Spear & Jackson 8120RS/09 Razorsharp Telescopic Hedge Shears

Product Information

The Tabor B212E hedge shears are a great telescopic shear . Due to the wavy edge blade, cutting through vegetation is marginally easier. However I am not sure how easy it is going to be sharpening them. Some telescopic/extendable pruners are manually powered. They have a ‘squeeze’ handle that causes the blades at the top to close and cut. As long as the blades are sharp enough, this shouldn’t be too hard on the hands. These manual pruners are usually best suited to cutting fresh, live stems/branches as opposed to woodier ones. They’ll work best on bushes, hedges and small, young trees. The presence of a motor increases its weight, so it’s not the lightest pruner at 3.8 kg, but there is a shoulder included to help make it more manageable. Whilst the strap does help to some extent, using the RPP750S still requires a fair amount of upper body strength. I imagine many of us will have experienced the difficulty of trying to trim a hedge that has some branches lying frustratingly just out of reach. If this happens a lot in your garden, these Wilkinson Sword Telescopic Garden Shears will certainly come in handy. Thanks to their telescopic handle, these hedge shears offer a lot of flexibility in their length, making it easier to reach awkward spots when hedge trimming. Evergreen Yew hedges make one of the most forgiving when it comes to maintenance. When pruned correctly yew creates one of the best barriers and evergreen screens.

One small criticism would be with the number of plastic components on the pruners. Both the extender mechanism, and the cutting head angle adjuster, are plastic, which seems less durable than if all the important parts were made from metal. The heads can be orientated differently depending on whether they are intended for grass cutting or edging. Shears for grass cutting will have a ‘scissor’ head that is positioned parallel to the ground. Shears for edging will have a head that cuts more like a standard pair of scissors. Being a professional gardener I need the best tools to cut & prune hedges and plants on a daily basis. So, I found the HSX92 to be solid garden shears , well designed and with razor sharp blades. One of the finest I have used and shears that will last me for life (one hopes). They’re chrome-plated and made from carbon steel, resulting in a high-quality tool that can comfortably cut branches up to 6 mm. In some instances, the blades can cut up to 10 mm. The pole is extendable from 130 cm to 200 cm, and is suitable for both mid-range pruning, and cutting higher up. Short-handled manual shears are one choice for topiary. As long as they are relatively compact, again not exceeding 60 cm, they’ll give sufficient control for basic shapes on medium/large bushes. They tend to be able to cut stalks up to approximately 5 mm in diameter.

My Top Recommended Garden Shears

Many of the best garden shears feature blades made from chrome-plated steel . The benefit of this material is that it holds its sharpness well and won’t rust. Sharp blades are indispensable when it comes to gardening work as clean cuts reduce the likelihood of bacteria entering the plant. With the fantastic build quality we’ve come to expect this company, the units weight and the PowerGear technology these are an exceptional garden shear. Best Hedge Shears – my personal favourite? One other issue is that the cord isn’t quite long enough when the handle is at full extension, so you may need to lengthen it if you’re regularly pruning at full extension. For most everyday pruning jobs, look for multi-purpose shears with 17 – 20 cm (7 – 8″) blades. These will generally cut through stalks up to 10 mm in diameter without being too unwieldy or heavy.

Not as heavy duty as other sets I would recommend this model for light cutting work but still a good set of shears with decent blades. There are couple of choices when it comes to sharpening the blades on your shears . Either by buying a specialised tool for shears and doing it yourself or by handing your shears over to professional to do this for you. Hedge Trimming – Popular Hedges Yew Pruning (Taxus baccata)If you are struggling with having this disease or the caterpillar we have an article on the best box replacement hedges. Final Word from Me Firstly, if I may be so bold, I’m going to mention the Multi-Sharp 1401 Shear & Scissor Sharpenerwhich I have found to be one of the easiest ways to sharpen manual hedge shears (plus, extra tip: you can also use it to sharpen household scissors!). verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{

For shorter trees and bushes, look for telescopic tree pruners with a maximum extension length of around 2m, and a shorter setting closer to 1m . These heights will provide sufficient versatility without requiring the use of a ladder. Caring for and maintaining your garden shears is important. That includes everything from knowing how to sharpen your garden shears to ensuring that you remove plant matter and dirt before storing them away. The handle extends from 1.37 m to 2.5 m, so you can neaten up hedges as well as tall trees. Weighing just 1 kg in total, it’s easy to use these pruners comfortably for long periods of time.

How we tested

Using telescopic shears can be safer than using a ladder, particularly if there is no-one around to support the ladder.

If you also want to use the pruner for some close-range jobs, make sure that its non-extended length is manageable. Extendable pruners tend to be over 1 m long even on their shortest setting, so there may still be jobs that will still require a pair of smaller hand pruners. The pole is very easy to extend to a maximum of 3 m, making this tool suitable for taller trees. The blade can be removed from the handle if you want to use it for handheld pruning. To make it easier to cut stems that are in awkward positions, the top section of these pruners can be adjusted, giving you greater manoeuvrability and allowing you to reach specific stems.

If you’re looking for something a bit more delicate, one-handed topiary shears can be used for small plants. They’ll only cut soft, green shoots, so are only used for delicate tidying up/shaping jobs. Due to their small size, they give a lot of control when approaching smaller shrubs. An Extensive Hedge Row Sharp tools are safer to use than blunt ones. They are less likely to slip, and they’ll work better.