What can cordless "grass" shears cut?

June 21, 2020 5:07 PM

You know those cordless grass shears? Example. I am reading a lot of conflicting information about what they can cut. Some people say small branches, other people say nothing but grass and even then it gets bogged down if the grass is too thick or dry. I would consider springing for these if they would help me trim back English ivy, lemon balm, dead Siberian iris foliage, etc. Or is there some other tool that would help me do this? Traditional hand tools are getting to be too hard for me to use.
posted by HotToddy to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

You are looking for a cordless hedge trimmer, which have a good bit more oomph than those grass trimmers.
posted by rockindata at 5:16 PM on June 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

When I bought an electric hedge trimmer, it came with a grass shear attachment, but I never figured out what it was for.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:14 PM on June 21, 2020

I've only used the corded version of these sort of things. Like jamaro, eh, about 1/4" thick branches shouldn't be much of a problem. Just like using clippers to shave your head, If you're shaving a full head of hair it will take some time and jam up a bit and you have to take it a bit slow. But if you're just clipping off the new bits of growth the clippers will buzz right though them no problem. It might take some time the first time around as they struggle, maybe use some pruning shears for anything really big, but for the lighter stuff it's probably fine. It's cordless vs corded but Makita is a generally decent brand of power tools.

The hedge trimmer is more like a chainsaw than clippers. A much longer cutting area that probably takes two hands as you swing it around. These would be more like hair clippers (or electric razor) that you might be able to finesse a bit more. Depends on how big and knarly your plants are.

I don't know my plants, but the 1/4" sounds about right.
posted by zengargoyle at 7:18 PM on June 21, 2020