Is It Motorized Or Manual? Pros And Cons Of Pruning Both Ways

When pruning your hedges, there are many types of tools available for you to use including:

Electric powered hedge trimmers

Gasoline powered hedge trimmers

Hand held hedge pruning shears

While many professionals recommend the hand held hedge pruning shears as the best tool to use when pruning your hedges, there are advantages and disadvantages to each type of tool used for hedge pruning. The following paragraphs will briefly discuss some of those pros and cons.

The reason most professionals recommend hand held hedge pruning shears as the best tool for pruning hedges is because the benefits are great! Hand held hedge pruning shears cut much closer than the gas and electrical powered trimmers, and do not cause the branches to break and tear. Hand held hedge pruning shears can be used on any type of hedge, they are quieter, and far less likely to gouge hedges or cause harm to the operator than gas and electrical powered trimmers. These hand held hedge pruning shears have proven extremely helpful in removing stray branches, and are almost essential if your hedges have an informal look. The greatest benefit is of course the money you'll save. Hand held shears are much cheaper than electric or gas powered trimmers. They are also considered safer to use since an electric or gas trimmer can bounce off a branch and will keep on cutting, not matter what's in the way. Also hand held hedge shears are much lighter than the electric and gas powered trimmers. Making it easier for you to keep on trimming!

Where there are advantages though, there are usually disadvantages. The disadvantages associated with using hand held hedge shears to prune your hedges are very few. The main disadvantage to pruning your hedges with hand held hedge pruning shears is that it can be much more time consuming than using gas and electrical powered hedge trimmers. Though the shears are lighter, another disadvantage is that your arm may tire easily from the movement necessary to open and close the shears, causing you to need a break during the pruning session. As you can see, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

Although the advantages to using hand held hedge pruning shears to prune your hedges are great, many people turn to gas or electrical powered hedge trimmers to do the job. Gas and electrical powered hedge trimmers have advantages, as well as disadvantages.

The main advantage to gas and electrical powered hedge trimmers is the convenience of pruning your hedges quickly, with less effort. More expensive electrical powered hedge trimmers are generally light weight, and can get the job done a lot more quickly than pruning with hand held hedge pruning shears. But electrical and gas powered hedge trimmers do not work on all types of hedges. That is only one disadvantage to using electrical or gas powered hedge trimmers to prune your hedges.

Another disadvantage to using electrical or gas powered hedge trimmers to prune your hedges is that they will often grab, and break the branches in your hedges. This is not good, and damaged areas of the hedges need to be touched up with hand held hedge pruning shears, to ensure their health and proper growth. Also, when pruning with electrical powered hedge trimmers, you need to have a source of electricity, along with a very long cord. And while you are pruning your hedges with an electrical powered hedge trimmer, you will need to be very careful not to cut the cord by accident.

There are advantages and disadvantages to every type of pruning method. While many professionals recommend hand held pruning shears for the best results when pruning your hedges, there are people who simply want to use electrical and gas powered hedge trimmers to prune their hedges. Whatever the chosen method, there are clear advantages and disadvantages associated with each. It is best to do some research, and educate yourself on the advantages and disadvantages of each before making a final decision on which method might be best for you. Keep in mind, some hedge types cannot be pruned with electrical or gas hedge trimmers, so you will have no choice but to prune those hedge types manually with hand held hedge pruning shears. Do your homework before making any final decisions.