-run. But as long as it keeps working well, it should pay for itself in another few jobs. I really don’t mind investing in a quality tool if it makes the job much easier and lasts a while. It’s way more satisfying than continuing to purchase the same terrible tool that constantly breaks just because it’s cheaper (looking at you Wickes shears).
Indeed, my shears broke after some intense allotment clear out over the winter holidays with my family. Too bad I didn’t know this until I arrived at this same client first time two days ago. I started cutting the hedge with the shears, and they cut it in such a raggedy way that I had to stop right there and tell the client I’d have to come back. Kind of embarrassing. But this setback actually proved handy, because really with the Bosch hedge cutter I did the job so much faster and tidier than I would have done with hand shears. And the client was really happy with the result! No regrets.
