I'm thinking about getting manual hedge clippers. Has anybody reverted from electric to manual? My first thought is that it'd take a lot longer that way, but I want to ask if anybody has experience and found that to be true.
Any other comments on using manual clippers?
Depends on much trimming you have to do. Besides that, I found the electric gave me a cleaner line. Never went back.
--Vic
I had both, got rid of the manual ones quickly. It's much harder to get a level line when you are closing the shears while trying to maintain a certain height (or whatever). WIth the electric, you just/ only have one thing going on at a time.
Tom wrote in news:itnrr7$899$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:
Besides the time factor... as others have stated, it's a LOT tougher to make a smooth surface with manual shears.
Plus, with a manual it's also harder to reach the top face of taller hedges. Much over chest-height, and you're needing a ladder.
There's a reason power mowers and trimmers were invented.
Most consumer level hand hedge shears are blunt and need one blade sharpened at some angle of 30 degrees or less. Keeping a straight line requires using the tool properly which is rarely ever seen. You keep one arm straight and open and close the shears with the other. Operating them like you are trying to clap your knuckles together makes for a poor job. There is no shame in dragging out a string to set a reference , nor is there any shame in going down the line with a pair of lopping shears to remove heavier wood first. Properly done you should not see any woody stubs on the surface you have trimmed, these should all be back a few inches. For around 100 bucks you can buy a pair of ARS k-1000 or k- 1000l which are a joy to use. There are knock off's which are not too bad as well ,Lee Valley EC-520 $35.50
For less money you can still find good quality Wallace, Wiss, or Wilkenson shears in yard sales and flea markets and tune them up or have your local sharpening shop do the work.
master gardener, 25 years full time sharpener, beekeeper, curmudgeon
My orange cord has a number of black electrical tape bandaids on it.
Shrubbery is green, last time I looked.
HB
Everybody talks about a flat, level surface on hedge. But there is another appearance, preferred by some.
Ex: At the Getty Museum in LA, where the magnificent gardens are better, some opine, than the collections , hedge clipping is viewed quite differently. There, the gardeners meticulously clip individual stems, precisely in order to create a more naturalistic line. "Flat", yes, in the sense that a given twig doesn't stick way up above the others, but this method gives a more lush, natural appearance. I have seen them at their work, and appreciate the difference. (Of course the Getty has beaucoup $ to pay its landscape maintenance staff!)
Ya pays yer money & ya takes yer choice.
HB
HB
It depends heavily on the plant. IF the plant really needs a planar trimming, electric is the way to go. But many hedge plants do better if they don't get a planar trimming, but are thinned and cut back with pruners. Laurels, myrtles, photinia and other branchy or leafy hedge plants fall into this category.
Using pruners on such plants not only produces healthier results, but can be faster to clean up, and fairly quick to perform.
not necessarily to everyone. Here is what the world looks like to a person who is partly color blind - like me. It's not all shades of grey:
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