All of our lawns have that one spot that is impossible to mow or weed eat effectively. Don’t try to rip it out by hand, there’s a better way! Grass shears can help, but which one do you need?
We’ve reviewed them all to help you find the best grass shear for your yard. Ultimately, it comes down to the comfort of grip, effectiveness in cutting, and those extra utility features that ensure the job gets done. We broke down those features in detail, so you can easily review your options and pick the best product.
Backyard Boss Top 5 Grass Shears for 2021
| PRODUCT | FEATURES | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 | Wolf-Garten Carded Comfort Grass Shears |
| Check The Price! |
 | Fiskars Long-Handle Swivel Grass Shears |
| Check The Price! |
 | Berger Prass Shear 2200 |
| Check The Price! |
 | Corona GS 3760 Pump Action Grass Shear |
| Check The Price! |
 | Burgon & Ball Grass Shears |
| Check The Price! |
Why You Can Trust Us
The team here at Backyard Boss has been working to bring you the best lawn care equipment, including devices like trimmers, for ages now. We’ve also brought you guides on cleaning out shears, something you should definitely check out after you’ve used your new shears for the first time or two. The Backyard Boss team all have lawns of our own that need some straightening up from time to time.
Best Rotating Grass Cutters for Everyday Use
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These shears are perfect for trimming the edges of your lawn or cutting back fresh shoots growing from your hedges.
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Why We Like It: When it comes to comfort, these Wolf-Garten shears should be a top consideration for you. One thing that I particularly like about them is how much the grip reminds me of the regular scissors I use all the time at home. Since I use these primarily near the rough sidewalk of my home, I was particularly happy about the finger guard at the bottom of the grip – there are no scraped-up hands when using these. They also have the more classic scissor-style opening of the blades; both blades come together, which makes for more accurate cutting for beginners.
The blades on this rotate, which is great for evening out the lawn into a perfectly smooth surface. If you’ve only used shears or scissors with vertically opening blades, as I had when encountering this cutter for the first time, then you might be hesitant to try out the horizontal cutting mode. I can really only tell you not to be as you’ll get over the impulse to rotate your wrist in just a few minutes.
The other problem newbies have with this cutting style is the overwhelming drive to lay their head on the ground and make sure the cut is smooth. I’m here to really encourage you to resist this compulsion, as the flat red bottom of the Wolf-Garten’s is really easy to measure up to your lawn. Snap the easily adjustable rotating blades, approach the lawn at the right height, and cut – there’s no struggle!
Who Should Buy It: People wanting to cut around rough gravel and skin-tearing sidewalks or those who just want something similar to scissors to use outdoors.
Best Long-Handled Lawn Shears for Convenience
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These long-handled shears are great if you want to avoid bending over while trimming your lawn to perfection.
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Why We Like It: These shears are just perfect if you want to avoid leaning and bending. They haven’t saved my life, but they sure have saved my back! The Fiskars are a full three feet in length, which puts them at just the perfect length for my 5’9″ stature. The horizontal cutting with these comes much more naturally than hand cutters, but they can also be swiveled into a vertical cut for your sidewalk edging needs.
I really appreciated the pump and squeeze handle, which made these the best for lazy days where I just wanted to pull something out and do a quick touch-up on the lawn. These shears work best for small areas but have such an easy squeeze grip that your hands probably won’t get any muscle soreness in all but the most lengthy cutting sessions.
Who Should Buy It: These are likely to be the best for seniors that have arthritis and those that really don’t want to bend down to get at their lawn.
Best Lawn Trimming Shears for Left-Handed People
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The Berger Prass Shear works with either hand, and its unique design also make them safe to use for kids.
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Why We Like It: This one is specifically designed with left-handers in mind. The simplistic design and sturdy metal grip should give left-handers the comfort they deserve when using a gardening project, but the rest of us won’t have trouble using them either. One great thing about these that should ease your nerves when handing these off to the younger folks in your family is their VPA-GS-seal for approved safety. The clasp on the back is super easy to use and will leave you feeling confident that the sharp blades aren’t going to slice your fingers up when you’re rooting around in your tool bag.
Compared to the Wolf-Garten shears above, you’ll notice that the Berger brand here has one fixed blade that the secondary blade comes to. While this might feel a bit strange if you’re used to regular scissors and clippers, it might quickly become a favorite when making precision cuts. Lining up the fixed blade to be exactly where you want it is really satisfying and gives you the advantage of having a clear idea of exactly what is going to be snipped before you pull the grip. Qualities like this and the all-metal body and blade make these great for trimming the young growth on the edges of shrubs or decorative grasses, too.
