Which garden shears

Working with your arms raised naturally tests your muscle strength, but thanks to the lightweight handles on this set of shears, you have less to heft.

The blades on this set are made from stainless steel. What's more, they have a non-stick coating to keep the clean cuts coming. Not sure which of the best garden shears to look for?

The planting that you have in your garden will determine which type, or even types, of garden shears you should add to your toolkit. Your garden's size will also likely influence your choice: if a job is fairly quick, a multipurpose design could suit fine, though if you own large hedges, lawns and so on, a single set probably won't be enough and it may be worth investing in separate tools for separate tasks.

These come in various sizes. If your hedge is leafy, you can opt for smaller shears with shorter blades that are lighter to hold. These can be used for a number of tidying up jobs around the garden, not just hedges. If you have woodier hedges, you'll need a set of bigger shears with longer blades to get the leverage to snip through the branches.

Need something longer to trim a tall hedge? Look for a set of best garden shears with longer handles to give you extra reach when cutting. If, however, you plan to use them for other jobs the length of the handles can be a bit unwieldy, so consider investing in a pair of shears with telescopic handles instead.

It is possible to double up and use a set of hedging shears to trim grass. Specialist tools will prove more convenient, but if budget and storage space preclude it, one good pair of shears could suffice.

Alternatively, you could look to investing in a best strimmer to keep your borders and edges in check. Once you've decided what type of garden shears you require to tackle your garden's specific needs, focus on the material that the blade is made from. Naturally rust resistant, stainless steel is an excellent material for tackling any sort of garden growth. If your shears have a bonus coating of Teflon or PTFE , this stops any sap sticking to the blades, so you can continue cutting for longer before they need cleaning.

Shears, pruners or secateurs? Depending on where you look, these can all be interchangeable names for the same thing, but as a rule, shears are for larger garden tasks, like trimming hedges and lawns. Pruners or secateurs are handheld tools and best used for smaller, precise jobs such as deadheading and trimming flower stems or snipping back individual branches. Check out our best secateurs buyers guide if you're looking to expand your tool kit. Gardens are packed with damp grass cuttings and wet, sticky sap, as well as mud and dirt.

With the sharp cut afforded by the Mockins shears, plants can be healthier, less prone to diseases, and more likely to thrive after pruning. These bypass shears perform well at cutting green indoor or outdoor plants. For those who want smaller shears without sacrificing cutting ability, the Saboten Thinning Shear might be just the ticket. These little bypass pruners feature sharp Teflon-coated carbon steel blades, easy-grip handles, and a built-in locking mechanism.

Slightly smaller than other shears, the Saboten shears are well suited to small hands, and they feature shock-absorbing grips that help prevent slipping and reduce hand fatigue. These small-but-mighty pruners work especially well for thinning out plants with dense growth. The blades feature pointed tips to help the shears precisely trim plants with close-growing stems. The VIVOSUN shears come with ergonomic handles and nonslip grips for reduced hand fatigue, and the micro-tip snips make it easy to cut away only the portion of the plant that needs it.

Larger shears tend to cut indiscriminately, but these precision shears offer the ability to carefully select a spent blossom and cut it away without fear of cutting away budding blossoms. The shears also feature a locking mechanism that holds the blades in the closed position when not in use. Their long pointed bypass blades can help select the right stem to snip without inadvertently cutting others.

For florists or gardeners who love to share their colorful flower crops, these shears boast super sharp, Teflon-coated carbon steel blades that remain clean after multiple cuts.

Rather than a locking mechanism, the shears feature a safety strap that fits around the ends of the handles to keep blades closed when not in use. From a well-known name for gardening and landscaping tools comes the Fiskars Bypass Pruning Shears.

The Fiskars shears feature a precision-ground steel cutting blade that stays super sharp, even with frequent use, and it comes with a low-friction coating to cut through stems easily and resist gumming up the blade with sap and debris.

The shears come with a padded nonslip grip for comfort and feature a locking mechanism to keep the blades closed when not in use. These anvil shears come with an ergonomic grip that helps the user exert maximum pressure on twigs for cutting. The ARS pruners probably work so well because they are very, very sharp. Typical hardware-store pruners score in the range of 50 to 54, and several companies Felco and Bahco, among others will not release information about the hardness of their steel.

But from what we could determine, this pair was harder than any other pruners we tested, except the Okatsune ARS makes the rest of the tool as carefully as it does the blades. The main difference was that the ARS HP-VS8Z cut large branches slightly more smoothly than the Felco 2, requiring a little less force, and making a flatter, cleaner cut.

The Corona BP is an economical choice that can easily trim delicate scallion stems and slice right through raspberry canes. Corona's blades are made out of high carbon SK5 steel, and should keep their edge for a long time after sharpening. This model has a very wide handle span—when splayed open, these pruners are hard for many users to grasp.

