Trimming Golden Leylandii hedge using Aldi electric trimmers

BrianD3

There are a few Golden Leylandii hedges around my mother's house, they are normally trimmed once a year by members of a certain ethnic minority. Cost is 300-400 euros for two men working for a half day, they do work hard and do a decent job but I think money is too much and I worry about lack of insurance, health & safety etc. Also they are now talking about trimming twice a year.

So could I do it myself on a dry day in early September using the tools from Aldi next Thursday.
https://www.aldi.ie/en/specialbuys/thur-20-aug/

As the hedges have been kept regularly trimmed over the years and were last done only a few months ago, I think I only have max six inches of green growth to trim. Hedges are 25-35 years old, have a dense appearance, are 6 to 8 feet tall and 1 - 2 feet wide at the top. Something like


I think the local recycling centre will take the cuttings.

Has anyone any comments or tips?

Thanks

coolhull

If the hedge in the photo is your mother's hedge, then it's certainly a well-cut, neat and healthy hedge. But 300/400e for half a day's work is very steep. 180e per man for half a day, there are lots of people who don't make that in 3 full days.
Regarding the Aldi hedge-cutters, I'm not convinced, it does look a bit flimsy. I find most 'telescopic' garden tools are. (Though I find most Aldi stuff to be very reliable) And remember you'd still need a ladder anyway to trim the top. I'm fairly sure you could hire a petrol cutters for a reasonable amount, or the Black and Decker electric ones are very good. I've had the same one for years.
Just remember not to cut through the cable!

BrianD3

Thanks for the post, coolhull. Pic is not of the actual hedge just a pic I found online that shows what our one looks like.

monkeynuz

coolhull wrote: »

If the hedge in the photo is your mother's hedge, then it's certainly a well-cut, neat and healthy hedge. But 300/400e for half a day's work is very steep. 180e per man for half a day, there are lots of people who don't make that in 3 full days.
Regarding the Aldi hedge-cutters, I'm not convinced, it does look a bit flimsy. I find most 'telescopic' garden tools are. (Though I find most Aldi stuff to be very reliable) And remember you'd still need a ladder anyway to trim the top. I'm fairly sure you could hire a petrol cutters for a reasonable amount, or the Black and Decker electric ones are very good. I've had the same one for years.
Just remember not to cut through the cable!

€180 per man is a bit steep, but suggesting that some gardeners only earn €60 per day is a bit ridiculous, no one could run a business on that.

coolhull

monkeynuz wrote: »

€180 per man is a bit steep, but suggesting that some gardeners only earn €60 per day is a bit ridiculous, no one could run a business on that.

But I didn't specify gardeners :rolleyes:

monkeynuz

coolhull wrote: »

But I didn't specify gardeners :rolleyes:

Oh, so what was your point then?

Berberis

I have over 120 metres of leylandii hedging which is approx. 12 yrs planted now. I try to keep it at 5 to 6 ft and use a very good STIHL petrol hedge trimmer twice a year on it. I find if I only cut once a year it ends up being harder than doing it twice a year due to growth getting higher and thicker.
You have not mentioned how long your Mothers hedges are but I would not recommend trying any of these current Aldi gardening products for something as hard and vigorous as Leylandii.
The electric products in my experience are not powerful enough do not last well on large work areas and actually can make the job harder and longer to do.

If you are going to do the work yourself you are better off investing in some sturdy tools which will last a good few years rather than just the one summer

BrianD3

Having thought about this some more I concluded that the ALDI electric tools were in fact overkill for what I needed. So I got the cheapest electric trimmer I could find, this one.
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/2957278/Trail/searchtext%3EHEDGE.htm

It's fine and I have over half the cutting done now in about 2 hours, taking off most of this year's growth i.e. about 5-6 inches. Not sure yet what i'll do about the top of the hedge - ladder and hand clippers perhaps.

Thanks for the suggestions but I don''t think a petrol trimmer is necessary - at least in my case for golden leylandii that have been regularly trimmid into a very dense and defined hedge. Probably a different story for say, green leylandii not cut for a few years. The length of our hedges would be about 70 metres.