What the perfect pruning shear is: 11 tips for choosing a professional
Without secateurs in the countryside can not do without. But there are so many different models that even my eyes are scattered. And how difficult it is for beginners! So I decided to talk about how to choose the right pruning shears. I have 11 tips that I hope will make your trip to the store for pruning shears easier.
How to find your perfect pruning shear?
Tip 1. Try different mechanisms before you buy
If possible, you should try different versions of pruning shears in business, evaluating the convenience of each in your work. Say, fashionable nowadays secateurs with a ratchet mechanism do not suit me personally: the need to slowly squeeze the handles slows down and tires you, and the cuts are obtained uneven. Therefore, I advise you to try different kinds of primus in advance. You can ask famous gardeners to use their tools: it is enough to cut a couple of branches and already it will become clear that “your” is this. This is the secateurs or “not your thing”.
A ratchet secateurs turned out to be uncomfortable for me
I have other requirements, but they are from the category of personal preference. I like the usual spring grasses: striping is somehow faster, and clothespins or pins clinging to everything on the principle of clothes or pins.
I’m also used to floating curved blades, one that cuts and one that doesn’t. But your opinion may not be the same as mine, so once again I urge you to personally try the secondary service before you buy.
Samplers can be with a regular handle, duct tape, or pin
Tip 2. The size of the pruner should fit you personally
I’ve noticed that not too experienced gardeners are more suited to medium or small pruning shears. These are actually the easiest to get used to. But everyone’s hands are different. So you need to “feel out” the tool before you give your preference and preference to the one that subjectively seems more comfortable. Remember that whether you have a pruner on your hand or not, first impressions are usually correct. A few years ago I forgot this and bought a model that seemed unimportant from the start. But then the salesman could only offer more miniature pruning shears, and I hoped I would get used to it. But that never happened.
By the way, my brushes are far from the largest – so I stand by the popular idea of “A large palm is a great secondary object of myth-making.” Some models are equipped with a regulator for the position of the handles. This comes in handy when the pruner is used by different people: one has a dainty hand, the other has a huge hand.
Tip 3. Don’t chase the maximum cutting diameter
When describing the tool, be sure to pay attention to such a characteristic as the maximum cutting diameter. But remember that cutting thick branches requires a certain skill. Until it has worked out, it is better not to chase the power, and take a secateurs, which can “toot” branches with a diameter of up to 18-20 mm.
Pruning shears with medium blades are suitable for beginners
Tip 4. Test the tool in motion
Slowly open and close the instrument several times in the store, shake it up and down to make sure that the sounds do not move without their desire. Spontaneous opening will cause injury, and a rod that is too tight will slow you down. Grasp the handles and hold your hand in different positions-it shouldn’t feel like it. And don’t fall for the salesman’s assurances that the secretary is “designed.” It should be comfortable right away, with no reservations.
Tip 5. The secretary must be sharp.
Wood is a hard and ductile substance that is suitable only for a well-honed blade. That said, the quality of the cut is very important to your plants – if you “gnaw” and “gnaw” at the secondary distance, unpleasant consequences will not be long in coming. To estimate the severity of the blade, take an ordinary sheet of paper (writing paper or office paper), fix it at the edge and try to cut from the end with an open secretary at a right angle, which will act as a knife for you. When the paper is cut, the secondary layer will be sharp enough to work with. If you refuse to buy a blunt instrument. Do not count on yourself to sharpen it properly. At a minimum, you need some knowledge and skill as a maximum secreter sharpening device.
Proper sharpening of the secretaire is not an easy matter, requiring special skills. Therefore, pay attention to the sharpness already in the store
Tip 6. Smooth blades are better
Any grooves, scratches or imperfections on the cutting parts improve friction, make cutting more difficult and aggravate wounds. The cutting parts should be well polished. Some models have a Teflon coating on the blades to improve slip and protect the metal from corrosion.
The blades of a new pruning shear should be perfectly smooth with no imperfections
Tip 7. Check the sturdiness of the blades.
This has a direct impact on durability. It is good if the cutting parts consist of strong and hard (hardened) steel: a soft one can become clogged after the first use and quickly blunted. It should be remembered that parts made of hard steel are less durable than those made of hard steel, because the secretary experiences great mechanical stress when working. For myself, I have excluded secrets with coated cutting steel, as they are not intense. But amateur gardeners, whose annual cutting is small, they may be suitable.
Tip 8. Get a secreter with strong, comfortable handles
You should look powerful, not skinny, because you play the role of leverage and withstand considerable effort. When choosing a secretary, think about the handle and estimate the thickness by eye. Frankly, thin and flimsy ones are not worth taking. Secretaries are also sold with a protective arc on the bottom handle, but these are the most powerful tools for cutting branches of large diameter. As a rule, all road secreters are equipped with a ratchet mechanism with protective plates.
