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Secateurs

Secateurs are an indispensable tool for gardeners and florists alike. Known also as pruning shears, gardening clippers, and snips, secateurs are akin to heavy-duty scissors and are used for the intricate cutting of stems. Used for pruning and for taking cuttings, they come in a variety of forms with a range of blade types made of a variety of materials. As such, secateurs come in many varieties, each designed for a speciased use. On the flip side, broad-spectrum secateurs can be used to perform a range of tasks in the garden.

Looking For The Best Pruner Shears?

Pruner shears are secateurs that are used for cutting back stems and branches in the garden. Garden pruning tools need to be heavy duty and ergonomically designed to handle thicker and woody stems. This helps to prevent repetitive strain injuries to the hands and wrists. The best garden shears for pruning are arguably bypass and ratchet secateurs. 

High Quality Pruning Shears

At Koch & Co, we offer a wide range of high-quality pruning shears, to help you with all your garden pruning needs. Stocking globally recognised brands, like Fiskars, and more, if you need a pruner, we have an extensive variety to suit your needs. 

Care For Your Flowers With Garden Secateurs

Caring for flowers can be hard work, but with a good pair of garden secateurs and a consistent approach, it’s not difficult to have your flowers bloom. In the flowering and fruiting season, snip away spent flowers and overripe fruit, and prune any dead growth or rubbing branches. Reach high branches with extendable secateurs for a safe and easy maintenance approach. With your pruning secateurs, make way for new growth in your garden by thinning. This involves the removal of unwanted healthy stems to make space for bigger flowers and fruit. Snip stems at the base of the plant or where stems meet. 

If you want to harvest blooming flowers from your garden, there are a few general rules to keep in mind. Don’t wait till they are fully bloomed. Harvest flowers when they are half open (or a little less than half open) at the base of the stem with a sharp and clean pair of floral secateurs. If your flowers are from a bulbous plant, like a lily, trim above some foliage, so that the plant may build up energy reserves for the next flower bloom. Harvesting at a cool time of day is a good idea as this is when flowers are most hydrated, and as such will better tolerate harvesting.

Trusted Australian Brand For Gardening Clippers

Every gardener needs gardening clippers to keep their plants healthy and groomed, while also making sure their flowers and fruits continue to thrive. Whether you need long handled pruners for precision bonsai trimming or heavy-duty branch cutting secateurs, at Koch & Co, we are a trusted supplier of all varieties of clippers for both floristry and gardening use. 

 
What are secateurs?

Depending on the country in which you live, secateurs are also known as pruning shears, gardening clippers, and hand pruners. Most essentially, these are all names for a type of scissor used on plant stems and branches. Designed to be strong, sharp, and ergonomic, they cut through everything from dainty bonsai limbs to tough woody stems up to approximately two centimetres thick. Available in a variety of types, secateurs feature a range of blade designs and handle shapes. 

What are the different types of secateurs?

In the world of secateurs, there are two key types: anvil and bypass

  • Bypass secateurs have a big blade and a smaller blade. The top blade is the cutting blade. Adept at making fine, clean cuts, bypass secateurs are recommended for broad-spectrum use in the garden, and for use as flower arranging shears. 
  • Anvil secateurs have a blade on one side and an anvil jaw (or flat bottom) with a groove on the other side. The cutting action on anvil secateurs is more like the action of a knife on a chopping board. This makes anvil secateurs more likely to crush stems and as such, anvil secateurs are recommended more for the cutting of dead, woody branches. 
  • Other varieties of secateurs include long-handled secateurs, which are designed to reach up into trees and chop woody stems that measure up to an inch in diameter. 
  • Where one blade usually moves to meet a stationary blade, double-cut pruner blades meet in the middle. Effective as broad-spectrum secateurs, double-cut pruners work well for live and deadwood stems, as trimming shears, and as pruning shears. 
  • Ratchet secateurs allow for the user to cut in stages. Reducing the amount of brute force necessary to cut thicker stems and branches, the ratchet is popular amongst those with small hands or less grip strength. 
What are the best pruning shears?

Designed to cut through branches, flowers, and sticks, our Fiskar hand pruning shears are lightweight with a soft ergonomic grip and spring-loaded design. This makes them easy to use, comfortable to hold, and flexible to operate. 

