Pruning your garden is absolutely essential to maintain a healthy and attractive lawn. As such, your hand pruners are equally important.
While you can do some trimming with flower shears or a pair of scissors, there’ll come a time when these tools will be useless against thicker stems and your next resort will be to use hand pruners.
Perhaps you don’t own hand pruners yet and would love to buy. This how-to choose a garden hand pruner guide will help.
Types of Hand Pruning Shears
Basically, hand pruners exist in three types:
- Anvil pruners
- Bypass pruners
- Racket pruners
Anvil Garden Pruners: They are characterized by a single straight cutting blade which clamps down on a flat edge. This kind of pruner is similar to a knife against a cutting board in that it makes slicing actions. The tool is effective for getting rid of sturdy, dry wood. It, however, is quite bulky and manoeuvring it around tight angled crotches can be hard.
Bypass Pruners: Perhaps the most common of the three pruner types is the bypass pruners. This is because they offer the cleanest and most smooth cut. They come with two curved blades that bypass each other, just like a pair of scissors. One of the blades is sharpened on the outside edge. The other blade is stronger and unsharpened.
Ratchet Garden Pruners: They are similar to anvil pruners. However, the difference between them is that ratchet pruners have a mechanism that carries out the cutting action in stages. Besides, ratchet hand pruners are suitable for those with weaker hands because they offer more leverage. This pruner will also help if you have to prune a lot.
Bypass pruners make a clean cut and are thus preferred the most among the three. However, when buying, ensure you test the pruners first. Hold them and make sure they’re comfortable.
The Costs of Pruning Shears
The cost of pruners differs. However, you’ll find some for less than $10 and others that exceed $75. When choosing, it is much safer to search for famous brand names. Some of these names include Fiskars, Sandvik, Corona, and ARS. Also, search for heavy-duty or professional pruners because these models have high-tempered carbon steel blades that you can sharpen.
It is also crucial that you purchase hand pruners with parts that can be changed. There may be a need to replace parts after they have worn out. Hand pruners, quality ones especially, come in various sizes and you can make your pick.
Is there any Saw for Cutting live Shrubs or Trees?
Yes, there is a gardening tool called pruning saw, which is used for trimming large shrubs or small trees. There are different types of pruning saws available, those are utilized for different kinds of branches or stem.
Ergonomics
If you’ve had any experience with pruning, you probably know that the activity stresses the hands a lot. It will be even harder for those with health conditions like arthritis to cope. If you happen to be suffering from health conditions like this, it is better to go with ergonomically designed models. These models come with cushioned handles which helps to minimize pressure.
Others have rotating handles to reduce the stress on your wrist. In fact, some have horizontal inclinations to keep the hand in a straight and neutral position. What’s more, some models have been made to meet the needs of left-handed users, though they’re quite scarce.
No matter what, your goal when choosing hand pruner is to purchase one that can cut easily, leaves a smooth and desirable cut, and is comfortable to handle. If you choose well using this guide, your garden and visitors will thank you for it.
