Choosing secateurs

Or you can get them, if you're doing a lot of pruning, which have got a buffer in there. And these are much better for your hands - you don't get wrist ache quite so much on these. They're called bypass secateurs, because one blade is bypassing another, and finding a comfortable pair is key. These I like because for me,
they'll cut very cleanly through anything like this up to pencil thickness and slightly beyond. But if you have trouble gripping, these with a cork handle here are quite comfortable. They do offer you a bit of spring; and even more comfortable, this one with a swiveling handle. You see how that moves as I move my hand, and that too is making for great comfort.

There's a different kind of secateur too, called the anvil. Here, the blades are not bypassing one another, but it is cutting directly, this sharp blade onto this flat anvil. The only danger here can be if you're not careful - and this blade isn't sharp - is that that stem can be crushed as that blade comes down. So it's vital, particularly with these anvils that the blade is kept really sharp. And if you get into even thicker stems like this one - and
generally speaking secateurs are really only any good for stems up to finger thickness.

When they start getting thicker like this, then this is a ratchet secateur and you'll see when I try and go through this, that it will go part of the way through, stop part way the through and stop and finally it will cut. It makes it much easier for anybody who's got weak wrists or arthritis or something like that. And it is much, much easier, he said, to use. Ratchet to give you lots of control over thicker stems.

Either of these kinds will do well depending on your personal preference. Above all, keep them sharp, rub them with emery paper to keep them free of sap and then you've got many happy days of cutting ahead of you.