Anyone who has an interest in gardening and is the owner of a hedge will probably already own a hedge trimmer or is thinking of buying one. Hedge trimmers are ideal for, as the name suggests, trimming hedges. They work so well because a really nice neat and crisp finish can be achieved rather than having your hedge shredded and hacked to pieces.

However, although the majority of home owners will also own a hedge trimmer, it's important to realize that they are far from being toys and can be very lethal in the wrong hands. By following some basic advice you should be able to make use of your hedge trimmer without causing any harm to yourself or other people.

When buying a hedge trimmer it's important that you feel how heavy it is. If you buy one which is too heavy for you, there is a really high risk that you'll drop the machinery. This is obviously not something you want to happen; you can only dread to think of the consequences of a hedge trimmer falling whilst in operation.

Have a look at the cutting teeth and guards to ensure that your fingers can't fit in-between the spaces. Also make sure that no-one else in your household can fit their fingers through either.

Because hedges can grow pretty quickly in the warmer weather, you will certainly need to use your hedge trimmers quite a lot, sometimes every week. So if you are using yours a lot, make sure you have the blades sharpened well as this will prevent it catching on things and will help give you a more defined result.

Always take the time to read through the instruction manual so that you fully understand how the machinery works. It's amazing to think how many people ignore this advice and simply turn the machinery on and try to figure it all out by themselves. Because hedge trimmers are a potentially dangerous item you should always read the instructions, no matter how boring they may be.

Some hedge trimmers can be very noisy so you should consider wearing protection for your ears and also your eyes because you don't want the risk of leaves and twigs damaging your eyes.

If you have a tall hedge, always refrain from holding the hedge trimmer above your head as you could cause serious injury to yourself by doing this. If you need to reach a high area of your hedge it's much safer to go up some ladders.

This advice is far from being rocket science but it's important that you think about all the above advice. There are so many accidents every year involving machinery like this and it's all because people don't stop to think about what they are doing.