As the manager of the Appliances department in the Good Housekeeping Institute, Katie ensures that the team keeps on top of the latest trends and product innovations. Two safety locks: A safety lock can be found on most secateurs these days to keep the blades closed when not in use. It’s important to acknowledge that issues can arise with your secateurs, and you’re unlikely to discover them within the initial 30 days of use—unless, of course, you happen to have an extensive pruning task during this period.

Niwaki Japanese Garden Tools | Burford Garden Co.

The SK5 carbon steel blades are sure to offer long-term service without losing their cutting edge, whilst the finger protection guard will ensure there are no accidental injuries. This can also vary more than you expect, a pair of secateurs can weigh anywhere from under 100g up to 400g. These simple yet strong secateurs, with their specially engineered blade angle, provide a smooth clean cut without crushing.This is particularly useful on anvil secateurs, should you be facing a lot of thick deadwood, which can wear on the hands over time. If you have smaller hands then some secateurs may be difficult or uncomfortable to use because the handles open too wide for you to get your hands around, or simply are too large. Another feature that we think is quite impressive is the rotating handle which revolves on its own axis, your fingers will be able to move naturally, thus minimising blisters and hand fatigue that may be a problem after extended pruning periods, and anyone who works pruning plants a lot will understand what we mean.

Okatsune Secateurs No 103 | Christmas Tree Pruning Tools Okatsune Secateurs No 103 | Christmas Tree Pruning Tools

Revolving handle: This feature allows one handle to rotate with you as you grip, so it moves with your hand to make the movement more natural. The maximum cutting thickness is good and the blades are easy to sharpen when necessary but it’s worth noting they cannot be changed like that on the Felco models. This is usually needed on thick woody branches where an anvil design would probably be the best choice. The cutting blade always aligns with the counter blade, even after intensive usage and, that combined with the unique locking/unlocking feature allowing you to open and close the secateurs with one hand, delivers superb tools well-loved by commercial and home gardeners alike.The blades of these razor-sharp secateurs are forged from the finest Japanese steel (the same steel from which the Katana sword of the Samurai are made), and enable you to effortlessly cut through branches up to 25 mm, of such as shrubs, roses, fruit trees, and creepers. How smoothly the contraption can be manoeuvred one-handed will impact the efficiency of your green-fingered endeavours. What we like is that these secateurs are very easy to use and don’t seem to fatigue your wrist whilst pruning hardwood type stems such as thick rose branches due to the ergonomic design with an angled head plus cushion-shock absorber. If you’re interested in more gardening equipment, we also have guides to the best lawnmowers and best leaf blowers.

Okatsune Spring 422 – Okatsune

The holster with belt loop allows you to safely carry your secateurs with you if not in use but want to have it close at hand. The V-shape of the spring ensures that the cutting load is distributed evenly over the length of the spring which guarantees a smooth closing. The most preen-worthy of pruners should be capable of snipping at delicate plants to encourage growth, harvesting fruit and vegetables and hacking away at thicker branches - everything short of trimming and strimming.

Although not the cheapest, they are the most reliable and hardwearing,” says Chris Lowe, nursery manager at David Austin. As you start cutting through a branch, they latch so they do not release the pressure, you can then release the handle and squeeze the handle again, you complete this process around three times until you have cut right through the branch. Okatsune secateurs are a traditional styled Japanese bypass secateurs and have the distinctive red and white handles. As previously mentioned, they have an auto-rotating lower handle designed to spread muscular force evenly across your fingers, making it simpler to squeeze with minimal effort, this does work but could probably be better.

the best secateurs for pruning your garden Our guide to the best secateurs for pruning your garden

Hand forged using hard wearing carbon steel by skilled craftspeople in the historic city of Onomichi, these secateurs are of the highest quality and built to last.Compared to the Model 2, the handles are slightly smaller, they are also slightly lighter and have a slightly smaller cutting diameter, but still wide enough to cut anything we tried them on.