How to choose the right electric garden tools

Looking to make your yard care cleaner, quieter, and more energy efficient? 

Electric lawn tools like lawnmowers, leaf blowers, and hedge trimmers are becoming more popular and you have tons of options to choose from. 

No matter what tools you’re in the market for, you’ll want to weigh several key factors before making your decision. These include cost, battery life, ease of use, and performance. Your priorities will depend on your yard-care needs — and your budget. 

We’re here to simplify the decision-making process to help you pick the right tools for the job. 

Mowers

Before you go shopping for an electric lawnmower, consider what you’ll need it to do. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• How big is my yard?

• Is it simple to mow or are there challenging areas to navigate?

• Do I have access to outdoor power outlets or the budget for a spare battery?

• Will the mower have to be powerful enough to hack through tall grass?

Quality corded mowers start around $200 and most cordless mowers range from $300 to $900, with the most expensive models offering more power and battery life. Riding mowers come with higher price tags, generally in the thousands, but have features that may better suit larger yards or people with mobility impairments.

Leaf blowers

Electric leaf blowers can keep your yard, driveway, and sidewalk clear and produce significantly less noise. Corded and cordless models range from $40 to upwards of $400. What kind you should buy depends on many of the same considerations we listed above. If you have a small yard a cheaper leaf blower might work just fine. If you will be covering large areas or using the blower frequently, a bigger investment probably makes more sense.

Hedge trimmers

Most folks can get a great corded or cordless hedge trimmer that meets their needs for $40 to $200. The most expensive hedge trimmers are $700+.

Once again, your needs will dictate how much you should spend. If you’re trying to maintain the shape of a few shrubs and you have an outlet nearby, you may not need a huge trimmer or a cordless model. But if you’re regularly dealing with large, thick hedges and you need a long run time, you’ll likely want to purchase a more powerful model.