These can be hired for a day which is useful, as they’re not garden tools that a standard household will require often. If you can’t afford the Cobra QS2500 or Bosch AXT 25 TC, give this cheaper but equally useful alternative a whirl. We tested a range of electric corded shredders, using them with different prunings, including both woody branches and fresher growth, to help you find the right one for your garden.

In general, these shredders should be able to cut both dry and green matter, although they often still cope better with one than the other. This device will get rid of all your garden waste for you, even the hard branches that are challenging to deal with. It’s not recommended to stay exposed to that sound for a long time, especially as it gets louder when shredding wood, so we recommend using with ear protection. It's easy to set up and unlike most of the other impact shredders in our test has an easy-to-use 40L collection box that slots under the funnel and helps to make the shredder sturdy and stable. The Rapid 2200 uses tough laser-cut blades to slice through vegetation (preferably of the harder, drier variety) in a thrice.Even though this is a heavy bit of kit, hauling it around is made pretty easy thanks to a pair of large diameter wheels and a solid top handle. Introductions are limited to motor finance, CarMoney Limited will pay us a fixed commission per paid out deal.

All things considered the Bosch is quite the bargain, especially considering that it’s able to cut wood branches along with the green waste. However, it doesn’t tackle as many different materials as the Bosch and Cobra, and struggles with anything that has high moisture content like large leaves and soft springy branches. Most of the models here won’t handle anything thicker than 45mm in diameter so you can forget stuffing in a tree trunk. One of the drawbacks of this type of machine is that you’re forced into feeding everything into the infeed slot individually.The question was doubly troubling as, as you probably know, we were/are big fans of the Tacklife PWS01A in particular.

This 'dirty' garden shredder may or may not be 'pro' but it is equipped with a powerful 2,500 watt engine that should be able to shred most things short of a crowbar.Impact shredders shred the organic matter by chopping it with blades that spin at a high number of revolutions per minute. The 2,500-watt Einhell uses a pair of fast spinning blade to cut through vegetation but larger pieces of hardwood and too many leaves will likely block the chute which means reaching for the included tamper. I fed it the same type of rose branches that the cheap Einhell model made light work of and it jammed up a few times requiring me to hit the reverse button to free up some of the leafy congestion. Now, this will be partly down how fast you load garden waste into the shredder, but mainly down to how well the machine performs under strain. However, I would still recommend The Handy THISWB as being the best garden shredder for light garden waste.

But, if space is at a premium and you just want something to chop up your leafy and green material, I’d save the money and go for something smaller and less full on. Derek (aka Delbert, Delvis, Delphinium, Delboy etc) specialises in home and outdoor wares, from coffee machines, white appliances and vacs to drones, garden gear and BBQs. It has a large funnel and comes with a wide, sturdy plunger that was our favourite on test and which helps to push material into the shredder easily. But, it breaks down well for storage, with the funnel slotting upside down into the collection box, and if storage space is limited, would fit easily into a corner or under a shelf.For instance, the Bosch Axt 25 packs into the collection box, so you only have to free space for it. Most shredders are equipped with a reverse switch to release trapped vegetation (it happens a lot) and some are equipped with a handy tamper to help force undisciplined branches into the portal of death.