Best Hedge Trimmers in 2026: Tooth Gap Matters More Than Blade Length

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Our quick picks

Everything below is the why: the specifications that settle the choice, and where each pick falls down.

Blade length is the number on the box and the wrong thing to shop on. Two specifications matter more, and one of them is almost never printed at all.

The first is tooth spacing — the gap between the teeth on the blade, sometimes listed as cutting capacity. That gap is the hard physical limit on what the trimmer can cut. A trimmer with a 5/8-inch capacity will slice through anything up to about 5/8 of an inch and simply jam, stall or bend its blade on anything thicker. No amount of motor power changes it, because the branch has to fit between the teeth for the blades to shear it. Forcing a thick branch into a hedge trimmer is the main way people damage the tool and the second most common way they hurt themselves.

The second is weight, and where that weight sits. Hedge trimming is done with your arms extended, often at chest or shoulder height, for twenty or forty minutes at a stretch. A trimmer that feels fine in a shop feels very different after ten minutes held out at arm’s length. A longer blade makes the tool heavier, puts the weight further from your hands, and is therefore more tiring — which is why a 26-inch trimmer is not straightforwardly better than a 20-inch one. For most suburban hedges, the shorter, lighter tool finishes the job faster because you stop for fewer breaks.

And one more that is easy to check and worth having: dual-action blades, where both blades reciprocate against each other rather than one moving blade working against a fixed bar. Dual-action roughly halves the vibration reaching your hands, and vibration is what makes your arms ache the next day.

Safety, before the recommendations

A hedge trimmer is a set of exposed reciprocating shears moving at high speed, held in both hands, usually above waist height. The injuries are severe and the mechanisms are predictable. None of this takes long to read.

Never, ever work from a ladder with a hedge trimmer

This is the single most important line on this page. A ladder plus a two-handed power tool means you cannot hold the ladder, you are reaching sideways, and the tool can kick or snag and pull you off balance. The combination is behind a large share of the serious hedge-trimming injuries reported each year, and the consequences are falls from height onto or alongside a running blade.

If the hedge is taller than you can comfortably reach with both feet flat on the ground, the answer is a pole hedge trimmer, or a platform designed to be stood on, or a professional. It is not a stepladder. We have included a pole trimmer below specifically because this substitution matters.

Both hands on the tool, always

Every decent hedge trimmer has a two-handed switch arrangement that requires both hands engaged for the blade to run. That is a safety feature, not an inconvenience, and disabling or taping it is how people lose fingers. Never reach toward the blade with one hand while the other holds the trigger.

The blade coasts after you release the trigger

There is inertia in the blade and the gearbox. On a tool with an electric brake it stops quickly; on one without, it keeps moving for a second or two. That second is when people reach in to pull out a jammed twig. Remove the battery, or unplug the tool, before touching the blade for any reason — clearing a jam, cleaning, oiling, or moving branches out of the way. Cordless tools are silent when idle and it is disturbingly easy to forget they are live.

There are things inside hedges

Hedges hide wire fencing, plant ties, tree stakes, trellis, string lights, cables and old washing line. Hitting wire with a hedge trimmer sends the tool sideways, can throw metal fragments, and with a corded trimmer hitting a buried cable is an electrocution risk. Look through the hedge before you start, and if you know there is fencing in there, work above and around it rather than into it.

Eye protection and gloves are not optional

Hedge trimming throws a continuous shower of woody fragments straight back at your face. Safety glasses or a face shield, every time. Cut-resistant gloves protect your hands both from the blade and from the thorns most hedges contain, and long sleeves are worth it for sap and scratches. Hearing protection matters less with a cordless trimmer than a gas one but is still sensible over a long session.

Do not cut above shoulder height

Holding a running blade above your shoulders means you cannot see what you are cutting, you cannot control the tool well, and any kick comes back toward your head. It is also the position that produces the most fatigue and therefore the most mistakes. Pole trimmer, or lower your ambitions for the hedge.