Convex handles don’t match the grain.
It’s best to avoid convex stamp patterns – you can chafe your hands, but aim for slippery surfaces. Find options with nice to the touch, non-slippery, and not too bumpy overlays. In my experience, rubberized handle pads are the most comfortable to use.
Tip 9. The brighter the better.
This is a very simple tip, you might say, lying on the surface. How often do you lose a tool in the garden? Yes, all the time! Acid coloring your pruning shears reduces the likelihood of accidentally losing them. In general, this tip applies to all small gardening equipment.
A brightly colored tool is easier to find if you accidentally lose it in the garden.
Tip 10. There should be more than one pruning shear
After you have tried all the previous tips and chosen a pruning shear, remember that you or your family members will probably be tempted to use it for other garden work.
Use the pruner only for pruning branches. If you need a tool for flower garden work, get a separate pruning shear.
I meet people all the time who do everything with secateurs: cut twine, wire, plastic, cut brooms, work with them in the flower garden, and so on. As a result, the blades quickly become blunt and scratched, there are traces of corrosion on the metal, and the screw that fastens the halves loosens. The secateurs lose their properties and it is difficult, if not impossible, to repair them. It is no longer possible to fell trees with such a tool! Therefore it makes sense not to have one tool for all occasions, but several for different tasks.
Ideally, every gardener should have several pruning shears in his arsenal. Each of them has its own purpose.
Three types of pruning shears that should be in the arsenal of every gardener
1. The first secateurs in my review with an anvil and curved blades, are suitable for pruning dry branches up to 18-20 mm in diameter. The anvil allows you to cope with quite massive branches. It is best used for rejuvenating and sanitary cuts.
Anvil pruner PALISAD Comfort
2. In second place I would put the pruning shear for straight cuts. This is an indispensable tool for any gardener. This is ideal for branches up to 18 mm in diameter. You can cut tree and shrub branches, stiff flower stems, sticks for bath brooms. And thanks to their different shape, they cannot be confused with the first secateurs.
PALISAD Comfort Straight Secateurs
3. Universal hair clippers have never been superfluous, so they made it into my top 3. I always have them with me, ready to use. With a claimed cutting diameter of up to 10 mm, the scissors can handle even thin young shoots and flower stems. With them, you have to cut yarn, foil, garter wire, cardboard and other garden little things that are on hand.
PALISAD Comfort Secateurs
These are three basic types of cutting tools that are very useful in our gardening endeavors. But there is another type of pruning shears that I have not yet tested – these are grafting shears. I’ve been looking at them for a long time, but haven’t bought them yet. Still, my hands itch, especially in anticipation of spring. They say that it is a faithful helper for all lovers of grafting. The pruning is even, without flaws, so the scion and scion match exactly, which is very important for good grafting. I hope to try it soon.
PALISAD grafting scissors
Tip 11: Take care of your hands
And one more tip, a bonus: Never disregard safety precautions when handling pruning shears. Always wear gloves and hold the tool correctly, because it’s very easy to get injured. You can not only scratch your hands on the branches, but also rub such grains (with a large number of prunings) that later you will not be able to take anything in your hands for a week. So think about your safety in advance and take care of yourself.
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Choosing a garden for the garden: evaluating tips and models
The secondary engine is perhaps the most popular of all garden tools. This simple, versatile mechanism is used for a wide variety of jobs you can’t do without in the garden. But they differ very differently, depending on the purpose, drive design, volume or technical characteristics of the work. Therefore, the question of which SEKator is better is not as simple as it seems. It is necessary to be at least minimally oriented, choosing the products offered.
Requirements for pruning shears
They are essentially shears, since gardening uses a special configuration of blades. The problem is that live shoots separate the sap because relatively stringy branches slip out of the work area. Therefore, priest knives are given a sickle shape, equipped with teeth, reduce the opening angle, in a word, do everything so that they do not slip during the cutting.
Over the years, certain requirements have developed for the design of the garden cutter:
- quality – should get even sections of branches without a deformed edge, which reduces the likelihood of plant disease;
- Ergonomics – minimum effort during work;
- Reliability and durability.
varieties of
According to the principle of operation, pruning shears are divided into three main types:
Garden shears
Can be with straight or pathologically curved sharp blades, sometimes with serrations to prevent the slippage of branches. They give a precise even cut, but are unsuitable for dense – possessed stems, as they wrinkle on either side of the cut line. Good for herbs, flowers and young green shoots with stems up to 20 mm thick.
