The electric shredder comes in very handy at this time of year. Large amounts of cuttings and clippings can be reduced considerably. I generally add diced and sliced greenery to the compost heap and use woody matter for mulch on beds or paths.

 I don't do product placement but for the purposes of this entry I will mention that I use two different models regularly and there is something to be said for both of them. One is the Bosch seen above. Internally it has a spinning blade which works very well for cutting greenery to tiny pieces. Twigs and thin branches are fine but it struggles with thicker branches .

 I also have a Makita (below) which makes good chunky chips from thicker branches by grinding them between two ridged rollers. However thin stems tend to pass through mangled but not shredded. Other makes are available but the basic distinction is between blade (i.e. impact shredders) and roller (i.e. crushing shredders). As I say they both have their advantages and drawbacks.

 A few points to bear in mind. Blade shredders are cheaper on the whole but it's worth checking that you are buying one for which replacement blades are readily available. Also take into account what thickness of branch can be fed into the slot. The Makita for example takes branches up to an inch and half or so (35mm or thereabouts). If you want to be chipping logs the price jumps from hundreds to thousands of pounds for the kind of machine used by tree surgeons.