Pruning is a vital and fundamental task for any gardener. Ranging from delicately cutting back a flourishing plant to removing brush creeping into the garden space, there are a range of shears that will help with the task. Each works on a basic principle: two blades come together to cut, but how and why they do differ from tool to tool. Here are some of the must-haves for your garden.
Bypass pruning shears
Two blades, one usually curved and sharp, the other dull, which pass each other when making a cut like a pair of scissors. These shears are good for small green vegetation such as small branches and briars. They are one of the must-haves for any gardener.
Snipping Shears
Small, pointed shears are great for delicate work in the garden such as pruning flowers and precision cuts on delicate plants.
Loping Shears
Longhandled and strong loping shears are your heavy-duty option for quick cuts. Able to handle thick wooded branches, these are your last stop before you break out the saw.
Anvil Shears
These clippers bring the cutting blade directly down on the blunt blade like a hammer hitting an anvil. Use these shears for hard woods and dead growth.
Hedge Trimmers
With bypass blades almost as long as the handles these shears are perfect for making long even cuts to bushes, hedges and ornamental grasses. They are the go-to for styling decorative plants around the yard.
Pole Saw
Though their primary purpose, as their name suggests, is that of a saw, pole saws often come with a shear attachment that allows the user to easily cut back small growth high up in a tree while remaining firmly planted on the ground. Using a string attached to the cutting blade, the pole saw can make quick snips of small dead or dying limbs from the ground.