10 Best Telescopic Pole Hedge Trimmers of 2023 - Tested & Reviewed

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If you’re not yet familiar with Greenworks, chances are that you soon will be. This brand has been making a name for itself thanks to its focus on creating green alternatives to petrol-powered garden tools, with one such product being the Greenworks Cordless Pruner and Long Reach Hedge Trimmer.

As its name implies, this multi-purpose tool comes with both a hedge trimming head and a pole saw head. When the extension pole has been fitted, they provide a maximum reach of 2.1m and 2.4m respectively. Both attachments are high-quality – the hedge trimmer boasts a 51cm laser cut blade and 7 cutting head positions, while the pole saw comes with a 20cm Greenworks bar and chain. Although a secondary D-handle hasn’t been provided, Greenworks makes up for that by providing an adjustable shoulder strap – you can fix it to any point on the pole to give you the balance that you need when holding it.

Many 2-in-1 tools struggle to perform as effectively as a single, dedicated tool, but that isn’t the case with this machine. The hedge trimmer made light work of my overgrown beech hedge, with the 18mm teeth spacing on the blade allowing it to cut through even the thicker, more mature branches.

The pole saw was just as impressive. In fact, it functioned even better than some of the dedicated pole saws that I recently reviewed. This is largely due to its high-quality chain – it has an amazing grip that enables it to slice through both hardwood and softwood with ease.

With Greenworks being a brand that specializes in battery-powered tools, I expected its battery to be better than those that come with other cordless hedge trimmers, and I was correct. A 2aH battery gave me 45 minutes of runtime – more than double that of the 2aH batteries from some other brands. Being a 40v battery also means that it’s more powerful than its 18v/20v competitors – something that you can clearly feel as soon as you turn the machine on.

Thankfully, that extra power doesn’t translate to more noise. You should still wear ear defenders for your own safety, but, at 96dB, this tool won’t bother your neighbours too much!

The safety features included in this machine are top-class too. From the plastic blade guards to the dead man’s switch to the electric chain brake on the pole saw attachment, Greenworks has made this tool safe for even a newbie to operate.

The only downside for some would be its price – it costs significantly more than some of the budget hedge trimmers out there. However, you get what you pay for, meaning a much higher-quality tool with unique design features. Plus, the fact that it also comes with a pole saw head means that it’s actually quite a bargain – you’d end up spending much more if you purchased the two separately, especially if you went with products that are as high-performance as this one is.

Even if you don’t require a pole saw, just the hedge trimmer alone would still justify the price of this tool. It really is one of the best cordless garden tools that I have ever used – it’s not often that I can’t find a major flaw with a product such as this, but this is a tool that really meets the mark in every aspect. Its long and sharp blade, powerful battery, and numerous adjustable features make the Greenworks Cordless Pruner and Long Reach Hedge Trimmer 2 in 1 a tool that I would recommend to anyone looking for a fast, easy, and reliable way to tidy up the hedges and trees in their garden.

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Anyone who’s ever picked up a drill or mowed a lawn has probably heard of the German tool giant Bosch. Famed for their quality kit, it’s no surprise that they’ve produced a real contender for best pole hedge trimmer for the UK market. The Bosch Universal Hedge Pole Trimmer 18 is a very capable garden tool with only a few flaws.

After testing it out for several hours, using a range of ‘targets’ both in my garden and on a friend’s farm, it’s precisely what I’d expect from a brand like Bosch.

The Universal Hedge Pole Trimmer 18 forms part of Bosch’s standard “green” line of DIY tools, so I didn’t expect professional-level build quality. However, I was pleasantly surprised by its excellent power to weight ratio and intelligent electronic anti-blocking features.

It knows when you’re tackling tougher stuff and adjusts the blade speed accordingly!

Similarly to the Ryobi hedge trimmer, this Bosch Pole Hedge Trimmer has a battery that is interchangeable amongst other POWER FOR ALL products. What sets it apart from Ryobi, however, is that the POWER FOR ALL battery system isn’t exclusive to Bosch. You can power a whole host of great tool brands, all with just the one battery type.

Returning to the hedge trimmer itself, it’s both solid and reliable. Although, my one criticism is that it performs at its best “short mode”. I found that the relatively narrow aluminium pole and lack of a decent front grip makes it feel a bit less stable than the Ryobi RPT184520 hedge trimmer when fully extended.

Nevertheless, Bosch have still created a top candidate for the best extendable hedge trimmer on the market with this model. It’s a high-quality machine with reliable features that make it easier to use, such as the automatic adjusting of the blade speed.

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The bright orange garden tool brand Yard Force might not be the most well-known name out there, but they certainly know how to make one of the best lightweight pole hedge trimmers on the market. Boasting a 20-volt battery system, and clever space-saving features, the Yard Force 20V Cordless Hedge Trimmer is a brilliant, lightweight pole trimmer that’s ideal for smaller garden jobs.

