The best strimmers for a neat and tidy lawn, tested by our gardening expert

Score: 91/100

With a 38cm cutting diameter and 2.0mm line thickness, this is our top pick for tougher grass and weeds. It cut through woody stems too, doing most tasks in a single pass, and the length of the pole makes it easy to reach under shrubs.

The trimmer was agile when cutting, but the weight of it made it uncomfortable to handle for too long. The included shoulder strap helped though, offering better control, more balance, and less strain on the wrists.

There’s no tilt function on the head, so we didn’t manage to achieve a straight edge on the lawn, but it was very good at cutting tall, thick grass and the battery gives you plenty of time to tackle a full garden.

Note, you will need to add a battery before you check out. We've quoted the price with battery above.

Score: 88/100

This well-built Bosch model is one of the lightest models we’ve tried so it was easy to control and manoeuvre throughout testing. It handled long grass well, but we often needed to do a second pass over overgrown areas and woody stems to get a clean and tidy finish.

Its edging performance shone though, with the strimmer proving very reliable after a little practice. The rotating head delivered a neat, precise cut and the telescopic pole helped for reaching into tight spaces or working around trees or posts.

We had to stop halfway through cutting wet grass to clear away a build-up of trimmings, and the hard plastic handle was a little more uncomfortable than other strimmers, but overall, it’s a user-friendly option that does the job well.

Score: 88/100

This is a great alternative to the Ryobi higher up in this list if you have lots of grass to trim down but don’t want something as heavy. It was comfortable to use for a variety of tasks and scored highly in our ease-of-use test thanks to its straightforward controls, well-balanced design, and long-reach shaft.

It cut through long grass with ease, even when it was wet, but we often needed to follow up with a second pass to get a clean finish on thicker patches. The cutting head doesn’t rotate so it was harder to achieve straight edges, but its general trimming ability impressed. An ideal choice for garden maintenance when you don’t want to lug the lawn mower out.

Score: 87/100

This cordless grass trimmer uses plastic blades instead of nylon cord for cutting grass. These can be easier to maintain and replace but can break against hard surfaces like stones, paving, and walls. Blades are often quieter too and this proved the case here – the trimmer registered at 85dB (similar to the noise levels of a food blender).

It’s agile and easy to use, but its small cutting diameter makes it better suited to smaller gardens. That said, with a 45-minute battery life, you could easily tackle a larger space – you might just need to put in a few more steps!

It was easy to move round obstacles and the telescopic pole helped reach into tighter spots. It cut well along edges and delivered a tidy finish, but longer grass proved a challenge, needing a couple of extra passes to fully slice through the thicker sections of the lawn. Use it for regular upkeep rather than clearing jobs though, and this is a user-friendly, great value buy.

Score: 75/100

If you don’t need to tackle longer grass or tough weeds, this is a good, lightweight option. It was easy to switch the angle of the head into edging mode, but achieving a clean line sometimes took two passes. While the shaft is telescopic, we found it still wasn’t long enough to reach under large shrubs and bushes, but the trimmer was easy to guide round obstacles and holding down the trigger wasn’t uncomfortable over extended periods.

Tackling long, rough vegetation was a challenge as the strimmer tended to chew the grass rather than cut it cleanly, but that’s to be expected with a 1.2mm cord. Note, it started with a bit of a jolt but otherwise it was easy to use throughout testing.

Score: 75/100

An affordable choice, this trimmer is a smart buy for general garden maintenance. It has an adjustable head for easy edge cutting and a telescopic shaft for reaching under bushes and into tight spaces. It sometimes took several passes to achieve a sharp, defined edge but we liked the plant guard that keeps you from accidentally trimming them down too.

It struggled on denser patches of grass and overgrown areas, but the manual does say it’s designed only for grass cuttings. If you’re not bothered by slow progress and multiple passes though, it will still get the job done.

Score: 74/100

If you don’t want to worry about your strimmer running out of battery halfway through the job, opt for this affordable corded model. It’s the lightest option we’ve tried at just 1.3kg and it’s designed to be used one-handed – although this put slight strain on our expert’s wrist when used for long periods.

The trimmer made quick work of edges, but the one-handed operation made it harder to control round corners, tree bases and fence posts, and it was the same story when dealing with longer, thicker grass.

We also found the cord broke when we used it on tougher jobs (which isn’t surprising as it’s just 1.5mm thick), and replacing it was tricky as there’s no automatic system. Stick to light trimming and edging, though, and this shouldn’t prove too much of an issue.