If you’re looking to do some garden maintenance before the cold weather hits, you’re in the right mindset. Making sure your lawn and surrounding forestation is neatly trimmed and cared for will ensure its health in the Spring.
Especially so with tree pruning. Ensure your property is clear of dead branches and low-hanging ones. To do that you’ll need a good set of pruning shears. But how do you determine what the best pruning shears are for you?
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Backyard Boss Top 5 Best Pruning Shears for 2021
| PRODUCT | FEATURES | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 | VIVOSUN Gardening Hand Pruner |
| Check The Price! |
 | Corona Classic Bypass Pruner (BP 3180D) |
| Check The Price! |
 | Felco Pruning Shears (F 31) |
| Check The Price! |
 | Gonicc Professional Titanium Bypass Pruning Shears (GPPS-1003) |
| Check The Price! |
 | Fiskars Steel Pruning Shears (91095935J) |
| Check The Price! |
Why You Can Trust Us
Fantastic pruning shears can make or break your garden. Great pruning shears will help you glide through the most stubborn branches while bad ones only lead to hand cramps and oddly shaped shrubs. Whether this is your first time looking for pruning shears or you’ve done it before, you can trust that we’ve been on this journey too.
Years of tending to our gardens have opened our eyes to the many complexities in pruning shear designs that are difficult to grasp from brief product descriptions or quick trials in-store. Not only we’ve used years worth of our gardening know-how, but we’ve also made sure to adhere to a strict research and testing process for each item mentioned.
Since we know that not all experiences are the same, we’ve also taken the initiative to know what experts had to say on each product and find out the unbiased opinions of other consumers of each pruning shear after trying it out. This was done to create the guide of the best pruning shears online.
Best for Smaller Hands
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These pruning shears are fantastic for precision work for the busiest garden bushes.
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Why We Like It: These VIVOSUN pruning shears are built with incredibly sharp micro-tip pruning blades, able to tackle dead branches and perennials with ease. Their fine tip blades allow you to cut precisely what you want and where you want, which is great for manicured gardens.
These handles have an ergonomic design with a non-slip grip that helps reduce wrist and hand strain while working on your plants. It’s also built with a high-quality spring and a reliable locking mechanism, to make snipping much easier while keeping you safe between pruning sessions. This comes in orange or blue, is great for small and medium-sized hands, and is also budget-friendly.
Who Should Buy It: This is great for people with smaller hands looking to be more detailed in their pruning.
Best for Larger Hands
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These bypass pruners are great for pruning jobs that need a more heavy-duty approach.
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Why We Like It: Corona’s bypass pruning shears are made for big hands and big jobs. It’s built with solid forged steel blades that can cut up to an inch-wide diameter. Another bonus is that these blades are replaceable and resharpenable, helping to extend their lifespan. These also have a precision tip and a sap groove for dealing with many plant varieties.
Their simple handles have a comfortable non-slip grip, a strong spring, and a simple locking mechanism that builds towards more effortless usage. Due to the 1-inch cutting capacity, these handles open wide and are best used by medium and large-sized hands.
Who Should Buy It: These would be a great help for gardeners who deal with large, woody, and hard stems.
Best for Thick Branches (Anvil)
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These ergonomic pruning shears are built to lessen the strain in your hands regardless of how thick or tough a branch is.
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Why We Like It: The Felco F31 pruners use durable anvil blades to help you with challenging pruning tasks. These shears use hardened steel blades and forged aluminum handles to help gardeners cut up thick branches, with a sap groove that helps keep things neat. It has an almost an inch-wide cutting diameter and can cleanly and effortlessly cut through live greenery and dead branches.
Its ergonomic handles are coated with a shock-absorbent grip for added comfort and less hand strain. The narrow anvil blade points also allow precision cutting and, weighing only half a pound, these shears have a helpful well-balanced build.
Who Should Buy It: This would be great for gardeners tackling hard and stubborn branches.
Best for Dead or Small Branches (Bypass)
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This lightweight bypass pruner has a very strong blade that helps efficiently deal with dead branches and small live stems.
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Why We Like It: These Gonicc bypass shears are professional-quality pruning shears that any gardener would be lucky to have. With high-quality blades made of polished titanium steel that helps it last longer and prevent rusting, these heavy-duty blades can cut branches with a ¾-inch diameter.
They also have ergonomic lightweight handles made of high-quality aluminum and wrapped in non-slip PVC material. These will cushion your grip and are most comfortable with large hands, but can still be used by anyone with smaller hands as long as they wear some thick gardening gloves too.
Who Should Buy It: This is great for those about to rehabilitate a few plants in their garden during a tough season.
Best for Sappy Branches (Sap Groove)
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This self-cleaning sap groove design helps lessen the stress and hassle of blade maintenance after dealing with sappy branches.
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Why We Like It: These Fiskars pruning shears come with sharp bypass blades, comfy handles, and a top-quality sap groove. They’re made of hardened steel with a low-friction coating that helps you glide through sappy branches while protecting blades from rust.
