Let down by the fact it is only a hedge trimmer, but there you go.

Our hedge has developed into a serious ‘s*d off’ piece of vegetation. I have 2 hedge trimmers, one loooong reach Stihl for the top, and a smaller one for the edges. The top is nicely under control but the sides are becoming too robust for my electric trimmer which is designed to cope with a max diameter of one inch. Some of the branches are nearing 2 inches and you can almost hear the laughing when I wield the little hedge trimmer. Anyway, battle commenced the other day and the hedge trimmer gave up the ghost in a fit of pique and blue smoke.

Cue Mrs slowjo coming round the corner with a mug of tea. I think you need a bigger, better one, something that will cope with 2 inch branches, do some research and go and get one.

I don’t have carte blanche to blow the next month’s money on a hedge trimmer but…. electric or petrol? Any recommendations for a suitable bit of kit?

You need a pruning saw and a set of loppers to regain control of that hedge(safely without spending heaps)

what kind of hedge is it.

hack out the thick stuff a good distance back – then tidy up the smaller stuff with the stihl long reach hedge cutter – its the perfect tool for the sides. Used ours for everything bar ornamental foot high box and similar.

It is a Heinz 57 type hedge. All sorts in there, beech, privet and loads of other stuff Mrs S knows all about but I don’t. This one is >25m long and there’s another (admittedly in far better shape) that is only about 10m long. It might take a long time doing it by hand!

The main hedge is now over 7 foot tall in places and is coming down inn size bit by bit. It is getting on for 6 foot thick, more in places.

Proper man tools are petrol powered. But loppers and saw first before going mad with the petrol stuff.

Another vote for a first pass with the manual tools to take out some of the thick stuff. If you cut low down selectively it is not that many cuts. A dry day would see it done based on doing 10m in a couple of hours in our garden.

Thanks all…..I’ll whip out the old pruning saw first then.

Let battle commence!

You need a hedge trimmer attachment for a chain saw.

you mean a chainsaw attachment for your hedge cutter:) ? – you can get a pole cutter with a chainsaw on the end.

Id still use the loppers and saw though.

No chain saw I am afraid as I don’t burn wood but I do have an obsolete multi fuel burner if anyone is interested? 🙂

Rip the lot out. That’s what we have done/are doing.

Done for one load of Laurel, one load of thorny stuff, another bank of planted Christmas tress, holly and thorn last summer/autumn.

Just started on the next lot – gawd knows what it all was, but there is a pile of cuttings as high as our shed and about 10ft long – waiting for a skip to arrive (which is being hired for a bathroom refit so the cuttings are going in first to be compacted down by the bathroom).

Cutting back with pruning saw and loppers is the right advice. If there is any sycamore in it try and cut that right out at the base as it destroys the integrity of the hedge. I would replace the electric hedge trimmer thereafter. I have a lot of hedges and have three hedge trimmers, a petrol second hand no name long reach, a petrol Echo short reach, and a rechargeable Bosch electric. The electric one is the most used one as it is less tiring to use – light and quiet.