Founded a year after the outbreak of the First World War, Makita Corporation specialized in the mass production and maintenance of electric motors.

weight, and the balance and comfortable handles mean it’s easy on the arms while tackling smaller, lighter hedges. Offering excellent power to weight ratio with its lightweight design, the Makita DUH751 is a reliable Hedge trimmer offering efficient cutting of branches up to 23.It has a new blade design with reduced friction increases runtime, 75cm (750mm) length and a maximum cutting diameter of 23. It’s great for lightweight hedging – zipping through leaves, brush and smaller branches without any fuss – and its manoeuvrability makes it great for shaping lonicera or privet. The DUH751Z features a 5 position rotating rear handle and a double action switch for increased operator safety. Once the height of your hedges reaches above 7ft or so, keeping the top neatly clipped can be a nightmare.

What’s more, it now uses the same 18V Power For All batteries as models from Gardena and Bosch, with a 2.The DUH751Z is equipped with double sided, curved blades reducing friction resistance which suppresses energy loss. You can keep adjusting the position as you trim each side of the hedge, or work along the top, to match what feels most comfortable to you. Constant speed control maintains steady speed under load, to deliver up to 4,400 spm for faster cutting. Those with lengthy or tougher hedges will soon want something with a bit more reach and clout, but this is a great tool for a speedy trim or getting your unruly hedges ship-shape two or three times a year.

Einhell also makes a cheaper, hedge-trimmer-only tool – the GE-HH 18/45 – but this is one brilliant and versatile garden tool. Key specs – Power source: 18V Li-ion battery; Power: Not supplied; Blade length: 50cm; Maximum branch width: 20mm; Weight: 2. However, when you’ve got masses of hedge to trim – particularly dense conifers or woody laurel – you’ll be glad to have it. To prong the maintenance life, the hedge trimmer features a powerful motor which is brushless and can be set to 3 varying speeds, offering 0-2000 strokes per min on Low setting, Medium 0-3600 strokes per min and High offering 0-4400 strokes per min.That should easily be enough to tackle a substantial set of hedges, and the Comfort Cut 50/18V is perfect for the job. However, size isn’t just about length, but also the size of the teeth on the blade and the gap between them, as this goes a long way to defining how thick a twig or branch can be before the trimmer can’t chop through it. This model chewed through everything we could throw at it, including lonicera, laurel, and some really woody conifer hedging. What’s more, the ergonomic design has an ingenious feature where pulling a lever allows you to rotate the blade by twisting around the top handle.

Key specs – Power source: 18V li-ion battery; Power: N/S; Blade length: 75cm; Maximum branch width: 23.

This tool is also equipped with a Battery protection circuit, which protects the battery from damages sustained by high temperature or overload current. Toolstop Limited is a credit broker, not a lender and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 737231). The trimmer’s a good length for a small to medium-sized garden with a 5ft to 6ft hedge, and there’s enough power on tap to handle most types of hedging bar heavyweight conifers or laurel; it worked through sections of a hornbeam hedge in no time.