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The Best Garden Pruner of 2024
Last updated: Apr 27, 2024Gardening is one of the favorite hobbies of most people. Many of us love to spend more time near greenery, but after some time, trees or plants in your lawn or garden need some trimming to grow well. To shape your branches, shrubs, small trees, or woody stems, you'll need the best garden pruner to get the job done. There are plenty of excellent options on the market, such as our top pick, the KOTTO Pruners, but we've also included plenty of other options for your shopping needs.
Our Top Picks For Garden Pruners
- Best Overall: KOTTO Pruners Shop Now ➔
- Customer's Choice: Fiskars Pruner Shop Now ➔
- Runner Up: Felco Pruner Shop Now ➔
- Honorable Mention: Mockins Pruner Shop Now ➔
The Best Garden Pruners
Best Overall
The KOTTO Pruners is an ideal tool set for gardeners who need to cut stems and light branches with ease. The heavy-duty shears have a full hardened, precision-ground steel blade that stays sharp after heavy use. The low-friction coating helps the blade glide smoothly through the wood while preventing the accumulation of sap and debris. The ergonomic handle and impulse-hardened teeth provide superior performance and comfort during usage.
The pruner is designed for durability and convenience with its easy-open lock that protects the blade during transport and storage. It also has rust-resistant blades so you can be sure that your investment will last for a long time. Its robust construction means that you can cut through dense materials without having to worry about it breaking easily. This is the best overall choice for gardeners looking for a reliable toolset that is both durable and easy to use.
Pros
- Durable and convenient
- Includes easy-open lock
- Robust construction
Cons
- Handles can wear over time
Customer’s Choice
The Fiskars Pruner has a weight of 10.4 ounces, and its dimensions are 4 x 1 x 10.75 inches. It is best for cutting the stems and light branches of your trees 5 to 6 inches in thickness. The easy-open lock will protect the blade during storage and transport. It is designed well to offer maximum durability.
Pros
- Low-friction coating helps to pass through the word and prevent it from rust
- A self-cleaning sap groove will keep the blade clean
- Provide a strong grip due to the non-slip grips
- Lifetime warranty
Cons
- Spring issues occur with regular use
Runner Up
This hand pruner has a weight of 8.8 ounces, and its dimensions are 9.25 x 4 x 1 inch. It is provided by a company named Felco, which has 70 years of experience in creating the product best in design and ergonomics. It comes with an anvil blade that has a sap groove. It has a hardened bolt, but that is used to assure the right adjustment of cutting and anvil blades. It also has a rubber cushion and shock absorbers.
Pros
- Best for light applications
- Easily adjustable
- Steel blades and aluminum handles
- Limited lifetime warranty
Cons
- Spring issues
Honorable Mention
The last pruner on our list is from Mockins. It has a weight of 8 ounces, and its dimensions are 1 x 10 x 3 inches. It is best for beginner gardeners and ideal for cutting plants, bushes, shrubs, and flowers. It comes in 4 different colors. This is a must and a great gardening tool that should be part of your gardening toolset.
Pros
- Perfect for people with small hands
- Well-designed safety locks that make pruning easy
- High-quality stainless steel blades.
- Rubber handles reduce strain on your hands
Cons
- The gap between blades makes cutting thin stalks difficult
Finding the Best Garden Pruner: A Buyer's Guide
Pruners are very handy when it comes to trimming down small bushes, tree branches, and flowers. To select the best pruners, you’ll need to keep up to date on the features and advantages of the market’s best garden hand pruners. If you want one for your garden, then below is a detailed buyer’s guide that will tell you some important elements you should know before your purchase:
The Different Types of Garden Pruners
There are basically three types of pruner that a person can buy:
Bypass garden pruner
Pruner with bypass blades are the most popular. This sharp edge of pruner is going to make a very nice cut as it uses two curved blades that will bypass each other in the same manner that resembles a scissor blade. Note that the sharpest blades are present on the outside edge, and it will cut as it slides tightly across the thick unsharpened blade.
Anvil garden pruner
Such durable pruners have a single straight cutting blade that is closed down on a flat edge or anvil. This pruner has a slicing action that resembles the knife against a cutting board and will work properly on brittle deadwood. But it will not work well on flexible greenwood. Remember that they are bulkier in comparison to the bypass pruner. Their thickness makes it difficult for the users to get in close for the crotch cuts.
