Sharing know-how about UK gardening

Trimming above waist height really tells you about your arm and shoulder muscles,and although long-handled shears give you greater reach, they are usually heavy, so many gardeners prefer to use their usual shears and stand on steps to reach the hedge top.

But if you can track down a supplier of ARS long-handled shears, you're on to a winner, as these are incredibly lightweight - however we're not sure if they're still available in the UK, so let us know if you find out where to get them from. In our notes we have a comment that they weigh 60g but we have not been able to check this.

Long-handled shears are too awkward to use for jobs where you don't need the extra reach, so if you have many different tasks in mind, but only want one pair of shears, then choose a version with telescopic handles for versatility (eg from Spear & Jackson).