Hi,

I have a small front garden - terrace job - but I have lots of plants and
bushes in it including a type of bamboo that is growing to the Moon. I
reckon there is about a good day's work there with clippers but... my old
hand clippers are rusted away. I've been quite ill this Summer, am just on
the mend now, so was unable to do anything back in the Summer.

Should I simply get a new pair of hand clippers or opt instead for one of
the electrical ones which, frankly, scare the daylights out of me. Are they
THAT dangerous to use? In terms of hand clippers someone mentioned getting
'long handled' ones as they make clipping quicker than the short ones that I
have - is this true?

Thanks for any advice or info on brands, what to pay, where to buy, etc. I
am thinking of Argos or B&Q, Homebase.

John.

John Smith wrote in message
...
Hi,

I have a small front garden - terrace job - but I have lots of plants and
bushes in it including a type of bamboo that is growing to the Moon. I
reckon there is about a good day's work there with clippers but... my old
hand clippers are rusted away. I've been quite ill this Summer, am just on
the mend now, so was unable to do anything back in the Summer.

Should I simply get a new pair of hand clippers or opt instead for one of
the electrical ones which, frankly, scare the daylights out of me. Are
they
THAT dangerous to use? In terms of hand clippers someone mentioned getting
'long handled' ones as they make clipping quicker than the short ones that
I
have - is this true?

Thanks for any advice or info on brands, what to pay, where to buy, etc. I
am thinking of Argos or B&Q, Homebase.

John.



Hi John,

I have many trees, shrubs and an enormously long hedge. I manage very well
with manual tools. If you're not that happy with electric tools, give them
a miss. I use quality (Felco) secateurs, manual shears, geared Wilkinson
Sword by-pass lopper, a folding pruning saw and, occasionally, a bow saw. I
even use a push-cylinder-mower on my two lawns, so no electrical gear enters
my garden (unless hubby is d.i.y.-ing).

Although I recommend hand/manual tools, I doubt I should recommend specific
brands to you. I really get on with my tools, but you may prefer different
brands/prices/weights to me. Have a look around some of the bigger garden
centres, take your time and get a sense of the balance/weight of each tool,
how comfortable the handle is, how easy to operate safety features (I sense
this may be important to you). If your expertise lies in losing garden
tools :-)!!, look for brightly coloured handles - although not at the
expense of tool quality.

Once you've got your tools - whether manual or electrical - buy some oil so
that you can maintain them and keep them from rusting. Remember, it's not
only rain that rusts blades, plant sap does it just as effectively.

IF you do consider an electrical tool, please use a circuit-breaker from the
start - don't wait until you've had an accident.

Regards,
Spider

In uk.rec.gardening Spider wrote:

IF you do consider an electrical tool, please use a circuit-breaker from the
start - don't wait until you've had an accident.

You mean an RCD, a "circuit-breaker" doesn't necessarily mean an RCD
though an RCD is one sort of circuit breaker.

If your house is modern or has been fairly recently rewired all sockets
which 'might be used for appliances outdoors' must have RCD protection
anyway, this will be in the consumer unit (Fuse box). Thus additional
protection is unnecessary and can even be a bit dangerous as there
will be no discrimination between the RCDs.

--
Chris Green

wrote in message ...
In uk.rec.gardening Spider wrote:

IF you do consider an electrical tool, please use a circuit-breaker from
the
start - don't wait until you've had an accident.

You mean an RCD, a "circuit-breaker" doesn't necessarily mean an RCD
though an RCD is one sort of circuit breaker.

If your house is modern or has been fairly recently rewired all sockets
which 'might be used for appliances outdoors' must have RCD protection
anyway, this will be in the consumer unit (Fuse box). Thus additional
protection is unnecessary and can even be a bit dangerous as there
will be no discrimination between the RCDs.

--
Chris Green


Thanks for the info both. I think I will give the electrical tools a miss. I
know about the RCDs but, anyhow, I try to avoid the electrics whenever
possible.

wrote in message ...
In uk.rec.gardening Spider wrote:

IF you do consider an electrical tool, please use a circuit-breaker from
the
start - don't wait until you've had an accident.

You mean an RCD, a "circuit-breaker" doesn't necessarily mean an RCD
though an RCD is one sort of circuit breaker.

If your house is modern or has been fairly recently rewired all sockets
which 'might be used for appliances outdoors' must have RCD protection
anyway, this will be in the consumer unit (Fuse box). Thus additional
protection is unnecessary and can even be a bit dangerous as there
will be no discrimination between the RCDs.

--
Chris Green


Thanks for clarifying, Chris.
Spider

I've never had a problem with electrical shears but sometimes they take longer than hand tools just because you end up unplugging the damn things everytime you get a bit stuck in them.
I have only ever found them useful for privet and leylandii hedges though.

"Spider" wrote in message
...

wrote in message ...
In uk.rec.gardening Spider wrote:

IF you do consider an electrical tool, please use a circuit-breaker
from
the
start - don't wait until you've had an accident.

You mean an RCD, a "circuit-breaker" doesn't necessarily mean an RCD
though an RCD is one sort of circuit breaker.

If your house is modern or has been fairly recently rewired all sockets
which 'might be used for appliances outdoors' must have RCD protection
anyway, this will be in the consumer unit (Fuse box). Thus additional
protection is unnecessary and can even be a bit dangerous as there
will be no discrimination between the RCDs.

--
Chris Green


Thanks for clarifying, Chris.
Spider



I had a look at B&Q but they only do electrical gardening cutting tools. I
was surprised to see that an identical page turned up on the Homebase site
as on the Argos site when I did a search for "shears" - the difference being
that the Homebase site does not have the products in the shop. So it looks
like Argos as my local garden centre is notorious, IMPO, for being very
expensive.

I bought a nice set of shears, lopping shears and pruning shears for £15 in
Argos. I was a tad worried about the quality but they seem pretty good for
the job in hand and I have got through a large part of the cutting back this
afternoon. I am glad I got the lopping shears as the thick bamboo needs it.

Thanks for the info.

John.