Weed Eaters and String Trimmers: Tools for Your Garden

Weed Eaters and String Trimmers: Tools for Your Garden

By Michael Jenkins

Weed eaters, string trimmers, or occasionally weed wackers—these tools have many names, but they’re a common feature in home improvement stores and garden sheds across the United States and Canada.  And with good reason—they’re useful, versatile, and easy for most folks to handle. Like all garden tools, we need to understand how weed trimmers work in order to make best use of them, including understanding the pros and cons of these tools. Let’s dig in and learn a bit more!


How Do Weed Trimmers Work?

Call them what you will—we’ll stick with weed trimmers—weed eaters/string trimmers all function in roughly the same way. A powerful motor spins a rotating head, from which a length of plastic string extends. As this plastic string spins around and around, it cuts through grass, weeds, and other light plant growth. Hence the names “weed wacker”, “string trimmer” and “weed eater”.

Weed trimmers may be powered by either gas motors or rechargeable batteries. Unless your yard, lawn, or other garden space is very small, we recommend avoiding the cord-powered ones if possible. They work quite well and there are no batteries to worry about, but the cord limits their usable range and often comes unplugged at the most inconvenient times.

 

The Pros and Cons of Weed Trimmers

Weed trimmers can be both a general-use tool and a specialized garden item depending on how they’re employed. Here at the Gardzen Test Gardens we make a lot of use of our rechargeable battery powered weed trimmer. It’s especially useful for working in smaller spaces, like between raised beds or around a container garden, and it’s great for keeping weeds and vines from growing along the fence line or around other structures. Weed wackers can cut grass, too, although it’s tricky to get a lawn that’s as even looking as the results delivered by a lawn mower. However, as a lawn mower stand-in, weed trimmers are useful for small lawns, compact or twisty spaces, or for folks who just find them easier and more convenient than a lawn mower. They’re also quite a bit more energy-efficient, which is good news for environmentally-conscious gardeners and those concerned about their utility bills.

There’s a downside to weed trimmers that all gardeners need to take into account when using them—they make it much easier to do accidental damage to trees, shrubs and garden plants. The rapidly spinning plastic or metal cutters do a great job of cutting, but routine use around the base of shrubs or trees can damage the bark. This does a lot of bad things, including long-term damage to the plant in question, opening up wounds which can invite infection or pests, and even killing the shrub or tree if done routinely. Some weed trimmers feature an adjustable guard that can help prevent such damage; we recommend using them and double-checking to ensure they’re working correctly before using a weed trimmer around a tree or other landscaping plant. Installing a mulched area and some garden edging around trees, bushes, and shrubs can also help prevent damage by creating an area that doesn’t need trimming. Mulching also helps with plant health as a whole, so please consider this option if you’ll be making frequent use of a weed trimmer.

Weed trimmers are also highly mobile, which makes it very easy to move them where you need them and use them how you need to. However, it also makes it easy to accidentally trim plants you didn’t intend to trim—we’ve had a few close calls with veggie plants in in-ground raised beds here at the Test Gardens! The solution is to be mindful, have a plan before you start trimming, and double check that your plants are staked up appropriately to keep them out of reach of the trimmer. It’s also a good idea to get in the habit of only engaging the trimmer when the trimming head is at ground level—this helps avoid accidental weed whacking your tomato plants!

Weed Eaters Can Help in Many Garden Situations

The take-home bulletin is that string trimmers/weed eaters/weed wackers can help in many garden situations by providing a flexible, powerful tool for cutting grass and weeds. However, they must be used carefully and mindfully, maintained according to the manufacturer’s directions, and used with the appropriate safety gear—we recommend eye protection, hearing protection, and gloves at a minimum. We hope this blog helps you decide if a weed trimmer is the right tool for you—and as always if you have stories or experiences to share, please let us know! Gardzen is all about community and we love to hear from you.


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