We have a Mantis - as well as a Troy that I won't even mess with. The Mantis did very well for us over in Atlanta in hard red clay. It's not cheap to buy new but we've had ours for over 16 years and it has required NO service or repair and is still going strong. It's lightweight and easy to work with and versatile - you can turn the tines around and do light surface weeding in the veggie patch.

And, no, I don't work for them or get a commission.

BTW...your name intrigues me.

Crohnkiller, are you looking for tall bushes, short bushes, evergreens, all-one-kind or a mix. Do you want something that will be one shape, mostly, all year long (except just before you clip it)? Do you want formal or informal? Do you want to be working on it a fair bit, or just have something to frame the walkway, but be ignored the rest of the time. And do you only want a narrow bed lining the front walk, or do you want a wider flowerbed, with the side nearest the walk lined with bushes, or even the whole thing outlined with bushes (very formal, sort of like a parre-terre)? More info would help with meaningful advice.

I have a Mantis tiller. I like it very much, as it's light-weight enough that I can use it myself. You may have to make a number of passes to get the soil to the depth you want, but it's doable. My main expense, except for an annual tune-up with new plugs anad filter, has been replacing the tines every few years, as they get too worn to dig properly.

I find tilling doesn't help clay. Think lasagna gardening. Layer newspaper, compost, grass clippings, and mulch on top to make it look attractive. Water and wait. In couple of months (depending on rain) you will have weed-free, worm-rich, soft bed. Don't ask me how it softens the clay underneathe, cuz I don't know. I just know it works. (This will not work if you use pesticides and herbicides around it, cuz the breakdown of all the composting goodies will be disturbed.)

Crohnkiller, if you post your front-walk hedging question separately, you will get more responses - most who look at the header of this posting will think you only want advice on tillers.

I agree that you need to add PLENTY of organic matter into clay, but tilling it in will give you a head start on waiting the several months it takes the lasagna method to be effective. I will add that the moisture levels of the soil need to be within a fairly narrow range for any small tiller to get through it - if it's too dry, the tiller just sits on top and spins its tines, or bucks heavily and frequently. If it's too wet, the tiller tines get clogged, or it throws up clods, which then dry to a rock-like consistency, and can take several YEARS to soften and break down again.

With the lasagna method, you don't have to wait for the weather cooperate and give you the right moisture level, or else drag out the hose to wet down too-dry soil yourself, so that tilling is possible. You DO have to get the whole thing WET, so the paper/cardboard stays wet and in contact with the soil, and keep it damp, if the weather isn't cooperative. Very dry layers will take a LOT longer to break down. You can, esp. if you are lucky to have access to ample supplies of materials and can pile it deep, wait only 6-8 weeks, and plant through the layers. Just keep in mind that the mound will shrink a lot over the next few months, so if you started with 18", you may end up with about 6" - esp. if you added a lot of leaves and other fluffy things to the mix.

Crohnkiller - How about Knock-out roses? They are gorgeous, but are susceptible to the Japanese beetles. Others may have better suggestions. . .
Brenda & Dibbit - I agree with you wholeheartedly about lasagna beds. I use cardboard instead of newspaper in mine. Tried the newspaper and it was too much work + bending = backache for me. Large cardboard boxes cover more area. . .Either one seems to work well for the plants though.
My soil, if you can call it that, is both clay and rocky, so amending is a must. I started out double-digging with my first garden plot - ugh! Now I only make lasagna beds.
Just saw a PBS show today that featured The Hermitage in TN and their head gardener demonstrated how to create an instant bed this way. The neat thing is, you can wait and let the materials break down for a few months/over the winter, or you can plant in the bed right away. I never seem to have the patience to wait. . .:)

The beds in front of my new house I deep forked (not turned,just forked). Spread soil conditioner over top liberally and then went to work with the mantis. True, it bucked but section by section I was able to break the soil and mix it the conditioner down to about 11".
Timing so soil moisture is correct is critical.
A Mantis is a very wise investment. I gave away my first one to a friend and bought a new one (housewarming present to myself) and I wouldn't be without it.
It does need seasonal maintainance. Leaving the gas/oil mixture in it over the winter isn't wise. Found that out the expensive way.

As for shrubs, a local nursery is promoting Kaleidoscope Abelia. I've been happy having white carpet roses which , for me, bloom 4-5 times a year if you clip off the old seed heads and feed them a couple times a year. Wonderfully fragrant and seem to be less bothered by japanese beetles than knockout roses.

i bought a honda 4 cycle tiller for about the same price a few yrs back as the 2 cycle mantis. i think mantis has a 4 cycle now. nice thing is no mixing of the gas & oil, and i believe they pollute less. used it in part to dig our 2 ponds. you definitely need to get teh soil moisture right or they don't work well in clay. good luck! tammy

I absolutely LOVE my Simplicity rear tine tiller. Tried one of those Mantis when we lived in TX and all it did was bounce around ontop of the hard clay. Opted for the big heavy rear tine since we have alot of granite here. If you use the brake / depth thingy then its not hard. There's an old rock quarry a couple miles down the road. One thing to remember though is to let the tiller do the work, don't manhandle it and you won't be sore the next day.

Tanya

If you have a manly man who will maintain and START the bigger tiller..go with the Mantis. I have a big Honda tiller too but left it with my son at the other house. Nobody here can start it and it's a pain in the neck to store.
My Mantis just hangs up on the wall of the garage. Handy little devil!

my honda tiller is the ONLY power thing of ours i can start. it's not hard at all. it's just like the 4 cycle mantis's. they didn't have them when i bought it though. and even if they had, the honda was cheaper. tam