Cheap and cheerful: how to choose the right pruner for a summer residence

Trimming stems, flowers, forming a vine and a crown — all this cannot be done without a pruner. But a poor-quality or inappropriate tool can injure a shrub or tree. At best, a rich harvest is not to be seen. At worst, the plant will simply die. How to choose a good pruner? This question was answered by «The most useful program».

What is a pruner and why is it needed

The secateurs are the main tool of gardeners. If you have a pruner, and also if it is convenient, if it is your favorite, you will never cause any severe damage to the tree, ” — said the gardener Andrey Tumanov.

The pruner is a simple tool, but it can have different types of mechanism. The most inexpensive — spring and lever. Also recently on the shelves appeared tools with a ratchet mechanism. Manufacturers promise: with such secateurs, even thick branches can be cut without much effort. However, the authors of the program found that this tool is not so effective.

Secateurs with «rotary handle»

“It doesn’t look like some kind of protection against, let’s say, wrong actions. It’s most likely just a design flaw.» — said the expert.

According to him, it makes no sense to take secateurs with the so-called rotary handle. After all, it is expensive, and it can only come in handy for tending a farm or a large garden. For work on a regular site, a classic pruner is suitable.

The cold is just around the corner: how to prepare peonies and roses for winter

Crash test secateurs. Which is better: cheap or expensive

The authors of the program chose four samples at once with different blade designs: two bypass and two contact ones. Cheaper and more expensive.

“Whenever you choose a tool, you still need to take it out of the package and try how it fits in your hand. The hand itself will tell you whether this tool is here or not, ” Tumanov advised.

The bypass secateurs work like scissors: both blades move and cut into the wood at once. Due to this, the cut is neat.

But the contact resembles a knife, it has only one blade. The second plate serves as a platform.

“Look, I don’t find much difference between cheap and expensive pruners. In principle, here on small branches one to one. Here, the cuts are also approximately the same, ” the gardener explained.

In order to test the tools for giving, it was decided to complicate the task: they took several branches of different thicknesses from 16 to 22 millimeters and made five cuts on each.

A cheap bypass pruner cut through all the branches in 53 seconds. It turned out to be more difficult to work with contact tools, both expensive and cheap. Therefore, the time to complete the task took more than half a minute.

Expensive bypass secateurs failed this test at all. Despite his best efforts, he could not even cut a branch with a diameter of 20 millimeters. It turns out that the fastest way to work in the country is with a cheap bypass pruner.

After that, it was decided to find out the maximum diameter of the branches that the tools could bite.

In a test with a branch 24 mm thick, the contact pruner for 700 rubles showed itself worst of all. Dear assistant coped with the task. But 24 millimeters turned out to be his maximum. But a bypass tool for 700 rubles was able to cut a branch 26 millimeters thick.

“We found out that the price does not always determine the quality. Beauty does not always determine quality. Not always such a powerful appearance and severity also determine performance. So, probably, you should not chase after some novelties and promises. Take it, buy an ordinary working inexpensive secateurs, and everything will be well cut off for you, ” Tumanov advised.

The authors of the program decided to give the tools another test with nails. Expensive pin pruner failed the test. He did not master a single nail, and notches immediately appeared on the blade.

“They will come to rob dachas”: how to protect crops and things from the invasion of mice in winter

The test leader is a cheap bypass tool. I bit through four nails. But the record was set by an inexpensive contact pruner. He was able to cut six nails before damage appeared on the blade.

“We can conclude that there is enough strong, good steel here. It hasn’t really faded with us yet.» concluded the gardener.

The crash test showed that it makes no sense to overpay when buying a secateurs. The cheapest bypass tool turned out to be better than the expensive ones.

How to take care of a pruner

In order for the pruner to serve for a long time, it must be properly looked after, cleaned after each use, and after the summer season, lubricated with oil and stored only in a dry room with good ventilation.

Another option: do not remove the tool for the winter at all. Few people know, but it can become indispensable not only in the garden, but also in the kitchen. They can easily and quickly cut fish and poultry.