Flower and fruit plants, branches, shrubs, hedges, and creepers. Pruning is a fundamental operation to grow healthy plants and avoid damaging them. It is advisable to obtain the right tools. A good pruning shear, professional or from home, allows you to keep the garden beautiful and tidy, and its blades guarantee a careful cut respecting the plant’s health. To grow (and grow back) well, branches and shrubs must be pruned regularly and correctly.
A particularly robust and sharp blade characterizes professional pruning shears for a resistant structure and an ergonomic shape that makes it easy to handle. However, keeping the garden and garden requires energy, and we often deal with fairly complex operations.
Having the right scissors makes everything easier, speeding up work and reducing the risk of calluses, blisters, abrasions, arthritis, or wrist sprains.
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How to choose pruning shears: Types and Characteristics
From what has been said so far, it should be clear that the pruning shears are different. The choice also depends on the type of plants you intend to prune.
For the care of a garden, flowers and a small vegetable garden are enough traditional shears, while those who have fruit trees, olive trees, or shrubs higher and difficult to reach can opt for a model with a telescopic rod. A practical alternative to the ladder is to collect fruit and flowers without climbing.
In addition to use, there are other factors to consider when choosing the best pruning shears:
- Blades: blades are the most important component. A blade’s quality directly affects pruning’s effectiveness: they must be sharp and sturdy to guarantee a clean and precise cut. The best material is steel. More professional (and expensive) models can be treated with carbon or other anti-rust and moisture-resistant elements that offer better performance over time.
- Handle: another key factor is the handle. As we said, it must be easy to handle and ergonomic, and it is better if coated with non-slip materials. Generally, the mid-range shears have plastic handles, while the professional shears have a comfortable rubber handle, are pleasant to touch, and are less prone to causing blisters in case of prolonged use.
- Safety: the best pruning shears must also be practical and safe. Almost all models are equipped with a safety hook to close the blades when not in use, which can be placed on the handle or the tip of the blades themselves.
- Spare parts: particularly intense and prolonged use can wear shears components. For this reason, it is advisable to ensure that the model chosen has spare parts easily available in stores (physical or online). In addition, check if screws, blades, and gaskets can be replaced (the cheaper models often do not offer this possibility) and, above all, if they are found on the market.
How to use the pruning shears
In the pruning operations, scissors are gripped with one hand. For this reason, the professional shears designed for this specific use must be light, easy to handle, and, if possible, coated with non-slip materials to ensure a firm grip.
If you have a small vegetable garden, and you want to see its fruit grow, if your garden is full of beautiful flowers and plants, you need to take care of; if you are lucky enough to have olive trees and fruit trees, or if you want the potted plants, you have on the terrace to thrive. But, happily, it would help if you got a good pair of pruning shears.
Duration and Maintenance
Pruning shears, to last over time and always be effective, require maintenance and cleaning. After each use, cleaning the blades and handles and, if appropriate, oiling and lubricating the various components is good.
Furthermore, it is advisable to disinfect the blades after pruning. Plants may have fungi or bacteria that we overlook. To avoid contaminating even healthy plants, it is always better to disinfect the scissors with specific products or with the traditional method: fire, the enemy of bacteria par excellence.
Also not to be overlooked is a sharpening of blades: they tend to wear out and lose effectiveness over time. So instead, regularly sharpen the scissors with thin sandpaper and replace them if they are too damaged.
The best pruning shears for practicality, cutting, and resistance
After this quick overview of pruning shears’ main features, it is time to decide which model best suits your needs.
The average price is around $30, but you can find cheap scissors for just over $10 and professional scissors for around $60.
The offer on the market is vast, and, to make it easier for you, below, you will find our selection of the top 10 best models chosen for practicality, quality of cut, and resistance over time.
Product prices and availability are subject to change. Therefore, any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to purchasing any products.