Who Should Buy It: Left-handed people as well as those that like to use both hands or share their tools with a left-hander.
Best Sod-Cutting Shears for Your Toolbag
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These compact shears fit into any tool bag, but they still pack a punch for serious garden work.
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Why We Like It: At just five inches and coming in just barely over a pound, these shears are perfect for throwing in a tool bag or backpack. I was absolutely taken aback when I saw that they could cut through sod and other thick herbaceous matter. All of the gears and “inner” workings are right out there where you can see them and can be simply blasted with a hose or some strong air to clean out fully.
Despite their small size and relatively cheap end costs, they seem to be built to last as well; they have high-carbon steel alloy blades that have been heat-treated to reinforce their strength. They are even fully resharpenable if you ever find yourself having dulled them down a bit.
Who Should Buy It: People that want a small, but reliably tough tool to carry around with them.
Best Heavy-Duty Garden Shears for Thick Grasses
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The Burgon & Ball grass shears are truly heavy-duty and won't let you down when cutting through thick sedges or weeds.
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Why We Like It: The Burgon & Ball shears are on the heavier side and snip with a decisive power that smaller tools just won’t give you. I absolutely love the simplicity of the design, the metal itself powers the spring and ensures that a pesky piece of grass stuck in the spring and gear mechanism won’t clog up your machine. These shears are on the bigger side at over a foot long and aren’t as easy to keep together, so they are best for working around the house.
Due to their raw strength, you might also find them suitable for some thicker stalked ornamental grasses or sedges. As a result of the simplicity of their design, the blades come apart for easy cleaning.
Who Should Buy It: People that have areas with strong sedges or other thick vines growing at the edges of their lawn or up next to tree trunks.
What to Look for in Your Shears
When evaluating shears, some things to look for are the handle length, grip comfort, and accessibility of gear compartments. As the products we looked at today are all hand-powered, the actual feel of the tool is much more important in many respects than an electric device. Some of these can even effectively be used as weed eaters.
Handle Length
As mentioned previously, the handle length for longer handled shears should be very comfortable to you when standing up, like using a golf club or other such tool. While bending slightly is okay for a few minutes, if you plan on using the tool for longer periods of time, be sure to pick something that you can use comfortably while standing up straight.
For short-handled tools, you should make sure the tool’s handle is at least six finger-widths long to properly support your hand.
Grip Comfort
Some tools have built-in padding on the handle and others do not. Both can be comfortable or uncomfortable. Purely metal tools can get really hot if left out in the sun for too long, but if they have curved grips and notches for the fingers they can actually be more comfortable than low-quality paddings. Remember that rubber paddings have a tendency to fray out in the hot sun and plastic grips tend to get scratched over hours of usage and can produce sharp points.
Gear Compartment Accessibility
While not all shears have a gear compartment, like the Burgon & Ball above, they do have some variation in their accessibility. When the gear components are more internal they are rescued from getting potentially clogged by removed grass, but also aren’t accessible for any repairs and oiling that you may wish to do.
Lawn Shears vs. Edging Shears: What’s the Difference?
These two are easy to confuse for a good reason: your attention is being drawn to the handle and not the blade. Lawn shears possess a flat blade whereas edging shears typically do not. Both work in a similar fashion and selecting the handle length that fits you best (about like what you’d want in a putter, if you golf) are the same for both.
However, if the primary purpose of using the shears is to flatten out the lawn, then lawn shears are the clear choice. Remember that edging shears are designed to give a crisper edge to the lawn and have a handle designed for getting into tricky-to-reach spots.
What Are Long-Handled Shears Good For?
Long-handled shears are a lot easier on the body than their more scissor-like competitors. There isn’t so much bending, stooping, or squatting when using them and they can really save your body some wear and tear. People suffering from arthritis might also find these preferable because, even though there is a grip you must still squeeze, you can take your time with it.
Having a long handle makes use around the sidewalk effective, or possibly even to shape up the light new growth on that hedge near your sidewalk while you’re there. Environmentally-conscious people will also be happy to see that they can do anything a weed eater could do without any of the gas or electricity used.
And the Best Grass Shear Is…
All of the tools we selected are great for what they are. But only one can be the very best. Our overall favorite are the Wolf-Garten grass shears because they’re easy to use with either hand, they have a safe grip design, and we love the rotating scissors that make it so easy to trim your lawn flat to the ground.
If you’d rather not bend over while fixing up your lawn, the Fiskars long-handled model might be a better pick for you.
