Beginners tools recommendation

An anyone recommend some tools for pruning please? I’ve seen lots of different types online but no idea on the difference between them. What is the best Beginners set for a complete amateur?

 

Hi, and Welcome to the Forum.

There are so many such tools out there, plenty of cheap ones and plenty of high quality expensive ones.

My suggestion would be to go for some Bypass Secateurs , the Wilkinson Sword is a good brand at a reasonable price and stocked by many garden centers and diy shops, but you do really need to go and hold them to make sure they are comfortable for you, they do smaller sized ones for ladies.
Wilkinson Sword Gardening Tools | Cutting

You can often find some of theirs in some shops for around £10, though you can see other brands for as cheap as £5, though if they feel comfortable worth a go ..?
Must confess we use these cheaper ones as its just too easy to put them down and forget where you left them !!

Would also suggest you get a pair of cheap Loppers from the places like the Range or Wilco for just £5 to handle the bigger bushes. They are useful, but not something you use as much as the secateurs.

 

A small pruning saw is also a good thing to have. If you need to trim off a small branch, that's usually what you want to use.

If you're trimming a bush, you want shears - the kind of things like oversized long scissors.

And the last thing if you're doing a significant trim of small branches on something prone to diseases, like fruit trees, roses or magnolia. A spray bottle filled with dilute Jeyes Fluid, to sterilise the cuts in the tree, and the tools before and after use.

 

Thanks! What’s the difference between loppers and shears?

 

Easiest way to describe the difference. Shears are like a big pair of scissors, used for cutting lighter things such as privets. Loppers are like a big pair of secateurs, used for heavier things.

In regards to choosing secateurs. A lot depends on what you are pruning. Some things are best pruned with the Bypass type, others with the anvil type. Whatever you do, at least try to get some of a reasonable quality. Cheap ones will only disappoint, and unless a lot of pruning is needed - and that amount is subjective - top quality ones too expensive.

 

And you need the pruning saw because if you use the loppers on a branch that is too thick, you'll ruin the alignment of the blades...
If you have a lot of hedges to trim, then you are also talking about hedge trimmers - electric, battery or even petrol.

 

Ratchet secateurs are an alternative to a pruning saw, if you're worried about knowing how thick is too thick. I have a Jardin de France pair that I swear by.

 

All good advice.

Ricky made a very important point. Make sure you feel comforthble with whatever, otherwise accidents sadly do happen.

 

You don't need a lot of tools to be successful in gardening.
I inherited a giant box with different tools but end up using only a select handful.

Those are my favourites for a medium sized garden:

- 1-2 pairs of secateurs from the mid-price range
- a pair of loppers with telescope shaft for heavy duty cutting. (If you have lots of trees, add a saw)
- 2 shovels (one handheld and one big one)
- 2 hoes (one handheld and one big one)
- 1 high quality spade. Don't cheap out here. This one has to take a hell of a beating.
- 1 wheelbarrow
- lots of Mortar Buckets in various sizes. They are cheap, reliable and don't break easily.
- 1-2 pairs of cut resistant gardening gloves with water proof palms. They keep your hands warm, and fingers intact when cutting, hacking or digging.

And that's basically it. You can reduce all the big equipment if it's only a small piece of land or you don't plan on having trees, but those things work for almost everything.

Another piece of advice though: Bright colours are your friends. Never go for green, black or brown unless you want to lose something. They blend into the surroundings and after a hard day of gardening your eyes want to clearly were if you missed something.

 

My local garden centre has a dozen or more different secateurs chained to the wall, so you can try them to find a pair that fit comfortably in your hand (including left-handed models). I recommend that if you can find one locally.

Personally I prefer the Japanese steel ones, in particular Okatsune as they aren't so expensive that I would feel guilty using them to open a can of paint ...

But I have a large garden and use them a lot, so might be extravagant for only occasional use.

Okatsune Secateurs

You'll probably find them cheaper on Amazon, but Niwaki have nice pictures

 

My pruning stuff consists of:

Pruning knife
Grafting knife
Bypass secateurs
Anvil secateurs
Shears
Telescopic shears
Folding pruning saws
Bow saws (from 300mm up)
Telescopic handles with pruning saw, cord operated anvil pruners and hook (removal of cut branches)attachments
Long pole lever operated bypass pruners
Short bypass loppers
Long bypass loppers
Anvil loppers (telescopic)
Lopping axe
Felling axe
Cordless reciprocating saw
Petrol chainsaw
Petrol pole chainsaw
Petrol brushcutter

 

Tell me there was a token in the newspaper for that lot @Scrungee?

On second thoughts don't tell me that, because I'm sure you would have shared the knowledge ... and I missed it.

 

I probably got them for about the same price as you paid for your secateurs.