Corded trimmers: mind the cord

If you use a corded trimmer, drape the cord over one shoulder and work away from it, use an outdoor-rated extension cord of the correct gauge, and plug into a GFCI-protected outlet. Cutting through your own extension cord is a common and actually dangerous mistake.

Check for nests first — this is also a legal matter in the US

Birds nest in hedges, and in the United States the Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects most native bird species including their active nests. Destroying an active nest is not merely regrettable, it can be unlawful. Practically: walk the hedge and look before you cut, and avoid heavy trimming during the main nesting season, broadly spring into midsummer depending on where you live. If you find an active nest, leave that section until the young have fledged. Late summer, autumn and winter are the safer windows for a hard cut in most regions — with the plant-timing caveats in the next section.

You are pruning a plant, not cutting hair

The tool is half the job. The other half is knowing that a hedge is a living thing with rules, and the two mistakes almost everyone makes are about timing and shape.

Timing: when you cut decides whether you get flowers

Shrubs that flower in spring — forsythia, lilac, some viburnums, azalea, rhododendron — set their flower buds during the previous summer. If you shear them in autumn or late winter, you are cutting off next spring’s flowers, and then wondering why the shrub never blooms. These should be pruned just after they finish flowering.

Shrubs that flower in summer on new growth — many hydrangeas of the paniculata type, butterfly bush, crape myrtle — can be cut back in late winter or early spring, because the flowers will form on growth that has not appeared yet.

Evergreen formal hedges — boxwood, privet, yew, holly, arborvitae — are generally trimmed in late spring after the first flush of growth hardens, with a lighter tidy-up in mid to late summer. Avoid a hard cut in very late summer or autumn in cold climates, because it pushes soft new growth that will not harden before frost.

And two universal cautions: do not trim in hot, dry, sunny conditions, because freshly exposed interior foliage scorches; and never cut a conifer back into old bare wood. Most conifers, yew being the notable exception, cannot regenerate from bare brown wood. Cut too far and you have a permanent hole.

Shape: cut a batter, not a box

This is the trick that separates a hedge that looks good for years from one that goes bare and woody at the bottom. Cut the hedge slightly narrower at the top than at the base — a gentle taper, called a batter. A hedge with vertical or top-heavy sides shades its own lower branches, and shaded branches drop their leaves and die back, which is why old hedges are so often thin and twiggy at knee height with a dense green cap on top. Once that has happened it is very slow to fix.

A slight taper lets light reach the bottom, keeps the whole face leafy, and also sheds snow better. Run a string line between two stakes for the top and check it as you go, because eyeballing a level line along thirty feet of hedge does not work.

The one-third rule applies here too

Remove no more than about a third of the plant’s growth in one session. Cutting harder than that stresses the plant, and in many species removes so much foliage that regrowth is weak. If a hedge has gotten badly out of hand, restore it over two or three seasons rather than one brutal afternoon.

Sweep the clippings off, don’t leave them on the hedge

Clippings sitting on top of a hedge shade the foliage under them and hold moisture, which invites fungal problems. Brush them off the hedge and rake them up. And clean your blades between different plants if any of them are diseased, because hedge trimmers spread plant disease efficiently.

Cordless, corded or gas?

Cordless

The right answer for essentially all residential hedge work now. You are moving constantly and often turning corners, which makes a trailing cord a genuine nuisance and a genuine hazard; and unlike a lawn mower, a hedge trimmer draws modest power, so a single battery covers a lot of hedge. The important consideration is which battery platform you join, which is covered below.

Corded

Cheap, light, and has unlimited runtime, which is a real advantage on a very long hedge. The cord is the whole story: it gets in the way, it can be cut, and it restricts you to within an extension cord of an outlet. For a short hedge close to the house it is a perfectly sensible way to spend very little money.

Gas

Only for professionals and very large properties. Gas hedge trimmers are heavy, loud, produce fumes at face height, vibrate considerably more, and require fuel mixing and winter storage. Battery tools long since caught up for anything short of all-day commercial use, and the weight difference matters enormously in a tool you hold at arm’s length.