Garden shears with straight blades for cutting herbaceous plants
Circumferential (bypass) – flat
The blades are also arranged on opposite sides of the cutting line – the thick lower part serves as a stop for the sharp upper one. The design of the secateurs is more rigid, but during the cut the stem is chopped by the blunt blade. When working, it must be directed by the template. This type of tool is mainly used as a tree pruning cutter, which works well on dry and green branches.
With an anvil (site support) – contact
Of all types, the most powerful, which can cut a branch up to 30 mm. The working principle is that the hard, sharp upper cutting part cuts the branch and presses it against a flat lining made of a soft, but durable material such as polymer. This is to ensure that the working part is not particularly dull. It is often used for sanitary pruning of old trees, where there are many thick dry branches.
In addition to manual pruners, there are also mechanized, electric and pneumatic pruners.
With a ratchet mechanism. This mechanism allows you to increase the force on the blade and reduce the load on the hands. In a few presses, each one closes the blades more and more.
Electric actuator. Hollow-formers are used more often for large amounts of work. They greatly increase labor productivity, but relatively cheap models do not have enough battery power for a long time.
Cordless electric drive
Pneumatic drive. Pretty powerful, usually professional products for very large jobs. Disadvantage – you need a compressor with high pressure hoses. For example, Felco company produces inexpensive pneumatic wipers of classic configurations. Air flow rate is up to 50 liters per minute. Some models have a sprayer for pruning live vegetables against diseases.
pneumatic actuator
Planned application
It is best to consult with a sales company manager about how to choose a secretaire for a particular application. Much depends on your interests in gardening. For example.
Floristry
Creative work on the design of bouquets requires a fairly miniature tool, so that you can cut not only herbaceous stems, but also various decorative and finishing materials. That’s why the designer’s scissors in the field of floristry are the most graceful of all the plum ones, which have thin, elongated double blades. A good selection of such a tool is offered by the Japanese company Ars.
Ars scissors.
Prickly shrub care.
Such pruning shears have elongated handles or thorn guard, which are sometimes equipped with a special handle and allow you to hold the cut branch with the flower and bring it into them without fear. Examples are the elegant Berger 1560 for the female hand and the extended model (617 mm length) from the Japanese company Ars. Both are designed to cut roses, but the Berger has a shorter handle, and the operating and supporting blade has special pads so you can grasp the cut flower without touching the stem for even a second.
Harvest
An ergonomic lightweight tool with thin, long blades that can be pulled back slightly and cut a few grapes deep into the vine, for example, well suited for a garden dominated by climbing and vegetable plants. Examples of brands: Bellota, oasis.
Frenzy .
Pruning shears, handy with elongated straight knives, are needed when pruning unequal surfaces or trimming hard-to-reach areas of the lawn, which cannot be reached with a trimmer. They are often equipped with a telescopic tripod perpendicular to the cutting level so that you can work without bending over. The distance from the blades to the ground is determined by the wheels. Such a model, for example, belongs to the Raco tools.
Raco handle grass sport
Pruning tool.
Created for the convenience of transporting fruit plants. It is able to create a cut with which it is possible to match as accurately as possible on the stock and on the ceiling of each other. The set usually includes standard U, V and Omega knives. When choosing a triple of this type, do not chase the claimed ability to graft cuttings over 10 mm. Well-proven brands are Arti tec, Due Buoi.
Artitec grafting with 3 knives
Castor
The main purpose – pruning ornamental shrubs, landscape design, gardening, as well as the creation of topiary masterpieces. It resembles large scissors with cylindrical, often telescopic handles and knives up to 20 – 25 cm long. However, the market now offers a large selection of crafts powered by batteries, the household network or a gasoline engine. Their cutting part is very similar to barber’s knives. Electric hedge trimmers are offered by Bosh, Makita, Skil, Metabo, gasoline – Husqvarna, Huter, Ryobi.
Bosch Bosch electric hedge trimmers
Height .
Sometimes its length reaches more than two meters. The boom can be telescopic or continuous, even homemade. It is often used in urban landscaping when caring for green spaces. Some models are equipped in the working part with a hacksaw for cutting particularly thick branches. Currently, electric and gasoline models are very popular. In the rough version, these are miniature chainsaws on a long bar. Almost all of them are available as electric tools.
Gartera telescopic electric electric
female dog
Powerful tool with extended handles, sometimes equipped with a lever booster and capable of cutting branches up to 4 – 5 cm thick. Indispensable for a garden or park with many old trees.
