Picking the perfect trimmer for you

Flymo Multi Trim

As a professional gardener I very rarely use tools that are aimed at the amateur market and, I must admit to being somewhat apprehensive, as I opened the box of the Flymo Multi Trim and assembled the machine as per the instructions. However after only a few minutes it became clear that my earlier apprehension was completely unfounded, as this piece of equipment has turned out to be extremely useful, and well designed for its purpose.

To test the Flymo Multi Trim, I tackled an area of grass between six to nine inches high, which was also soaking wet, after three days’ continuous rain. To my pleasant surprise the Multi Trim had no problems it chomping its way through this rather ambitious task.

If I had been using a professional standard strimmer, running on a small petrol engine, I would have expected my trouser bottoms to have been covered in grass and to have a mild backache, by the end of the session. The machines that we use are fairly heavy and require the operator to move from side to side in a swinging movement, but with the Multi Trim, I have found that the balance was almost perfect and combined with its lack of weight it was a joy to use. The biggest surprise so far has been with the guard, which covers most of the cutting head. Although it blocked several times whilst I was using it (you must remember that this grass was long and wet) it prevented it from getting covered in grass cuttings. (I normally get covered from head to foot when cutting this area with our own strimmers.) The guard is very efficient and well designed.

The final part of the test came on the lawn edging, it was very simple to change the angle of the cutting head in preparation for trimming a lawn edge. In this particular garden we normally cut the edges by hand, using long-handled shears. The Multi Trim, after a little practice, proved to be a highly efficient and labour saving method of cutting lawn edges, and saved a large amount of effort not to mention more backache.

Perhaps the only drawback with the Flymo Multi Trim is that the electric cable can sometimes restrict the distance that you can use the machine from a power source. After spending years fiddling around with the small temperamental engines of our professional strimmers, I am quite happy to put up with this mild inconvenience.

So, top marks for the Flymo Multi Trim – an excellent piece of equipment that is well-designed, safe and is able to do the job that it is designed for. For under £40 its a great bargain that can save you many hours and a good deal of backache. The only bad news for Flymo is that my gardeners like it so much we’re not going to give it back!!