The platform question, again

As with every cordless outdoor tool, the battery is the expensive part and the trimmer is the cheap part. If you already own cordless tools, buying a bare tool on the same platform is dramatically cheaper than buying a kit, and the bare-tool listings are usually sitting right next to the kit listings for anyone who notices.

So: check what you already own before you shop. If you own a drill on a given platform, the hedge trimmer on that platform costs you a fraction of a standalone tool. If you own nothing, think about what else you will want — a string trimmer, a blower, a mower — and pick the platform that makes all of them good rather than optimizing only the hedge trimmer. Our guide to the best cordless lawn mowers covers the platform reasoning in more detail, and the same logic applies here.

One useful variant worth knowing about: several brands sell a multi-head system, where one motorized power head accepts interchangeable attachments — string trimmer, hedge trimmer, pole saw, edger, cultivator. If you need three or four of those jobs, one power head and three attachments is considerably cheaper and takes far less shed space than three complete tools.

Other things worth checking

• Rotating rear handle. Lets you twist the handle 90 or 180 degrees so your wrist stays neutral when cutting the vertical sides of a hedge. Once you have used one you will not want to go back.
• Electric brake. Stops the blade in a fraction of a second when you release the trigger, rather than letting it coast. A meaningful safety feature.
• Wrap-around front handle. Lets you grip comfortably at several angles rather than one, which matters when you are cutting a vertical face.
• Blade tip guard. A protruding lip at the end of the blade that stops the tip digging into soil, walls or fencing. Small detail, saves blades.
• Brushless motor. Better efficiency, more torque under load, longer life. Standard on mid-range and up.
• Debris deflector. A clear shield above the blade that throws clippings away from you rather than into your face. You will appreciate it within five minutes.
• Blade sheath. A hard cover for the blade in storage. It protects the edge and, more importantly, it protects you when you reach into a shed.
• Strokes per minute. Higher means a cleaner cut with less snagging, all else equal. Useful for comparing two similar tools, not worth obsessing over.

The best hedge trimmers right now

All ratings and review counts were verified on Amazon at the time of writing, and we only included products at 4.3 stars or above. Several of these are sold both as bare tools and as kits with a battery and charger — check which variant is selected before ordering.

1. EGO POWER+ 26-Inch Carbon Fiber Hedge Trimmer — best overall

Rated 4.8 stars across more than 2,700 reviews. 56V platform, 26-inch dual-action steel blades on a carbon fiber rail, stated up to 60 minutes runtime.

The carbon fiber blade rail is the interesting engineering here and it addresses exactly the problem set out at the top of this guide. A 26-inch blade is long, and long blades are heavy at the far end where the weight hurts most. Replacing the steel rail that carries the blades with carbon fiber removes weight from precisely the worst place for it, which is what makes a 26-inch trimmer usable for a full session rather than exhausting after ten minutes.

Twenty-six inches also truly helps on a long hedge: a longer blade means fewer passes and a flatter finish, because a short blade tends to leave a slightly scalloped face. Combine that with EGO’s 56V platform — the broadest cordless outdoor range there is, sharing batteries with mowers, blowers, chainsaws and snow blowers — and it is the trimmer we would buy.

• Cutting capacity: generous for a residential trimmer; still not a substitute for loppers on thick wood.
• Why it works: a carbon fiber rail removes weight from the end of a long blade, which is the one place weight matters most.
• Best for: long hedges, and anyone building an EGO tool collection.

What you give up: 26 inches is still 26 inches — if your hedges are short and fiddly, a shorter trimmer is easier to control around corners and topiary. Carbon fiber is strong but it is not steel, so be careful about levering the blade against a fence post. The stated 60-minute runtime assumes light trimming, not hacking through thick growth. And check whether the listing you open includes a battery, because the bare-tool and kit prices are very different.

