One Heck of a Hedge Trimmer

Unless your garden consists entirely of rocks, you will likely have to prune things at least a few times per year. I like to have a few versatile tools at my disposal for any task, and for trimming and pruning it's hard to beat a well-made pair of hedge shears. With winter snows setting in, I wanted to get some of the trees and bushes in my yard under control before they were covered in snow and ice. To help me in the job, I had an aluminum-handle hedge shear from Corona. To put it through its full paces, I trimmed back both a small hedge and some of the branches on the tree overhanging my driveway. Now that the tree and hedge have been tamed, here is my analysis:

(For more information on Corona's products, you can visit their website at http://www.coronaclipper.com)

• Ease of Use. First off, these hedge shears are very sharp, and their action is very smooth. With the cushioned bumpers to take the shock out of each cut, the hedge was very easy to do—none of the branches gave any significant resistance, and the easy action made the task less fatiguing. With the tree, some of the larger branches I tried (the largest I attempted was about an inch in diameter) gave a little trouble until I discovered the limb notch near the base of the blades. The large notch gave me plenty of grip on the larger branches. I still had to put a lot of force on a few, but most small branches were easy.
• Maintenance. I have not had the chance to use the Corona hedge shears long enough to know how they do over time. They seemed to be easy to clean after I used them for about an hour of cutting (in the cold and wet, I should note).
• Pros. The Corona shears do the job easily and consistently. They also handle larger jobs than are probably recommended—branches as large as I cut are not really what manual hedge trimmers are designed for. So for jobs within their intended scope, these will do everything you need.
• Cons. The only trouble I ran into was with the length of the blade. The 10 1/2" blade is great for hedges and bushes, where you have large numbers of weak branches to cut. However, for the sometimes dense branches of the tree, the long blades could be awkward and unwieldy to manage.
• Overall Experience. I loved these hedge shears. They were comfortable and versatile, two of the most important things for me in a tool. They did the job I needed them to do, which is the very most important part. These shears are listed for $62.22 on Corona's website as of this writing. After using them, I would say that is a good deal; they are well worth the price.