Everything you need to know about grass trimmers

Grass trimmers are perfect for adding a finishing touch to your lawn by trimming the edges that your lawnmower can’t reach, but choosing the right grass trimmer can tricky if you don’t know where to start. Our guide will help you answer all your grass trimmer questions

Before we begin, you need to consider your garden. Do you have a small or large garden? Do you have access to an outdoor power supply? Once you answer these questions, you will be able to decide if you would prefer a corded or cordless grass trimmer.

You should also consider what kind of vegetation you would be cutting. Will you be cutting standard garden lawn, or coarser, overgrown grass? This will help make it easier to choose a grass trimmer that suits your gardening needs.

There are 3 types of grass trimmers:

• Corded electric
• Cordless electric
• Petrol

Corded electric grass trimmers provide unlimited run times without needing to worry about ongoing fuel costs or having enough charge in your battery. They are easy to maintain and provide constant power. Corded grass trimmer tend to be lightweight, usually between 2-3kg, yet are still powerful and efficient. Bear in mind that a corded trimmer limits the size of the work area, and might be difficult to manage if you have trees or other obstacles in your garden plus the issue of access to an electric power source.

Cordless electric grass trimmers are perfect if you want the freedom to easily move around your garden without the risk of damaging a cable or the limitations of access to a power source. Cordless electric grass trimmers are similar to corded models as they are lightweight, require low maintenance and are relatively quiet. However, the main thing to consider when purchasing a cordless grass trimmer is the run time of the product. For example, will you manage to do the whole garden before the battery runs out? If not consider storing an additional battery so you can leave one on charge while you use the other.

If you have long grass, coarse weeds or rough vegetation then a petrol grass trimmer is perfect for you. They’re similar to cordless electric grass trimmers as they are powerful, portable and offer unrestricted movement. Petrol grass trimmers are often a lot heavier and louder plus they require additional ongoing fuel costs.

Traditionally grass trimmers come with a cutting line, often referred to as ‘line trimmers’. This is a strong wire that rotates extremely quickly to cut the grass. This line is held on a spool within the grass trimmer head, and fed out by one of three different systems:

Manual feed- Where the user stops the grass trimmer and manually pulls out more line.

Bump feed- Where the trimmer head is physically ‘bumped’ on the ground.

Automatic feed- Where more line is automatically fed out when the grass trimmer trigger is released.

However, some grass trimmers have a plastic blade cutting system rather than a line. These durable blades rotate at high speed cutting grass, weeds and other garden debris with ease. The plastic blades are easy to change, more durable and ensure excellent cutting results.