Check the EGO POWER+ hedge trimmer on Amazon →

2. Makita DUH523Z 18V LXT 21.5-Inch — best lightweight, most proven

Rated 4.8 stars across more than 11,000 reviews. Makita 18V LXT platform, 21.5-inch blade, rubberized soft grip, bare tool.

Eleven thousand reviews at 4.8 stars is the largest and strongest body of evidence for any hedge trimmer we found, and it reflects what this tool is: light, balanced, unfussy and extremely durable. At around eight pounds with a battery it is one of the lightest trimmers of this blade length, and as established above, weight is the specification that decides whether you finish the hedge or give up on it.

Twenty-one and a half inches is arguably the ideal residential blade length — long enough to cut a flat face without endless passes, short enough to control around corners and to hold comfortably. Makita’s 18V LXT platform is the largest cordless tool range in the world by tool count, so if you own any Makita cordless tools, this is a bare-tool purchase and the calculation is easy.

• Cutting capacity: suited to regular maintenance trimming rather than reclaiming a neglected hedge.
• Why it works: light, well balanced, and backed by the deepest reliability record in the category.
• Best for: existing Makita owners, and anyone who prioritizes comfort over blade length.

The part that annoys people: this listing is the bare tool, so you need an 18V LXT battery and charger — if you own none, the total cost is higher than it looks. Eighteen volts is less powerful than the 56V and 40V machines here, so it will bog in thick growth where a higher-voltage tool pushes through. No pole reach. And Makita’s naming is dense with similar model numbers, so confirm the model on the listing matches what you intend to buy.

Check the Makita DUH523Z on Amazon →

3. Milwaukee M18 FUEL 2726-20 — best for thick, neglected growth

Rated 4.8 stars across more than 1,100 reviews. Milwaukee M18 platform, brushless FUEL motor, bare tool.

This is the trimmer to buy if your problem is not maintaining a tidy hedge but reclaiming something that has been left for three years. Milwaukee builds the FUEL line for trade use, which means a brushless motor with genuine torque reserve, a robust gearbox, and a blade that keeps cutting when it meets wood that would stall a homeowner tool. It is the one here we would trust on overgrown privet or thick laurel.

It also has the professional details that make long sessions bearable: strong vibration control, a tip guard, and the general build quality of a tool designed to be used every day by someone whose living depends on it. If you already own Milwaukee M18 tools — and a lot of people do — this is a bare-tool addition to a platform you have already paid for.

• Cutting capacity: the highest practical capacity here, with torque to match.
• Why it works: trade-grade motor and gearbox, so it does not stall in the growth that defeats homeowner tools.
• Best for: overgrown hedges, thick woody growth, and existing M18 owners.

Where it disappoints: bare tool, and M18 batteries are not inexpensive if you are starting from scratch. It is heavier than the Makita, which you will notice on a long overhead session. Professional tools are priced for professionals, so if your hedge is a neat boxwood border this is more machine than you need. And the Amazon listing for this one is thin on detail — check Milwaukee’s own specifications for the exact blade length and capacity before ordering.

Check the Milwaukee M18 FUEL hedge trimmer on Amazon →

4. DEWALT DCHT820P1 22-Inch Kit — best if you own DeWalt 20V

Rated 4.7 stars across more than 2,900 reviews. DeWalt 20V MAX platform, 22-inch blade, supplied as a kit with a 5.0Ah battery and charger.

DeWalt 20V MAX is one of the most widely owned cordless platforms in American garages, mostly because of drills and impact drivers, and this is the hedge trimmer that joins it. Twenty-two inches is a sensible blade length, and the notable thing about this particular listing is that it is the kit with a 5.0Ah battery — which is a large pack for a hedge trimmer, so runtime is not going to be your limitation.

If you already own DeWalt 20V tools, note that the bare-tool version of this same trimmer exists and is much cheaper; the kit is the right buy only if you want another large battery, which you probably do.

• Cutting capacity: solid residential capacity, comfortable with regular maintenance growth.
• Why it works: a capable 22-inch trimmer on a platform an enormous number of people already own, supplied with a large battery.
• Best for: DeWalt 20V households.

