Is it worth spending more on a garden shredder?

If you're pruning your garden to get it in shape again, you'll need a tough garden shredder to deal with the waste. But how much budget should you set aside?

Although it's unlikely to be the most-used piece of kit in your shed, you still ask a lot of your garden shredder. It needs to shred branches quickly and effectively, without getting blocked easily, and should be convenient to use.

Extra featurescan make life easier, so see below for the handy add-ons you get if you buy one of our recently reviewed shredders.

Cheap: Einhell GH-KS 2440 - £90

It's rare to find a garden shredder for less than £100, but you can bag a bargain with this Einhell shredder, currently on offer at Amazon.

As an impact shredder, it uses a blade to slice up your garden material. The manual claims you can fit branches up to 40mm wide in its chute.

At 11kg, it's almost twice as light as others we've tested, so you should find it easy to push around your garden. It also has a 10-metre power cable, making it even easier to manoeuvre.

It comes with a plastic bag to collect your clippings, which might not be quite as useful as the plastic box that others offer. It does have a tamper though, which you'll need if your shredder gets blocked.

On paper it looks like a good deal, but how did it shape up when our experts tested it? Find out by reading the Einhell GH-KS 2440 review.

Middling: Cobra QS2500 - £190

This Cobra is the only roller shredder we've tested this year. It rolls material towards a ridge where it's crushed and cut - a quieter process than an impact shredder, but this makes it more likely to get blocked.

However, it has a handy reverse setting that should, in theory, release any blocked material easily.

It has some impressive specs. It can shred up to 40mm-wide branches and has a large collection box for storing your shreddings as you work.

The 10-metre cable also gives you flexibility with moving your shredder around, although you might find this tricky - it weighs a whopping 27kg.

You'll need to check our review to see how good it is at shredding and how convenient it is to use. Click through to read the Cobra QS2500 full review.

More expensive: Stihl GHE105 - £218

This impact shredder was the priciest of those we tested this year (although it's not as eye-wateringly expensive as some garden shredders).

So what are you getting for the money? You may be paying for a well-known brand - Stihl is one of the biggest players in the garden-machinery world. But it has some tricks up its sleeve, too.

The blades can be taken out and reversed, which could be a godsend if one side becomes damaged. Plus it means you won't have to sharpen them as often.

It also has a 10-metre power cord and has a wider feeder chute than other shredders we've tested, so you shouldn't have to waste time cutting off side branches. However, you can only shred branches up to 35mm across.

There are other downsides, too. It weighs a fairly heavy 20kg, plus it doesn't come with a collection box for shreddings or a tamper to push down any stuck twigs.

See if the price is backed up by the performance by reading our expert Stihl GHE105 review.

Using a garden shredder safely

Whatever your budget, you should set some aside for safety equipment if you don't already own it.

Once you've bought your safety gear, see the best garden shredders we've reviewed for a round-up of the models that aced our tough tests.