How to use a hedge trimmer before you start cutting
Updated: October 2026
You are standing at a garden hedge with the sheath still on, and you want the order of the cut, both hands on the machine, and a clear point to stop. The legal stop is a nest in use, not a blanket ban on garden privet from March to August. This page is how to use a hedge trimmer. The eleven amazon.co.uk tools are the [Stihl hedge trimmer comparison](/hub/lawn-and-garden-equipment/stihl-hedge-trimmer). Written on 16 October 2026 from GOV.UK, the RHS and the listings, without a lab test. Amazon links may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You are standing at a garden hedge with the sheath still on, and you want the order of the cut, both hands on the machine, and a clear point to stop.
You are standing at a garden hedge with the sheath still on, and you want the order of the cut, both hands on the machine, and a clear point to stop. The legal stop is a nest in use, not a blanket ban on garden privet from March to August. This page is how to use a hedge trimmer. The eleven amazon.co.uk tools are the Stihl hedge trimmer comparison. Written on 16 October 2026 from GOV.UK, the RHS and the listings, without a lab test. Amazon links may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Blade | Tooth gap | Power | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Flymo Flymo SimpliCut 450 | 45 cm | 12-15 mm | Cordless 18 V | 8.4 | about £41.99 | View offer |
 Bosch Bosch UniversalHedgeCut 18V-50 | 50 cm | 20 mm | Cordless 18 V | 8.9 | about £139.94 | View offer | |
| Alternative |  SuperHandy SuperHandy corded pole | 51 cm | Not stated | Corded 550 W | 7.0 | about £99.99 | View offer |
On this page
Check for a nest before you check the calendar
Look through the hedge before you take the sheath off. Damaging a nest that is in use or being built, or destroying eggs, is the offence, as GOV.UK sets it out. An active nest is protected outside spring and summer as well. If you find one, leave that stretch until the birds have finished.
GOV.UK's main nesting window is 1 March to 31 August. Those dates are also the closed season for covered agricultural hedgerows, not a ban on every garden privet. Use the GOV.UK dates, and still look in September, because a nest in use is protected then too.
Both hands, then the sides
BS EN 62841-4-2 expects two-hand control, and the blade should stop when the handles are released. The standard's scope includes poles up to 3.5 m. That 3.5 m is the scope, not a reach claim for any ASIN here. New machines need English instructions and UKCA marking.
Keep both hands on the handles, thumbs wrapped. A lock-off on the 20 cm DeWalt shear is a claim about that short tool, not permission to run a 50 or 60 cm bar one-handed. Take the sheath off only at the hedge.
Cut the sides first, from the bottom, in sweeping arcs, which is the RHS order. Keep the top slightly narrower than the base so light reaches the lower leaves. On a 50 cm Bosch bar, overlap the next pass. Which bar you bought is the Stihl hedge trimmer buying guide.
The top, the cable, and a thick stem
Set a string line about 1 cm below the height you want, and cut the top last. Large-leaved evergreens look shredded when a trimmer cuts through the leaves. The RHS points to secateurs for laurel when you have the time. A trimmer suits small-leaved privet, beech and box.
The SuperHandy is the only corded machine in this set: 550 W, a stated reach of 2.7 m, £99.99 on 15 October 2026. Use a UK 3-pin plug, an RCD, and keep the cable behind you. One UK review describes a fused plug and a two-pin connector at the tool. That is a review, not a certificate. Do not cut above shoulder height with a handheld bar.
Stop when a stem is thicker than the gap printed for the tool you are holding. Thicker than that is a lopper. If the blade jams, release the handles, wait until it has stopped, then clear the stem.
When you stop
Stop for a nest, a stem beyond the tooth gap, a jam you cannot clear with the blade stopped, or a top you cannot reach with both feet on the ground. A live blade on a ladder is a stop. Poles and reach are on the hedge trimmers for tall hedges page. Stop, too, if a conservation area or a tree preservation order applies and you do not have the permission that case needs. Cut only to your boundary.
Call someone when the hedge is above the stated reach or the stems are far thicker than the gap. Paid crews fall under HSE vibration values of 2.5 m/s² A(8) action and 5 m/s² A(8) limit, and noise action values of 80 and 85 dB(A), limit 87 dB(A).
Common questions
Do I have to wait until September to cut a garden hedge?
You have to avoid a nest in use or being built, and you must not destroy eggs, in any month. The 1 March to 31 August window is GOV.UK's main nesting period and the closed season for covered agricultural hedgerows. A garden privet is not automatically under that farm ban. Look through the hedge first.
Which part of the hedge do I cut first?
Cut the sides first, from the bottom, in sweeping arcs, and keep the top slightly narrower than the base. Run a string line about 1 cm below the finished height and cut the top last. That is the RHS sequence. Top first dumps clippings onto a face you have not checked.
Why both hands, and what should happen when I let go?
BS EN 62841-4-2 expects two-hand control, and the blade should stop when the handles are released. Keep your thumbs around the handles. A single-hand lock-off on a 20 cm shear does not transfer to a long bar or a pole. If you let go and the blade keeps running, stop using that machine and treat it as a fault.
What do I do with a stem the teeth will not take?
Release the handles and wait until the blade has stopped. Cut that stem with loppers, or leave it. Forcing it into a 16 mm gap, or a Flymo whose listing says 12 mm in one place and 15 mm in another, is how bars jam. The Bosch handheld states 20 mm. The DeWalt 60 cm states 25 mm. Stay inside the figure printed for the tool you are holding.
When should I stop and hire someone?
Hire someone when the top is above the tool's stated reach, when you are tempted to take a live blade onto a ladder, when a tree preservation order or conservation area applies, or when the stems are far thicker than the tooth gap. Employers who run trimmers all day also need an HSE noise and vibration assessment. A single home hedge in reasonable hours is a different case.
Related pages
Sources
Sources checked for this comparison; last retrieved on 16 October 2026.
- STIHL UK, hedge trimmer buying guide (retrieved 15 October 2026)
- STIHL UK, HSA 50 (retrieved 15 October 2026)
- Just Lawnmowers, STIHL hedge trimmers (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, hedgerow management rules (retrieved 15 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, wild birds: protection and licences (retrieved 15 October 2026)
- HSE INDG480, hand-arm vibration (retrieved 15 October 2026)
- HSE, noise at work for employers (retrieved 15 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, high hedges: complaining to the council (retrieved 15 October 2026)