Cutting Tools

Knives

It's surprising how many uses you can find for a knife in the garden. Although they come in many shapes, sizes and forms, you only need a basic knife. Make sure that it has a good quality carbon steel blade that will take a good edge (stainless steel look good but they will not be as sharp) and above all KEEP IT SHARP. A blunt knife is not only useless -it is dangerous. Buy a small whetstone to sharpen it when purchasing your knife.

Besides the ordinary straight bladed knife there are many that are designed for specific uses in the horticultural trade such as pruning knives with curved blades, Budding knives with shorter stubby blades etc. but unless you are thinking of doing a lot of the particular work that they are intended for, they are not necessary.

Secateurs

There may be a lot of different makes and styles on show in your local garden centre or hardware store but they all break down into two basic styles - of which there is a lot of controversy with gardeners as to which is the better. These are:

Anvil pruners - these cut with a crushing action, where one blade presses against a thicker blade.

Parrot-Bill or Side Action - where the two blades cut with a slicing action by going past each other.

Both seem to be as effective as each other, as long as they are kept sharp. Neither will cut branches that are thicker than about 1/2 inch, for these you will need loppers. Some makes feature things like ratchet action which can make using them a bit easier.

The overall favourite, particularly with professionals, is the Felco No. 2. Although they are quite a bit more expensive, they are well worth it as all the parts are replaceable and they will last a lifetime.

Loppers

These are a larger version of secateurs with longer handles for greater leverage and are for cutting through thicker branches up to about 1 inch thick, although some models with a cantilever action will go even thicker. A variation of these is the long reach lopper that is operated by a lever or pull-string on the end of a long pole. These are useful for pruning higher branches in trees without resorting to ladders. Some models even have a built in pruning saw.

Sheep Shears

These seem to be coming back into fashion. They are useful for small trimming jobs such as topiary or the occasional trimming of shrubs or just cutting flowers for the house.

Pruning Saws

Useful for really large branches in confined places. Pruning saws are made with the teeth set so that they cut on the reverse so that when using them you cut with a pulling motion ( as against ordinary woodsaws that cut on the forward motion). A small folding saw is probably all you will need unless you intend to fell a lot of trees.

Bow Saws

Used for removing large branches from trees. Probably will be used very little so you a best hiring or borrowing one if you can. Usually in two shapes - the triangular shaped ones for awkward branches and the 'U' shaped on for deeper cuts. Blades are not usually sharpened but just replaced when needed.