Secateurs

[MilestoneMum]

Which are the best brand, mid-range price, for small terrace garden.

It's a very personal thing, choosing secateurs , but having tried a fair few over the years I recently received a pair of Okatsune secateurs for my birthday and am impressed so far. They are very sharp and also come in different sizes to suit the size of your hands. I went on to buy a pair of their deheader trimmers too, they have pointed blades and a great crisp cutting action. Worth a look?

Felco 2s,these will last you a life time,if you don't lose them
www.amazon.co.uk/Felco-FEL2-Model-Original-Secateurs/dp/B00023RYS6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401748074&sr=8-1&keywords=pruners+felco

I think the losing thing is very important. I have front, side and back garden secateurs, none expensive, and all sprayed with fluorescent paint on the handles, so I can see where I dropped them.

That is one reason I like the Okatsune ones, they have one red handle and one white, so during the day the red shows up well, and if pruning at twilight (as you do!) the white handle shows up! This helped me when I had left mine in my pruning bucket and nearly threw them on the compost heap.....

I've tried Felco ones a few times and they seem to go blunt really quickly, but perhaps that's because I abuse mine so much..

I had some great Felco ones but they went blunt. I can't find anyone to sharpen them, or shears for that matter. I even took them to a country show in my pocket last year in the vain hope there would be a blacksmithy type person who would sharpen them.
I now buy cheap Aldi ones and replace as necessary.

Felco.

I love my Fiskers ones - they are adjustable for my small hands & poor grip & very comfortable even with my arthritic hands.

Yourlittlesecret, I fell for a sharpening tool hype at Gardeners World Live last year, purchased two tools that clamped by suction onto a surface and were designed to be used with secateurs or shears. They looked amazing at the demonstration, but of course when we got home and tried them our tools would not fit in the device and there was no way of taking them apart, so only the top 2cm or so could be sharpened.......why do I fall for these things?

I now use a flat metal sharpening stone which my DP uses on chisels which is easy to use and makes an amazing difference, you just have to remember to use it...

Re sharpening, I just bought a Multi-Sharp shear sharpener and screwed it on to the back of shed door. 12 year old son now has my shears very much improved. I think they do one for secateurs and loppers, might be worth a try.

I am a professional gardener and I use Felcos. The same pair for 15 years now. You can send them off to be serviced - I finally managed to free mine up to send them off this winter.

They came back good as new with several parts replaced including new plastic dipped handles.

As long as I don't lose them , they will do me for life. They cost more then your cheapo supermarket ones but will be more economical in the long run.

Oh and I sharpen my Felcos myself with a sharpening whetstone.

Which? Spear & Jackson Razorsharp Advance 6758GS
I have two pairs of felco no 6 for small hands and replace the blades or send them off for reconditioning every two years

Owning telcos will make you feel more like a gardener. Sad but true.