Due to this trimmer’s one-piece folding body and ultralight frame, I’ve reached for it more than the rest for any odd jobs around the garden.

The reach isn’t anywhere as long as some of the competition, at just over 2.5 metres, and the blade isn’t the biggest either, but it depends what you need it for. Compared to the big beefy hedge pole trimmers I’ve tested, this one is incredibly easy to manoeuvre and still packs a reasonable punch.

I’m a big fan of the “D” shaped front handle, it makes this light long reach hedge trimmer even easier to get into the right cutting position. The cutting head can also be adjusted through 135° which makes it ideal for delicate shaping work as well as rough hedge cutting.

It’s a shame that it doesn’t come with a shoulder strap, but I still think it’s one of the best cordless pole hedge trimmers for small gardens. It’s easy to manoeuvre, comfortable to hold, and still relatively powerful. All good points in my book, especially for light ‘odd jobs’.

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Loved for their extensive range of home and garden tools, VonHaus is known for being an affordable yet reliable brand, making it no surprise that their Cordless Telescopic Hedge Trimmer With Extendable Reach is a bestseller. Quick to assemble and easy to use, even hedge trimming newbies would feel comfortable using this tool.

Having said that, as a professional landscaper, it’s one that I would turn to as well. Although its reach is just 244cm, which is one of the shortest of the hedge trimmers that I tested, its lightweight nature (only 3.8kg) makes it extremely easy to manoeuvre. The 10 different settings that you can tilt the head to helps with this as well, as does the incredibly sharp 45cm blade. It was able to slice through even thicker branches with ease, often far more effectively than some of the higher-end models out there.

For me, the only downside was its lack of reach. 244cm would be sufficient if your hedges aren’t too tall, but this wasn’t long enough to reach the tops of my beech hedges, or the fruit trees that I used it to prune. There are models out there that have a longer reach, but these also tend to be more top-heavy and unbalanced, so you’ll need to decide which is most important to you.

Reach aside, I was very pleased with the power behind this machine. You get about 45 minutes of runtime with a 2.0aH battery, which is actually pretty impressive! Even better, this isn’t an overly noisy machine either – it’s ideal if you need to trim a hedge that’s in close proximity to your neighbours.

VonHaus has included some key safety features in the design of this hedge trimmer too, which, again, makes it suitable for both novices and professionals. 

All in all, this hedge trimmer offers fantastic value for money. It comes with a battery and charger, along with a two-year warranty, although, in my opinion, the quality of this product is high enough that I don’t foresee the warranty being needed!

It may not be the longest extendable hedge trimmer on the market, but the VonHaus Cordless Telescopic Hedge Trimmer makes up for this by being lightweight, powerful, easy to use, and very safe. Let’s not forget its budget-friendly price either – in this case, you get so much more than what you pay for!

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Immediately recognisable for their atomic-green tools, Japanese firm Ryobi have fans all over the world. One thing that immediately sets this company apart is their ONE+ battery system; you can power more than 70 different tools with the same interchangeable battery.

The Ryobi RPT184520 cordless hedge trimmer is a particularly mighty power tool for the garden, chopping through whatever you put in front of it.

I put this beast through its paces on a huge hedge, to see whether its performance would match its heavy-duty design. Afterwards, I changed tack to test if it could be used as a precision tool for shaping a delicate privet hedge. I’m pleased to say it worked well for both!

Unlike most of its competition, this chunky heavyweight pole hedge trimmer isn’t made from aluminium. Instead, Ryobi have used reinforced plastic poles to create a long reach hedge trimmer of seemingly titanium strength. It doesn’t feel flimsy or wobbly, even when fully extended!

Featuring a truly comfortable handle, an ingenious safety strap, and a large blade with huge teeth, Ryobi have thought of nearly everything.

I only have two minor gripes when it comes to this Ryobi hedge trimmer: the lack of a “D” handle, to make it better balanced; and the fact that it comes in three hefty pieces that have to be assembled.

Even so, after putting the Ryobi RPT184520 through its paces in the garden, I’d still consider it as one of the best pole hedge trimmer available right now. It’s a powerful and capable machine.

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Worx is a budget-friendly brand known for producing quality garden tools and, after having used several of their products myself, I can personally attest to that. So, I was hoping that the Worx WG252E.9 18V Cordless Pole Hedge Trimmer, which promises to be ideal for high and wide hedges, would be equally impressive.

In terms of design, this hedge trimmer ticks almost all of the right boxes. Its maximum reach is 2.8m, enabling the average person to trim the top of a 3.6m hedge, while its 45cm diamond ground blades are also a good size for garden hedges. Not only does the head tilt to 8 different positions, but the rear handle can be rotated too, enabling you to easily cut hedges from awkward angles. 