Most home users would be better off with a pair of pruners that can tackle a broader range of branches. A minority of commenters on Amazon also complain that this model is prone to rust. The lower blade, however, is put together with rivets and cannot be replaced. Most of our testing was on standard bypass pruners, but we also tried pruners with rotating handles to reduce fatigue, as well as ratcheting pruners that make large cuts with less force. The Felco 6 model is a smaller version of our top pick.

If you have smaller hands, this pair is a great option. The Tierra Pro 7. Look for the 7. The Okatsune 7-inch Bypass Pruners are a favorite among bonsai enthusiasts. Slim and short, they open very wide 6 inches across at the base , making it hard for users with smaller hands like me to grasp them, and the handles feel slightly slippery in damp conditions. They cut live branches and dowels perfectly—really, perfectly—with little torn bark and smooth, flat cuts, but they failed to cut through scallions on three out of 10 attempts.

No US merchants currently offer this model. I hope that either Burgon or Ball takes care of that soon. The Ergo model cut scallions perfectly but tended to crush the dowels and Norway maple branches, and it required more force to close around live branches than the other Tierra models did. It tended to crush the dowels, but it did sever them, and it made good, flat cuts in live branches. The Fiskars Quantum Hand Pruner is not made to slice scallions, and it left dangling onion bits on more than half the cuts.

In testing, the PowerGear2 tended to crush live branches and dowels slightly, and it required more force to close than other pruners.

There are better options. The Kenyon Forged Bypass Pruner did a decent job on scallions and raspberries, but it required more force to cut through wooden dowels and live branches than most other pruners in my sample. The Zavaland Pruning Shears were the only pruners in my sample that were completely incapable of cutting through scallions. The clasp, the handles, and the gear housing are all made of plastic. We are here to guide you through choosing the best garden shears.

We will show you the factors to consider and ensure that you end up with the best tool. The blade of the cutting shears is one of the significant features to look out for when buying. The standard or otherwise of the blade determines the ease as well as the quality of the cut. How then do you inspect the blades to be sure you are buying a standard blade?

The following are factors to be considered as regards the blade of the cutting shears when purchasing. The sharpness of the blades blade coating, etc. You should also think about the type of grass in your garden when buying.

Hedge cutting shears with sharp blades help in providing more precise cuts than those that are less sharp. When considering the sharpness, it is also essential that you find the coating of the blade. Types of the blades: Gardening shears blades are of different blade type come in various materials. There are the straight blade shears, which are known to be the most common.

This blade type is known for its all-round standard to effect cut and also removes thick branches and stems off hedges and bushes without damaging the plants. There is also the serrated shears, which are the best option when cutting thicker branches because of its design. This garden shear-type serves as an excellent alternative to straight blade shears.

The wavy blade shears are known for the curvy design and fantastic grips. They are the best option for thinner twigs to prevent them in their number from slipping away. Make sure they are not too heavy making the shear a bit difficult to operate with for you.

Also, consider the length of the garden shear blade. The longer the blade, the safer and easier it is to work with it. Most importantly is the quality of the shear blade. You will not want to search for a knife that wears off after a while of use. The handles of pruning shears are just as necessary as the blades themselves.

The handles help to determine how well you can have a hold of the shear and operate with it. There are certain factors to consider as regards handle when buying pruning shears. Length of the handles: The length of the handle should depend on the Size of the hedge shears.

The long handles are usually always best because they are safe to operate with at any time. They, however, make the job seem a bit stressful, which makes people want to go for the shorter handles. The handles of some of the shears you may find on amazon are made of wood. Coiled Metal or Wire Spring: your choice of either the coiled metal or wire spring largely depends on the intensity of the work to be done.

The coiled metal is usually best for heavy tasks while the wire spring can be used for any other job. Safety is vital when working with a tool like the shear. So when buying, you must pay attention to the safety features provided. Make sure the locking mechanism provided for is top-notch and one you can operate. With a good lock, you can have the shear locked and in its place while not in use. When buying, you can either choose between manual or powered shears.

The manual shears are best when you need to operate across a small area or carry out light cutting. The larger the city and the more difficult the task, the best option is the powered shears. With the powered shears, you can get a large piece of work done in the fastest possible time. Garden shears come in different types, all of which are relative to different types of gardens. This is why it is always advised that you first know your garden and the vegetation therein before deciding which garden shear you want to buy.

Many gardeners and homeowners are no doubt very familiar with the anvil shears. These shears are of very high quality and the best option for cutting thick grasses. The advantage of this shear is the quality design of its blade. The blades have been made in such a way that they easily cut through tough grasses without necessarily having to apply too much pressure.

Although it is very useful in its operation, the downside to anvil shears is that they are generally unable to provide an elegant finish. This is because of the cutting mechanism of this shear.