10 Best Hedge Trimmer of 2026, Cordless, Corded and Petrol Picks Compared

My front privet gets cut more than any other hedge in the garden, usually with Scout supervising from the doorstep. It's exactly the job this Flymo is built for. The EasiCut 450 arrives as a complete kit with an 18V Power for All battery and charger, a 45cm blade, a 16mm blade gap and a 270° wrap-around handle that turns for the hedge face. Flymo quotes up to 55 minutes per charge, and it ranked highly in one UK roundup I read. The limit is that small blade gap, though, which won't bite through woody stems the way the Greenworks should.

Most 18V kits at this level stop at 45cm. Ryobi's RY18HT55A-120 stretches to 55cm, with diamond-ground blades and a listed 24mm blade gap, a step ahead of the Flymo on a beech hedge left a season too long. The starter kit includes a 2.0Ah ONE+ battery, a charger and a HedgeSweep attachment, and that battery fits the rest of Ryobi's ONE+ range (handy if a Ryobi drill already lives in your shed). I found no editorial coverage of this exact kit, so it's a spec-led pick, and a 2.0Ah pack won't stretch far on a long boundary.

Read the listing carefully: this is the bare HSA 56, with no battery or charger. Stihl builds it around its AK battery system, so it makes most sense when a Stihl pack already sits in the shed for a mower or blower. You get a 45cm blade with teardrop-shaped cutters and a compact body that steers easily around borders, and the model featured in a UK roundup during my research. Bought from scratch with a battery and charger, though, it works out pricier than the whole Flymo kit, which is why it sits third.

Got an outdoor socket near the hedge? Then corded still makes sense, and this Bosch is where I'd start. It pairs a 480 W motor with a 60cm blade and a 30mm tooth opening, the widest in my ten, which makes a strong case for it as the best hedge trimmer for the money on thicker growth. Bosch says its ProSilence design brings noise down to 91dB, and the handle switches position for tops and sides. The cable is the trade-off, as you'll spend the afternoon flicking it back over your shoulder.

Already own Makita LXT batteries? Then the DUH606Z deserves a close look, but note that this listing is the bare tool. An 18V brushless motor drives a 60cm blade on an aluminium guide bar, with a 20mm maximum branch diameter, a front handle switch, an LED indicator and an anti-restart function. Makita quotes up to 70 minutes of continuous running on a fully charged BL1860B battery. The editorial coverage I found was for a sibling Makita model, so I've described this listing only. Next to the Stihl, you get a much longer blade.

Petrol still earns its place on a long rural boundary of hawthorn and blackthorn, far from any socket. The Husqvarna 122HD60 runs a 21.7cc two-stroke engine with a 0.5L fuel tank and a 59cm blade, and it was the petrol choice in one roundup I went through. At 4.9kg on the listing it's one of the heavier trimmers here, so anything above head height tires your arms quickly. You'll also be mixing fuel, pull-starting it and wearing the ear protection Husqvarna specifies. On a field-edge hedge, though, you never stop to recharge, something the Greenworks and other cordless kits can't promise.

Judge this by what it's for: small hedges trimmed little and often. The BEHT201 is a corded 420W trimmer with 45cm dual-action blades, a 16mm cut capacity and a bale handle for control when you turn it sideways. It's the most affordable model in my ten, and its compact size suits a small front garden or courtyard. I couldn't find any editorial coverage of it, so this pick rests on its listing alone. That small capacity is the giveaway, since it's meant for soft annual growth on box or privet rather than overgrown laurel.

I'll be straight: this is a heavy corded trimmer. At 4.14kg on the listing, you feel it once your arms are up at the top of a hedge. What you get is a 680W motor, a 61cm blade, a 24mm cutting capacity and a rear handle that rotates through 180° across five positions, plus a 10m cable and a blade cover, and a UK roundup I read included it. Next to the Bosch, the blade is fractionally longer but the tooth opening is narrower. For a medium garden with a socket by the back door, that's a lot of cutting length at a modest price.

Two-year-old stems on an allotment hawthorn are where small cordless trimmers struggle. This Greenworks is pitched squarely at them. The listing claims cuts up to 27mm, the widest of the cordless kits here, from 61cm dual-action blades with an anti-jam system and a head that pivots by up to 125°. A 40V 2Ah battery and charger come in the box, but that battery only fits Greenworks 40V tools, so it won't share with a Ryobi or Makita collection. At 2.8kg it's reasonable to hold, though Amazon's listing doesn't confirm a run time.

Stiga's kit is the easy-going option for someone new to hedge cutting. A 20V 2Ah battery and charger come with it, the dual-action blade is 55cm long, and the soft-grip handle rotates through 180° with three positions. Stiga quotes 40 minutes of cutting per charge and lists a double switch and blade tip protection. The 18mm capacity is modest, closer to the Flymo's territory than the Greenworks', and the listing gives two different weights. One UK roundup did include it.