The drawbacks: 20V is a mid-power platform, so very thick growth will slow it. This Amazon listing is sparse and the model number is the thing to check — the bare tool and the kit have different suffixes and are listed separately. It is heavier than the Makita. And if you own no DeWalt tools, there is little reason to start a platform here rather than with one of the dedicated outdoor brands.

Check the DEWALT 22-inch hedge trimmer kit on Amazon →

5. Greenworks 24V 22-Inch Laser Cut — best value cordless

Rated 4.7 stars across around 410 reviews. Greenworks 24V platform, 22-inch laser-cut blades, supplied with a 4.0Ah USB-capable battery and charger, stated up to 60 minutes runtime.

Greenworks’ 24V range is the cheapest credible cordless platform in the garden, with a very wide set of inexpensive tools running on the same small packs. This trimmer is the sensible entry point: 22-inch laser-cut blades, a real battery and charger included, and enough runtime for an ordinary suburban hedge in one session.

“Laser cut” describes how the blade teeth are formed, and the practical effect is a cleaner, more precisely ground cutting edge than stamped blades — which matters because a clean cut heals faster on the plant and a rough cut leaves torn, browning leaf edges that make the whole hedge look shabby for a two weeks after trimming.

• Cutting capacity: residential maintenance growth; do not expect it to reclaim a neglected hedge.
• Why it works: the lowest-cost credible platform, with a battery included and blades that cut cleanly.
• Best for: first cordless garden tool, small budgets, and anyone already on Greenworks 24V.

The catch: 24V is the lowest-powered option here and it will bog in thick or woody growth. Greenworks runs several incompatible voltage families (24V, 40V, 60V, 80V), so check carefully that any other tool you buy matches this one. A 4.0Ah pack on a 24V platform is a modest amount of total energy, so a very long hedge may need a second battery. And around 410 reviews is a smaller sample than the established names here.

Check the Greenworks 24V hedge trimmer on Amazon →

6. BLACK+DECKER 20V MAX 22-Inch — best budget cordless

Rated 4.7 stars across more than 6,400 reviews. BLACK+DECKER 20V MAX platform, 22-inch hardened steel dual-action blade, bare tool.

Six and a half thousand reviews at 4.7 stars for what is essentially the default homeowner hedge trimmer. It is light, it has dual-action blades which is the vibration feature that matters, it cuts an ordinary hedge perfectly well, and it runs on the 20V MAX platform that a very large number of households already have from a drill or a string trimmer.

There is no pretence to trade capability here and none is needed. If your hedges are maintained annually, if you are trimming this year’s growth rather than last decade’s, this does the job and the money saved can go on a second battery or on safety gear you should be buying anyway.

• Cutting capacity: this year’s growth. Take loppers to anything thicker.
• Why it works: light, dual-action blades, and it runs on a platform most households already own.
• Best for: annual maintenance trimming on a budget, and existing BLACK+DECKER 20V owners.

Where it falls short: bare tool, so you need a battery and charger. It is the least powerful cordless trimmer here and will jam in thick growth — do not try to reclaim an overgrown hedge with it. The build is consumer-grade rather than durable, so treat it accordingly. And B+D 20V MAX batteries are not interchangeable with the company’s other voltage lines, so check what you own.

Check the BLACK+DECKER 20V hedge trimmer on Amazon →

7. Makita DUN500WZ 18V Pole Hedge Trimmer — best for tall hedges

Rated 4.8 stars across around 680 reviews. Makita 18V LXT platform, brushless motor, extended pole reach, electric brake, constant speed control, bare tool.

This is the tool that replaces the ladder, and that substitution is the most important safety recommendation in this guide. A pole hedge trimmer puts the blade at the top of a tall hedge while your feet stay flat on the ground and both hands stay on the tool. It also lets you reach across the top of a wide hedge, which a handheld trimmer cannot do without you leaning into the plant.