For me, the main downside to this hedge trimmer was how unbalanced it could sometimes feel, especially when fully extended. Due to its heavy head but lightweight body (it only weighs 3kg), it took a fair bit of effort to hold steady, and the provided shoulder strap didn’t really help with this. 

However, it still does a good job when trimming back new growth, and it whizzes through dense brambles with ease. It did struggle with a few of the thicker branches on my overgrown beech hedge, but it worked well on thinner material.

Since I used this hedge trimmer with a 5.0aH battery that I already had (Worx PowerShare batteries are interchangeable), it happily chugged away for a couple of hours, and still had more life left once I was done. If you don’t have this much hedge trimming to do, then a 2.0aH battery should give you about 20-30 minutes of runtime, and would be significantly cheaper.

While it’s in action, it’s not a particularly noisy machine – I would say that it’s one of the quietest hedge trimmers that I have ever used. It also boasts some great safety features – even someone who was hedge trimming for the first time would be able to safely and confidently use it.

Would I recommend it? That depends on what you’re hoping to achieve with it. If your hedges are majorly overgrown with lots of thick branches, then no, you’d be better off with a heavier-duty machine. However, if light maintenance is your aim, then the Worx WG252E.9 18V Cordless Pole Hedge Trimmer, with its long reach and lightweight nature, would be a good choice.

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Einhell prides itself on showcasing high-quality German design when it comes to their garden tools, and all of the Einhell tools that I’ve used in the past have definitely set themselves apart from the competition (in a good way!). So, I had high hopes for the Einhell GC-HH 9048 Electric Long Reach Hedge Trimmer, even though I was going to be tackling some very overgrown hedges and trees with it.

Assembling this hedge trimmer is simple – just like the others that I tested, it only takes a couple of minutes and you probably won’t need the instructions. As you put it together, you’ll notice that the extension pole is optional, allowing you to use the machine at a shorter 210cm or extended out to 260cm. The blade’s 41cm cutting length may not be as long as some of the others out there, but the 7 positions that you can rotate the cutting head to, along with the rotating rear handle and adjustable secondary D-handle, more than make up for this. 

I first put this hedge trimmer to the test on a very overgrown beech hedge. It sliced through every part of that hedge with ease, leaving behind a very clean finish. I then moved on to some sycamore and plum trees that I would usually use a pole saw for, but this hedge trimmer saved me from having to swap tools. It did need a little persuasion on the thicker branches, but it still got the job done well!

This was partly due to its sheer power. Compared to the cordless hedge trimmers that I tested, this one, at 900W, was so much more powerful. It promises an impressive 2000 cuts per minute – I don’t know if it actually delivered on this, but it definitely made fast work of what could have otherwise been a time-consuming task.

Of course, the power that this machine provides means that you compromise when it comes to noise. This is definitely not a quiet machine that your neighbours won’t hear – I’d say that it was the loudest of the hedge trimmers that I tested.

In terms of safety, this machine comes with the standard features. However, the ineffective shoulder strap does make the hedge trimmer’s weight tiring to balance, and the black electric cable isn’t easy to see when it’s covered by long grass and hedge clippings. If you’re accident-prone, this may not be the hedge trimmer for you!

However, there’s no denying that this hedge trimmer offers amazing value for money. It’s one of the least expensive on the market, yet its power is impressive. It may be heavy, but it’s also a heavy-duty machine. If you’re looking for a high-performance hedge trimmer that’s capable of tackling more than just hedges without leaving too big a hole in your bank account, then the Einhell GC-HH 9048 Electric Long Reach Hedge Trimmer is it!

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Einhell might not be quite as well known as Bosch, but they’ve still been around since 1964. They’ve made a name for themselves by making honest, solid, reliable tools that don’t break the bank. A lot more DIYers have started to take notice of Einhell since they came out with their range of 18 volt Power X-Change cordless tools (a line of tools with interchangeable batteries).

Their GE-HH 18/45 Li T Solo is a hefty cordless hedge trimmer that generally works well but is let down by some odd design choices.

Seeing as this telescopic pole hedge trimmer has an impressive reach of more than four metres, I spent most of my time trying to reach the highest branches of my Japanese maple tree. I also used it to shape and trim an unruly conifer that had grown to more than three metres tall.

I’ve learned that the most effective way to control a heavy long reach hedge trimmer is with a good set of handles, which the GE-HH 18/45 has. The rear handle isn’t the best designed, but you can set it to four different angles to suit the task at hand. The huge front “D” handle makes things much easier to control, and there’s a shoulder strap too.

However, I can’t go much further without addressing the ‘elephant in the garden’ here… the fact that this hedge trimmer is really heavy.

