Shear practicality over all else when it comes to gardening

Felco Classic 8

€59.95
This might be characterised as the Rolls Royce of secateurs and it will cut through the most stubborn of branches life a knife through butter, well, perhaps not as easy as that but pretty easy all the same. It comes with a wire cutting notch and shock absorbers to protect delicate hands and wrists and have a fabulously ergonomic design. The Swiss-made blade is so sharp you could almost shave with it and if it is treated well this product will give you a lifetime of happy pruning.

In fact the makers are so sure of that fact that they will give you a lifetime guarantee against manufacturer defects. But will they give you a similarly enduring guarantee against leaving it to rust in the garden bushes for a week? Sadly no, while it is undoubtedly a high end product it is also a high priced one and if you don’t take care of it properly it will be a waste of money.

Verdict: Excellent product but at what cost
Star rating: ★★★☆☆

True Temper Gardener Bypass Hand Pruner

€14.99

Value for Money: Commuting

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This is substantially cheaper than the highest priced pruner we came across and it to our admittedly not entirely green-tinged view does much the same job. The pruner has a bypass cutting action which delivers a cleaner cut – although most pruners have the same system.

The soft-handled grip is good and we could imagine using this product for quite some time before it gave us blisters. It is by no means a top of the range product but it will do what it asked of it at a price that seems pretty fair to us.

Verdict: Good for the casual gardener
Star rating: ★★★☆☆

GreenBlade Deluxe Pruning Shears

€6.95

Deluxe is a funny word and its meaningless means it can be attached to virtually any product. So it is here. This shears was the cheapest one we were able to find and it will do some of the jobs asked of it without too much difficulty – but is it really deluxe? We are not convinced.

For this price however you can’t really go all that wrong particularly if you are the kind of person who is careless with your garden implements and don’t really expect to get more than a full summer out of it. Be warned that it will most likely to struggle to cut fairly thick branches and the handle which is coated in a very smooth plastic will probably get a bit slippy if clasped in hot sweaty hands on a summer’s day.

Verdict: Virtually disposable
Star rating: ★★☆☆☆

Fiskars PowerGear X Pruner

€39.95

This is a heavy duty pruner that will cut through pretty thick branches without any difficulty at all. The grip is both comfortable and secure and, we are told, the power gear mechanism will make cutting more than three times easier than a traditional mechanisms which will making gardening easier.

Anything that makes gardening easier is alright by us. The blades are sharp and sturdy and, like with the other more expensive products on the market, this will give you many happy years of service once it is properly taken care of.

Verdict: Very good indeed
Star rating: ★★★★☆