Two features on this one are specifically worth having. The electric brake stops the blade almost instantly when you release the trigger, which matters enormously on a tool whose business end is several feet above your head. And constant speed control maintains blade speed as the load increases rather than letting it drop, which produces a cleaner cut when the head meets thicker growth — exactly the situation where an overhead tool would otherwise snag.

• Cutting capacity: around an inch of branch diameter, which is generous for an overhead tool.
• Why it works: it makes tall hedges reachable from the ground, which removes the single most dangerous thing people do with hedge trimmers.
• Best for: hedges above head height, wide hedges, and anyone who has been standing on a ladder with a trimmer.

What owners complain about: a pole tool held overhead is tiring in a different way from a handheld one — the leverage works against your shoulders, and a harness makes a real difference. Bare tool, so you need 18V LXT batteries. Working overhead means debris falls toward you, so eye protection is even more important than usual. It is not a substitute for a handheld trimmer on the vertical faces of a hedge, so most people with tall hedges end up owning both. And check what is in the box, as this listing is the tool only.

Check the Makita pole hedge trimmer on Amazon →

Also in the running

BLACK+DECKER 17-Inch Corded, 3.2 Amp

Rated 4.6 stars across more than 15,000 reviews. Corded electric, 17-inch dual-action hardened blade, 3.2 amp motor.

Fifteen thousand reviews for what is the cheapest sensible way to trim a hedge. Seventeen inches and 3.2 amps is modest, but it is light, it never runs out of power, and for a small hedge within reach of an outdoor outlet it is all you need. The number of households who would be better served by this than by a cordless kit they barely use is larger than the market would suggest.

Buy it if your hedge is short, near the house, and trimmed once or twice a year. Do not buy it if you will be working away from outlets, around corners, or anywhere the cord becomes a hazard rather than an inconvenience — and never use a corded tool where you might cut into the cord above your head.

Check the BLACK+DECKER corded hedge trimmer on Amazon →

EGO HTA2020 20-Inch Hedge Trimmer Attachment

Rated 4.6 stars across more than 4,300 reviews. Hedge trimmer attachment for the EGO POWER+ multi-head system, 20-inch steel blades with a one-inch cut capacity, carbon fiber shaft.

This is the multi-head option mentioned earlier, and it is the best value in this guide for the right person. If you own or are buying an EGO multi-head power head — the same motor unit that takes a string trimmer, an edger, a pole saw and a cultivator — then adding hedge trimming costs you one attachment rather than a whole tool, and it stores as a shaft on a hook rather than another complete machine in the shed.

The one-inch cut capacity is also higher than several of the standalone trimmers here, and the carbon fiber shaft keeps the weight down on a tool used at reach. It only makes sense if you want two or more of the attachments; as a way to buy just a hedge trimmer it is the wrong purchase.

Check the EGO hedge trimmer attachment on Amazon →

How to choose

• Check what battery platform you already own first. A bare tool on a platform you have is a fraction of the cost of a kit.
• Hedge taller than you can reach flat-footed: a pole hedge trimmer. Not a ladder. This is the most important line in this guide.
• Long, flat hedges: a longer blade, ideally with weight-saving in the rail, so fewer passes and a flatter finish.
• Short, fiddly hedges, topiary, corners: a shorter, lighter trimmer. Control beats reach.
• Overgrown or woody growth: a trade-grade brushless trimmer with real torque, and loppers for anything over the tooth gap.
• Annual maintenance of a tidy hedge: a budget cordless on a platform you own. Do not overspend.
• Short hedge near an outlet, once a year: a corded trimmer, and spend the difference on eye protection.
• You need several garden jobs done: a multi-head power head with attachments, not four separate tools.
• Always: dual-action blades, a debris deflector, and an electric brake if the budget allows.

Looking after it

Clean the blades after every use

Sap is the enemy. It dries hard, gums the blades so they slide against each other with more friction, and holds moisture against the steel so it rusts. Wipe the blades down with a rag and a resin or sap solvent after each session — battery out first — and the tool will cut better next time and last years longer.