Combined with the big 4.0 Ah battery I was using, it tipped the scales at nearly 5 kg. That’s a lot of weight to deal with, especially when so much of it is at the end of a long, narrow pole.

There’s nothing wrong with the way this extandable hedge trimmer attacks branches, but I can’t work out why Einhell have chosen to split the motor section in two. After just a few hours use, the grease is coming off the exposed drive shaft, and it’s both messy and oddly balanced.

Therefore, it’s a mixed bag with this one. It’s powerful and has a great reach, offering quite a lot of features for the price (and making it one of the best budget pole hedge trimmers); however, there are some problems. If it had a more comfortable main handle, less weight, and no exposed parts, the design would be greatly improved.

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Most people are familiar with Kärcher’s iconic yellow and black power washers, but the brand also produces garden tools, such as the Kärcher 18 V Cordless Pole Hedge Trimmer. It boasts a few specific features that really sets it apart from the crowd, so I put it to the test on a mature beech hedge, as well as on a couple of sycamore trees.

In terms of design, this hedge trimmer boasts a 45cm diamond ground blade, which can be adjusted to four different positions. With a reach of 4m, this is one of the longest cordless hedge trimmers out there. That said, when fully extended, the head of this machine is too heavy for the plastic pole that it sits on, which causes the pole to bend in the middle. This isn’t helped by the lack of a secondary D-handle, which would have provided better balance.

Fortunately, this didn’t affect the hedge trimmer’s performance. It gave my beech hedge a beautifully neat finish, whizzing through even the thicker branches with ease. It didn’t handle the sycamore tree quite so well, so I wouldn’t really rate its saw function.

The hedge sweeper attachment is a very clever idea, but I found that it made the hedge trimmer feel even more unbalanced due to the extra weight that it placed on the cutting head. While it does come with a shoulder strap, the fact that this tool weighs in at 5.6kg means that it still feels heavy on the arms.

I used a 2.5aH battery with this hedge trimmer, which allowed me to work for 30 minutes. Just like most of the other cordless hedge trimmers that I tested, this battery was an 18V, yet the machine still felt more powerful than some of the others. I love how the battery has an LCD screen that displays the percentage of battery life left – it’s definitely more high-tech than the competition! It’s also quieter than some of the other hedge trimmers out there – ideal if you’re using it in close proximity to your neighbours.

The safety features included in this machine were pretty standard, but, unlike the others that I tested, this one comes with a metal guard over the tip of the blade. For me, this was a little annoying as it means that the tip can’t be used for cutting. However, if your hedges are near a wall or are growing low to the ground, then the tip protector will save your blade from undergoing a fair bit of damage.

I personally really enjoyed using this machine as it did a beautiful job. Is it worth the price? I’m not quite sure. It has a few standout features but so do some of the lower-end models. If you’re looking for a well-balanced machine to trim tall hedges, then this isn’t it. However, if your hedges are on the shorter side and are backing onto a wall, then the Kärcher 18 V Cordless Pole Hedge Trimmer would be worth paying that little bit more for.

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Part of the Futura Direct brand, Terratek make useful cordless and mains-powered tools that often suit those on a budget.

Their Terratek 550 Watt Long Reach Hedge Trimmer is a relatively lightweight but noisy garden tool that works well, especially if you don’t like relying on battery power to get the job done.

Seeing as this is a corded hedge trimmer, I was a bit limited on where I could use it. Even with an enormously long 10 metre power cable, it wouldn’t reach outside the front wall of my property. Even so, it made short work of trimming my Japanese maple tree and other climbing plants in my garden.

Boasting a long 45 cm cutting head and a wicked blade speed of 1,700 strokes per minute, this long reach hedge trimmer is ideal for trimming and shaping foliage and thin branches. I was a little disappointed that it lacked the grunt you might expect from a corded tool, but it should be enough for most jobs around the home.

Despite this slightly lacking power, I still consider it to be one of the best mains powered options around, for a couple of reasons. The long power cable is very generous which meant I could move around my back garden relatively freely. Therefore, it’s possible to complete all trimming jobs, as long as the branches aren’t too thick, without having to stop once.

Plus, the head pivots, so it can be angled to cut the top and bottom of hedges as well, meaning the whole garden can be finished, looking tidy, without stopping to charge batteries.

Ultimately, it comes down to what’s most important to you. It might be that I’ve been spoiled by testing out all the best cordless telescopic pole trimmers on the market, because I was a bit nonplussed by this corded trimmer. For me, if it had been more powerful, I think I could justify being tethered to the national grid.

However, if it’s a priority for you to get standard jobs done quickly and efficiently, this option has the benefit of no battery to cut you short. Long tasks don’t have to be interrupted by the frequent recharging or battery swapping, and you can be reassured that you’ve got plenty of time.