A Mini-Guide to Electric Garden Tools

Electric garden tools help gardeners tackle tough jobs easily and efficiently. Among other things, they help gardeners cut weeds, trim hedges and make gathering leaves a snap. Since they do so many things for us, it's good to know what to look for in electric garden tools to get the best value for your money. Here's a mini-guide to electric garden tools that can help gardeners choose the right tools that best meet their needs. It includes examples of the most commonly used tools, what to look for in quality items and a price range that tells consumers what to reasonably expect to pay for those quality items.

Most Common Types of Electric Garden Tools:

There are three commonly used electric garden tools that most gardeners would consider to be essential to a well-maintained garden: a hedge trimmer, a leaf blower and an electric weed trimmer. Each of these tools helps gardeners to tackle dirty, messy jobs more efficiently than manual tools. They also save gardeners a lot of back-breaking labor if they tried to do these jobs by hand! Here’s a brief description of these tools and what to reasonably expect to pay for quality items.

Hedge Trimmers:

Electric hedge trimmers come in a wide range lengths and styles. Some have sliding handles. Others have a rotary blade that makes easy work of even the hardest to trim hedge. In addition, there are hedge trimmers that have front or back blades that allow the consumer a variety of cutting widths and depths. All varieties will use different amounts of electricity to operate. Expect to pay around $125-$250 for a quality hedge trimmer that has a front-cutting blade feature that is quiet, light-weight and uses less electricity to operate.

Leaf Blowers:

Electric Leaf blowers come in both corded and cordless styles. Both styles use a motor to create an airstream to move leaves around to one central location. The corded varieties might have more power but their cords might limit the range of the item. Cordless electric leaf blowers have more range but sometimes lack enough power to tackle really big jobs. Look for an electric leaf blower that has enough power to get through bigger jobs while also being quiet and light enough to use outside. Expect to pay around $100-$150 for a cordless leaf blower with these traits.

Electric Weed Trimmers:

Electric weed trimmers come in varying lengths and sizes and feature corded and cordless varieties. Some have adjustable handles while others have adjustable cutting heights. Gardeners also have a choice of several cutting blades that are specially designed for varying workloads. Electric weed trimmers also come in a wide variety of trimmer line gauges that have spools that need to be replaced often. When shopping for an electric weed trimmer, there are several things to consider. Try to find one that is easy to carry, quiet and cordless. This will give you maxim range and power to do tough jobs easily. Expect to pay around $65-$125 for a cordless electric weed trimmer that provides about 6 amps of power. That is enough power and range to get even the toughest jobs done fast.