Oil the blades before you put it away

A light machine oil or a purpose-made blade lubricant along the blade after cleaning prevents rust and reduces friction. Some manufacturers recommend a quick oil at the start of each session too, particularly on a long job. Do not use heavy grease, which collects debris.

Keep them sharp

Dull hedge trimmer blades do not cut cleanly, they crush and tear, which leaves ragged leaf edges that brown within a day and makes the whole hedge look poor for weeks. It also stresses the motor and the plant. Blades can be sharpened with a flat file following the existing bevel, a few strokes per tooth on each side, battery removed and gloves on — or taken to a sharpening service. If your hedge looks brown along the cut line a day after trimming, the blades are the reason.

Store it sheathed and dry

The blade sheath is not packaging. A sheathed blade is a blade that has not been knocked out of alignment against a wall and that you can reach past in a shed safely. Store the tool dry, out of freezing conditions, and store the battery indoors at a partial charge rather than in an unheated shed.

Check blade alignment if it starts snagging

If the trimmer starts catching and jamming on growth it used to cut, look at the blades along their length. A bent tooth or a blade knocked out of parallel — usually from hitting wire or a fence — makes the shear action fail at that point. A gentle straighten with pliers, battery out, often fixes it; a badly bent blade set needs replacing.

Frequently asked questions

What thickness can a hedge trimmer actually cut?

Whatever fits between the teeth, which is typically somewhere between about 3/8 of an inch and an inch depending on the tool. Above that you need loppers or a pruning saw, and forcing it is how blades bend and motors burn out. If you are regularly meeting branches thicker than the gap, the hedge needs renovation pruning with hand tools rather than shearing.

How often should I trim a hedge?

A formal evergreen hedge such as boxwood or privet typically wants two or three light trims a season to stay crisp. An informal hedge or a flowering shrub usually wants one cut a year, timed to its flowering habit as described above. More frequent light trimming produces a denser, better-looking hedge than one hard annual cut.

Why is my hedge bare at the bottom?

Almost always because the top is wider than the base and is shading the lower branches, or because it is a conifer that has been cut back into old wood. Start cutting a slight taper and the lower growth may recover over a few seasons; if it is a conifer cut into brown wood, it will not regrow and the options are screening plants in front or replacement.

Can I trim a hedge in summer?

Yes, and a light trim in mid to late summer is standard practice for formal hedges. Avoid trimming in hot, dry, sunny weather because newly exposed inner foliage scorches, and check for active nests before cutting during the nesting season.

Is a longer blade better?

Only for long, flat hedges, and only if you can hold it comfortably. A longer blade makes fewer passes and a flatter face, and it makes the tool heavier and more tiring at arm’s length. For most gardens 20 to 22 inches is the sweet spot, and blade length is not a proxy for quality or power.

Do I need a brushless motor?

It is better — more efficient, more torque under load, longer service life — and it is worth having if it is in budget. It is not essential on a trimmer used twice a year on light growth. It matters most on thick growth, where a brushed motor loses speed and heats up.

What is the difference between a hedge trimmer and a brush cutter?

A hedge trimmer shears leafy growth between reciprocating teeth. A brush cutter is a heavy string trimmer with a metal blade, for clearing brambles, saplings and rough ground. They are not interchangeable, and using a hedge trimmer on woody brush will destroy it.

Where we land

Shop on tooth gap and weight rather than blade length, because the gap sets what you can cut and the weight decides whether you finish. Check which battery platform you already own before anything else, because a bare tool on a platform you have costs a fraction of a kit. Get dual-action blades and, if your hedge is above head height, get a pole trimmer instead of standing on a ladder — that one substitution prevents the worst injuries in this whole category. Then cut a slight taper so the bottom of the hedge still gets light, check for nests before you start, and wipe the sap off the blades before you put the thing away.

Ratings and product details were verified at the time of writing. Availability and specifications can change — check the retailer page before buying.

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