It’s designed with a fantastic self-cleaning sap groove that prolongs blade quality, although we still recommend cleaning it as much as you can. These shears are built with non-slip handles and an easy-open locking mechanism for smoother usage. They’re made to last and are backed up by a full lifetime warranty.
Who Should Buy It: Gardeners who aren’t committed to cleaning their gardening tools before and after each use should have an easier time with these.
Type of Pruning Shears
Did you know that there are five main types of shears and they all perform different key functions? Knowing what each one does will help you narrow down the best garden pruning shears for you.
Hand Shears
These come in two different types; anvil and bypass. You’re probably wondering now, what are they? The two names really explain it all. Both are used for cutting branches of ¾” or less, but an anvil model, like ratchet pruners, has one blade and one anvil type base. These mash or crush the branch more than cut it, and doesn’t leave a very neat end. But they’re great for those thicker, tougher branches.
A bypass model has two blades that bypass each other, like giant scissors and leave behind a nice clean cut. They may not be ideal for the super thick branches, but they’re great for anything less than ½” thick, like sap grooves, for instance.
Lopping Shears
Lopping shears perform the same two functions within two models; anvil and bypass, but the difference is that they come with longer handles. This is great for reaching those taller branches without having to break out a ladder. They come in a range of cutting diameters, usually 1”-2”, but are mostly found with a ¾” cutting capacity.
Pole Pruners
Pole pruners are not very common, because most people just use the aid of a ladder to reach high branches. These guys can get at branches as high as 12’ above ground and consist of two blades attached to hooks which are then controlled by a series of chains. I wouldn’t recommend these for new gardeners, as they’re a little hard to finesse. So if you have to ask yourself, ‘what is the use of pruning shears’, then it’s probably best to break out the ladder in this case.
Hedge Shears
These consist of two types as well, but not like the others. With hedgers, you can choose from two blades similar to a pair of scissors, or pick the single blade type that is powered by electricity, fuel, or batteries.
In some cases, it’s best to have both. If your hedges and bushes have become straggly and overgrown, it’s a great idea to start with the hand-powered scissor type. This will allow you to hack off the bigger pieces, and then come in with the single blade and neatly trim everything. You can do it all with the hand-powered model, but it goes much faster with the aid of an electric, gas, or battery-operated one.
Pruning Saw
You’ll never get through a branch that’s thicker than 2” with any model of hand shears or pruners. For this, you’ll need a saw. Pruning saws come on a short or long handle, whichever you prefer, and have a jagged toothed blade on the end. This is used to saw off the thicker branches and make room to access the thinner ones with your shears.
Types of Plants They’re Used for
If you have any of these on your property, then it’s time to invest in a good set of garden tools to maintain your beautiful home.
Trees
Just about any type of tree can be pruned and trimmed with the use of shears. Keeping your fruit trees trimmed will ensure a better yield. Branches from trees that are impeding on your home and risk damaging the siding or roofing can be cut back.
Bushes & Shrubs
Plants like roses that have thorns and hard-to-touch branches can be easily cut with long-handled shears. Others, like poison ivy, can also be chopped down with these garden tools.
Thick Weeds
Plants like elephant ears that are very aggressive and grow at rapid rates with thick shoots can be taken care of with some long-handled hand pruning shears or loppers
How We Picked
To make this list, we focused on looking for product strengths and weaknesses, diverse feedback, and, most importantly, firsthand knowledge of how each item performs. In our research, we combed through dozens of pages of pruning shears and looked into the ins and outs of each product. Part of this was looking into the materials used, design innovations, and bonus features that made the shears stand out.
After this, we looked into what experts and everyday gardeners had to say on each item. Using both expert online reviews and the unbiased reports and opinions of regular consumers, we narrowed down our list to the most promising pruning shears and tested them out. Once we gained substantial experience with each unit, we had a much deeper understanding of their capabilities.
Ultimately, this helped us find five amazing pruning shears that will, undoubtedly, be a huge help in keeping your garden in well-pruned condition.
Our Pick of the Best Pruning Shears for Your Garden
So there you have it. A clear breakdown of what you need to know about choosing the best pruning shears for your gardening needs. We’re well aware of the full range of advantages and disadvantages of each pruning shears on this list. Admittedly, nothing is perfect but that won’t stop us from having a favorite.
The pruning shears we come back to most are the VIVOSUN Gardening Hand Pruners. These shears are a dream come true for precision pruning and make it incredibly easy to maintain any garden. It’s also built with reliable spring-loaded handles and a comfortable non-slip grip that most hand sizes would be comfortable holding. It’s easy on the budget too.
That said, it’s not the right fit for everyone and other pruning shears might be better for you. Even if you pass on our favorite one, we’re sure that your perfect pair of pruning shears are right here.
Was this information helpful? Comment and share which pair of shears were best for you and if you have any other suggestions.
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