Ratchet garden pruner
These are basically anvil pruners with a mechanism that will be performing the cutting action in stages. This style pruner is going to provide more leverage for small or weaker hands. It will be useful when you are cutting the tough and big woody stems. Note that if you are doing a great deal of pruning, then a ratchet pruner is the best to save your hand and wrist from strain and fatigue.
Bonus: Power pruner
For information on what a power pruner is, check out this video.
Key Considerations When Buying Garden Pruners
When you are going to buy a pair of hand pruners for your use, then you should keep the following things in mind:
Ergonomics
Pruning is tiring, and you can feel pain in your hand after continuous work. If you are a person who suffers from carpal tunnel or arthritis, then you should always buy a pruner that is ergonomically designed. Those models have cushioned hanks for reducing pressure and have rotating handles to reduce the wear on your wrist. It is best to spend time to find the pruner that makes cutting easy for you and is comfortable to hold at the same time.
Operating style
Every person has their own style to operate the pruners. If a person wants to do the close cutting, then the hand pruner with bypass blades is the right choice. While manual and power tools with telescopic poles are required for pruning tree branches, it is best to hold the hand pruners and get an idea about the ease of grip and weight of the pruner. Note that some pruners have a special notch in the cutting blades to trim down the plant ties and wires. Experienced gardeners will have a pair of bypass pruners in different sizes along with anvil pruners for different use. Also, check for the availability of replacement blades for the style you opt for.
How to Use Pruners Correctly
Some of the general techniques that make pruning with the hand pruners easy are as follows:
Select the proper cut position
You have to pick the right cut spot, especially when using the bypass pruners. The blade will pass through the thick base, so the precise spot will come through shifts about ¼ inch when you are going to flip the tool. Remember that when you are going to cut the main stem, then you will feel a need to use the tool upside down.
Select proper angle
If the plant you are going to trim is opposite branching, then cut directly across the stem from the top of the node. In the case of alternate branching, cutting straight is appropriate, and it will be better to cut on an angle sloping away from a single bud at the node.
Widely open your pruner
It is important to properly open your pruner so that all the branches can be held. It is tempting to snip-snip wood like your pruners resemble scissors. This cutting method will put stress on your hand and will make the tip of the blade dull.
Do the cutting
Once you have set the correct position on the wood, close the lopper through the branch in one motion. It is as simple as that.
Price Range for Garden Pruners
The price of pruners will vary widely. You can expect to pay between a range of $10 to $75. You should buy the best that you can afford to save your effort and money in the long run. You should always buy pruners from well-known brands like Felco, Fiskars, ARS, and much more. Furthermore, you should look for the pruner with keywords like professional and heavy-duty to get the durable ones with sharp blades.
Replacement blades are a good investment if you wish to continue with uninterrupted pruning. Replacing a dull blade with a sharp edge blade is essential as the sharpest blades are key to faster and more accurate pruning.
The endless variety of durable pruners makes it really difficult to choose one brand over other. Note that some pruners come in different sizes, so the price will vary accordingly. In some cases, the manufacturers will be providing sharpening stones that are designed to sharpen the blades. For such a set, you might have to pay a little extra.
People Also Asked
Which size pruner one should buy?
It is recommended to buy a ½ pruner for people who have small hands that are less than 3 1/2” wide and 6 ¼” high. If your hands have a size of 3 ½ to 4” wide and 6 ½ to 8” high, then you should consider buying a pruner of ¾ inch. Moreover, if a person has large hands, then he should get a 1” hand-held pruner for easy working.
How to pick the best pruner?
First of all, you should be aware of different brands making the pruner. You should also look for pruners that are made for professional use and for heavy-duty purposes to save your money in the long run. These pruners will have high-tempered carbon steel that will be very sharp and offer better durability.
Pruners vs. garden shears- what is the difference?
Both are different equipment used for cutting the branches, stems, or bushes of different sizes in the garden. The difference lies in their construction and the structure of blades. A pruner has two curved metal blades for cutting purposes. On the other side, a garden shear is made of a single metal blade.
Article Contributors
Read More About Garden Gate Review Team HereThe Garden Gate Review Team is a group of writers, editors, and gardeners, dedicated towards writing trustworthy product reviews that'll help you choose the best products for a beautiful garden and backyard.
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