CUTTING, TRIMMING AND WEEDING
Turn your backyard jungle into a relaxing green space just in time for summer with our favourite garden power tools for shaping unruly hedges, blasting weeds and mowing lawns
Bosch EasyCut 12
Tackle unruly hedges and wayward trees with Bosch’s ‘cute’ mini chainsaw. It delivers precise cuts and enables simple single-handed sawing whenever the mood takes you. Fancy upcycling that bit of branch you just removed? Thanks to its revolving chain and NanoBlade tech, you can use the EasyCut 12 to perform freehand cuts without having to clamp pieces of the branch in place first. The chainsaw is low-vibration too, so it shouldn’t cause long-term aggravation to your wrist. £129.99, bosch-garden.com/gb/en
Batavia 3-in-1 Weeder
Weeds are unsightly, tenacious and, if left unchecked, can quickly overrun a garden. It’s time to get heavy-handed with them, and by that we mean scorching stubborn weeds with a 600-degree blast of hot air, then watching them curl up and wither to mere crisps. Batavia’s multi-tasking garden and home tool uses no chemicals or gas, making it environmentally sound for use outdoors, and also doubles as a hot air gun and even a BBQ lighter.
£48, mowermagic.co.uk
Stihl HSA 56 Hedge Cutter
Burly bushes blocking your perfect garden view? Cut them down to size with Stihl’s ambitious hedge cutter. Cordless and relatively lightweight in design, the HSA 56 gives you a much greater reach over hedges and bushes, including fancy-shaped hedges that require a little extra finesse in the cutting department. The HSA 56 is also designed to be lowvibration, so you should, in theory, be able to use it for the full 40-minute run time (if needed) without experiencing any discomfort. Stihl also sells bigger battery packs that could boost your hedge-cutting time to 120 minutes.
£199, stihl.co.uk
Worx WG169E Cordless Grass Trimmer
A grass trimmer, also known as a strimmer, will reach the really fiddly parts of your garden (that are otherwise inaccessible to your mower) and keep the edges looking neat. The Worx cordless trimmer does away with wires, leaving you free to roam your garden, trimming back stray blades or tenacious weeds. You won’t have to bend or overextend either, as the tilting, telescopic shaft adjusts easily to cover the distance for you. There’s also a flower guard to spare delicate blooms and ornaments from getting a buzz cut. £99.99, worx.com
Flymo Lawnrake 3400
Thatch is essential for a healthy lawn, but too much can damage your garden, encouraging moss, spores and disease to bed in. Garden experts recommend scarifying your lawn once or twice a year to remove excess thatch, giving your grass room to breathe. Flymo’s electric lawnrake uses a cylinder rake to remove thatch, and comes with a removable compacting collection box; a Unique Vision window enables you to see how much has been collected and when it’s time to empty the box. £119.99, flymo.com/uk
Greenworks 40V Cordless Lawn Mower
With a continuous run time of up to 60 minutes, Greenworks’ li-ion batterypowered mower is the lawn lackey you’ve been longing for. With a 40cm cutting path and five-position height adjustment (from 20mm to 70mm), it’s perfect for staying on top of mediumsized gardens and offers the muscle of a petrol-powered mower without the smog. Dump grass cuttings into the included mulching kit to begin making your own compost.
£249.99, greenworkstools.eu