A cutting notch at the base of the blades is also useful for cutting through the occasional thicker twig without having to fetch the secateurs. However, hedge shears are not suitable for cutting back into older wood - it takes a lot of effort to cut material more than 3mm (1 inch) thick.

Trimming hedges soon becomes tiring, so make the work as easy for yourself as possible by choosing shears with adjustable blade tension. This solves the problem of the blades being too tight or too loose. If the blades are too tight, it's difficult to open and close the shears. When the blades are too loose, they don't meet and can't cut material cleanly.

Also, look for shears with shock absorbers in the form of rubber stops or buffers fitted to the handles, because these reduce the jarring each time the blades are closed.

Comments

  1 Dom    10 Nov 2008 20.13.25

  2 Val    11 Nov 2008 13.07.20