Pleasant trivia
Professional purchases from amateur ones differ not only in high quality and price. Some companies, in order not to buy a new tool, produce repair kits, save parts, and sometimes even put it on a replacement. Many people just do not think about these nice little things.
The quality of the cut depends on the cutting and toughness of the metal. However, a good knife is not only high-carbon or alloy tool steel that is protected against corrosion. It should have an anti-adhesion coating of Teflon or Chroma alloy, which prevents the formation of sticky deposits from plant sap.
Hand tools imply the presence of handles, which largely determines the productivity of labor. Plastic is characteristic of cheap products, but it is very impractical and slippery. Rubber inserts on plastic handles are better. And while fiberglass reinforced with polyamide is not bad, aluminum pins with a rubber loft are considered the most comfortable, durable and ergonomic. In addition, should be equipped with rings, like scissors or with a stop, so that the hand does not slip on the blades when working, and for safe transportation should have a lock (latch), which can make it secure.
The design of the handles should exclude injuries during work. Therefore, it is desirable that the distance between them was large enough. Models with rotating handles are very convenient – sometimes it facilitates the work and prevents grains.
The spring is quite an important element. The ease of opening the knives and the productivity of work depends on it. Springs come in two types – classic spiral and sticky tape. The latter are more reliable and safe in operation.
A nice little thing is that many serious companies produce secreters for left-handed people and with different sizes of pencils, so that the buyer can pick up the tool on the hand.
sharpening
A sharpened blade of good steel gives a nice, still cutting cut, but sooner or later it still gets boring. Sometimes the blunt blade effect occurs when a lot of juice has dried on it – just rinse with a warm disinfectant solution. If this does not help, sharpening is required.
In the simplest version, the secateurs can be sharpened with a file, but for a quality tool, it is desirable to stock up on diamond bars. To ensure that the metal grains do not clog the grinder when working, it is slightly moistened with water.
They start with a coarse rod, spend the blade from the handle to the sharp end, and try not to change the angle of their field, usually 10-20 °. They are taken to the side opposite to the level of contact of the blades without touching them. The middle bar is brought to the desired sharpness, and the small one removes the compromises, including the blades.
Overview of the secateurs market
The Russian market for garden tools offers a very extensive selection. However, only a few managers are represented here. By order of the magazine “Demand” the following brands were tested: Fiskars, Grinda, Raco, Brigadier, Gardena, Lux, “Central Lessons”, “Tool-Agro”.
For testing, we chose bypass sockpickers of roughly the same class. Preliminary price estimates are as follows and start with the most expensive. Relative prices:
| Gardena, Germany. | Steel with high line. | 1299 p. |
| Fiskars, Finland | stainless steel | 659 p. |
| Brigadier, Switzerland | High carbon steel | 449 p. |
| Central tool, Russia brand, made by Yuva Europe | Carbon steel | 379 p. |
| Raco, Germany | Carbon steel fecal steel | 357 p. |
| Grinda, Hong Kong | Carbon steel fecal steel | 114 p. |
| Instrument-Agro, Russia | Loaded structural steel | 110 p. |
| Lux, China for Germany | Carbon steel fecal steel | 109 p. |
However, the most important thing is the consumer qualities. You are interested in the experts before selecting a second to work with. Based on the results of tests that took into account ergonomics, convenience, latch reliability, performance, ease of handling, hardness of design and quality of cut, the scores were given on a five-point scale. The resulting ranking table is as follows:
| Raco | All points “excellent”, overall rating 4.9 |
| Garden | “good” for a not-so-comfortable bar an overall score of 4.8 |
| Fiskar | “Good” for the quality of construction, ease of operation, score – 4.7 |
| Central Instruction. | “Good” for convenience, fixing, design, score – 4.6 |
| Brigadier | All items – “good”, bar, design – “excellent”, grade – 4.2 |
| suite | All items “satisfactory”, only ergonomics, fixation – “good”, grade – 3 |
| Grinda | All items “defective”, retainer, design – “satisfactory”, grade – 2.5 |
| Tool-Agro | All points “not recommended”, design and ergonomics “with defects”, score – 1.2 |
Cut quality of all test samples
These companies are well known in Russia. With a sufficiently wide range, they almost cover the entire range of requests of amateur gardeners. The exception is the last three brands, the choice of which is quite scarce, and you do not have power tools.
The rest of the products can also be evaluated by these estimates. Of course, important Western brands have a good selection with appropriate service. I was satisfied with the Russian “central instruction”. At low prices, the quality of its products and assortment were at a proper level. Apart from these companies, there are little-known brands of very high quality on the Russian market, such as the Italian corporations buo, Lisam, the Swiss Felco or the American Corona.
