Hand Pruners
Having said that, pruning shears operate in essentially two different ways.
Bypass or Anvil Pruning Shears?
Bypass shears work very much like scissors. The blades are constructed to by-pass each other and cut the stem.
Anvil shears work by chopping; a blade is designed to press down against an “anvil” or steel base and chop off the stem.
If you’ve ever been into a working nursery or major garden centre, you’ll see the staff all using a red-handled pruning shear. These are bypass types because they are much easier on your hands and if you have older hands like mine, you appreciate that extra touch of comfort.
Anvil shears are harder to work because you have to press quite firmly to get the blade to “seat” on the anvil in order to make a clean cut.
And speaking of clean cuts, you get a cleaner cut from bypass types of shears. The blades, if kept sharp, cut quite cleanly.
If you get the impression I would recommend bypass shears you’re right. I’ve tried the anvil types and while they are typically cheaper than the bypass ones, they are hard to work with after an hour of plant cleanup. And the bypass ones leave the plants looking good and not chewed up. (note that the anvil types work well when new but the blades dull quicker than the bypass ones – they are hammering themselves against a steel block with each cut)
And that’s important to check out as well. Do your pruning shears come with replaceable blades and are those blades easy to find? Frankly, I’ve seen a lot of products come and go from different manufacturers and their pruning shears have become disposable products rather than enduring tools.
How do they handle adverse weather?
Do your pruning shears handle adverse weather? I’ve seen shears with foam handle guards that are quite silly in the garden. The foam gets wet and then rips and you’re left with rough metal on the handles. You can either wrap the handles up with duct tape (another use for the tape) but this is a temporary solution at best as the tape will also get wet and deteriorate. So, watch for fancy handle coverings on pruning shears.
Those red handled shears that you see in the pocket of every real nursery staff member are Felco shears. I’ve had my pair for over twenty years now and other than changing the blades, this polished cast aluminum product has served me well. Remember I used them on a commercial nursery with a massive display garden. I note they chop shrub branches up to one half inch quite comfortably. I’ve done larger but I would never recommend doing so. I also have a leather holster (mandatory if you don’t want to lose them) that is the same age and I wouldn’t part with either.
I've also recently been using a set of shears from Fiskars that are also easy on the hand and can recommend these as well. They are ergonomically designed and constructed of space-age plastics so they don't rust away. I have all three pruners - from the short regular sized ones to the medium and long handled pruning shears that allow you to prune into old roses without getting your hands scratched up. Great tools!
Hint:
I use a big old clip to clip my holster to a belt loop rather than thread it through my belt. This way, I can take it off quickly or switch it out of the way when I bend down or take a well-earned sitdown in the garden.
So be kind to your hands and find a good pair of bypass pruning shears.
Click here to ask about hand pruners
I have located one source for pruners. If you are interested, click the photo below.
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