Every homeowner seems to have a pair of pruning shears in their tool shed. Shears have long been the tool of choice for hacking back the shrubs in front of the house. Current gardening etiquette frowns on using shears to prune foundation plants. Part of this thinking is because it is becoming less fashionable to have perfectly clipped and shaped shrubs. Allowing evergreens to grow into their natural shapes is more in favor. More importantly, shears leave ragged edges when they cut and that's not good for plants. It is recommended that you prune these shrubs with hand pruners. True, it will take a good bit longer, but you can make pruning cuts cleanly and where you want them.
However, I've never seen a shrub killed by being pruned with shears and if you have a lot of shrubs or if you simply like the look of clipped and shaped shrubs, then pruning shears are the tool you should use.
Another maintenance job where pruning shears are indispensable is perennial shearing. Many perennial plants decline after their initial bloom period and shearing back the entire plant will remove the ragged old foliage so that the new growth can fill in.
What to Look For
- As with loppers, good quality pruning shears will have strong carbon-steel blades. However, you shouldn't need to replace the blade on shears unless you do an unusual amount of pruning or misuse them.p>
- Shears should also have some type of bumper between the handles to cushion the shock when closing the blades.
Options
- Straight-Edged Blades - Shears with straight-edged blades make the cleanest cut and can most easily be sharpened. They make for a good all-purpose tool.
- Serrated Blades - Shears with some type of toothed or wavy blade can be a littleeasier to cut with and will hold onto the branch being cut, however the cut itself will be less clean than a straight-edged blade. This type is good for smaller pruning jobs and for pruning where you don't want the debris to fall all over the ground. Serrated blades work especially well when cutting down ornamental grasses.
- Power Shears - For those who look for power and speed, there are electric and gas powered pruning shears. These are quick and relatively easy to use, but they don't make as clean a cut as manual shears and they are NOISY. However, they can make quick work of a long hedge and save a good deal of wear & tear on your arms. Read reviews of top hedge trimmer models at Consumer Search.