| Yes. I bought one two years ago to help with trimming my boxwood to make the job easier plus not to have all those little trimmings to sweep up. I have only used it to trim boxwood so can't vouch for it's performance on other hedge. It cuts and sucks up the trimmings just as the ads say. But, you have to get the the hang of it. You don't just run the unit over the top and sides of the hedge like normal electrical shears. As you go along, you have to lift and set it down on top of the foliage to be trimmed. Don't let it set too long in one place or it will keep "eating" away at that spot. Trimming the sides of the hedge takes some practice, and I find that trimmings will fall and not always get vacuumed up (when held vertically). The unit is heavier than expected and my arms tire after awhile because it's somewhat awkward to hold when bending over my hedge borders. It might be different if you're using the Garden Groom on taller shrubs. Like I say, I don't use mine for that. You have to make sure the tube that goes from the unit to the collection bag doesn't get kinked, so you make sure to have it stretched all the way out which means you have to have room to lay the bag a good ways from the spot you're working on. It says you can drag the hose and bag along with you as you work, but I find that to be not so easy. First, the bag gets heavy when halfway full plus if you don't have the hose firmly attached to the unit it will come off. It's real fun to be humming along and look back to see all the trimmings blowing out the back of the unit cause the hose came off five minutes ago! There must be a knack for tying it tight, one that I haven't discovered yet. And when you are ready to move on, you have to re-arrange the hose and bag so as not to trip over it or kink it. Besides that, do I like the Garden Groom? Yes. It cuts and you don't have to clean up the mess. It makes great mulch!
Do I use mine every time I trim? No. Plus, like I've said before, I'm using it on boxwood which isn't exactly the best idea because boxwood really doesn't look that great when sheared with electric trimmers. My opinion only. And I don't know how will it would do on thicker branches like privet, ect. But the Garden Groom does the job in half the time it takes me to trim with the scissors. It's definitely a time-saver. | 
