Source: Organic Gardening, July-August 1995 v42 n6 p67(4).
Title: More than just a "weed whacker!"(string trimmers)
Abstract: Organic Gardening readers and editors tell about their favorite
types and brands of weed trimmers. Some prefer the electric varieties and
others prefer gas-powered models. All agree they are useful gardening tools.
Full Text COPYRIGHT Rodale Press Inc. 1995
A string trimmer will: 1) whack down weeds in no time flat; 2)trim grass
neatly ground trees and other obstacles; 3) cut grass and weeds on steep
embankments, around growing beds and anyplace else where it's hard (or
unsafe) to mow; and, as one OG reader explains in this story, 4) shred
And some "high-end" string trimmers are virtual Swiss Army knives for
gardeners - powerful machines whose optional attachments can cut down
saplings, neatly edge a lawn, vacuum up leaves and even till the soil in
The best news of all is that string trimmers have also become simpler to
start, easier to handle, less noisy and a lot less polluting!
So to find out just how easy and versatile these new string trimmers really
are, we had seven different gardeners of varying shapes, sizes, geographic
regions, levels of experience and garden needs try them out in their own
personal Ponderosas. Here's what they said.
T. William Krebs, retired school teacher, proud father of OG's own Vicki
Mattern and longtime electric string trimmer user, agreed to test the Toro
14 inch electric trimmer & edger for us. It took Bill less than 15 minutes
to secure the five screws that assemble the machine, because, he says
(speaking for all men), "I didn't read the manual, I just put it together
After plugging in the machine and trimming the uncut areas around the trees
and shrubs on his small suburban lot, Bill discovered that the Toro converts
easily to an edger. "You just loosen a wing nut o...