What are the best garden secateurs?

Garden secateurs can be used for a broad range of tasks in the garden. One of our best secateurs, ideal for large flowers and sticks, is our Euro Bypass Florist & Garden Pruner Large Fiskars. These secateurs can be used as floral shears and as a garden pruner. As a sharp, heavy-duty bypass pruner cutter, they are capable of making clean cuts of fine and thick stems alike. 

How to maintain pruning shears?

A quality pair of pruning shears will last for years if maintained well. Maintenance includes cleaning after use, sharpening, and lubricating blades. To clean your secateurs, wipe them down with warm, soapy water after each pruning session. Dry with a paper towel or clean, dry cloth. To lubricate, rub the blades with vegetable oil on a clean rag. These simple steps go a long way to prevent corrosion of your pruner tool. Sharpening blades is a bit more of a process and can require dismantling of your floral pruning shears. A popular tool of choice is a sharpening stone, which is run along the bevelled edge of your secateurs once or twice a year. 

How to clean secateurs?

It’s important to clean secateurs of debris, sap, and moisture in order to keep your blades sharp, and to prevent the build up of corrosion. If you’re pruning a diseased plant, it’s even more important to not only clean but also sterilise your secateurs. 

If using flower shears exclusively for cutting flowers, it’s important to follow the same processes of care and maintenance. If your flower secateurs are sharp, they cut stems cleanly. This is a contributing factor in a plant’s ability to absorb water and nutrients, thus affecting the longevity of cut flowers. 

How to sterilise secateurs?

When a plant displays symptoms of disease, it’s a good idea to prune the affected plant tissue with some sharp secateurs. When you do this, take care to not continue to use the secateurs on different plants in the garden as this could lead to cross-contamination. 
 
Instead, opt to sterilise your secateurs using any of the following methods:

  • Add a few drops of tea tree oil to a clean, dry cloth and wipe the secateurs, both before and after pruning. 
  • Mix three parts of either full strength methylated spirits or isopropyl alcohol to one part water. Place in a spray bottle, and apply the solution to your blades. Wipe with a clean, dry cloth, and spray again. Allow to evaporate. 

We do not recommend using bleach to clean secateurs as this will accelerate the corrosion of metal blades. 

How to sharpen secateurs?

The sharpness of your secateurs is a key determiner of their efficiency. Sharp cutting shears for gardening will reduce hand and wrist strain, quicken pace, and will cut more cleanly and precisely. This will also benefit your plant’s health. Furthermore, always clean your secateurs before sharpening. 

  • Secateurs are most commonly sharpened with some variety of sharpening stone, purpose-made sharpener, or sandpaper. Whatever tool you’re using, it’s important to sharpen only the bevelled edge of the cutting blade. If your secateurs have only one bevelled edge, do not bevel the flat back of your blade. 
  • In the process of sharpening, some recommend dismantling secateurs and attaching one side at a time to a vice to keep the blade secure and accessible when sharpening. Whether sharpening while assembled or dismantled, take care to make smooth strokes at a consistent angle to keep the bevel at the same sharp angle. Stop when you notice a new layer of metal exposed on the bevelled edge of the blade. 
  • Flip and repeat the process. Alternatively, if your blade has a flat back, rub any metal residue or overhang that may have come about in the process of sharpening by holding the stone or sandpaper flat on the back surface. It’s important to keep it flat so you don’t bevel the flat edge of the blade. Reassemble secateurs if dismantled and lubricate. 
What are the best secateurs for pruning roses?

Rose bushes are known for having thick stems, and pruning is a fundamental part of rose bush care. As such, when pruning rose bushes, it’s important to use a pair of flower pruners that are strong enough to cleanly and easily cut these stems. For those who need to prune for extended periods of time, or for those with limited mobility or injuries, a pair of pruning secateurs with a rotating handle is a great option. Conveniently, secateurs with a rotating handle reduces effort, and minimises hand fatigue and friction.

For pruning roses, the most popular type of cutting tools are bypass secateurs. These are well suited as rose shears because they cut cleanly and precisely and as such, cause minimal trauma to the living plant tissue. This is important as an unclean cut might lead to a bud refusing to bloom, or a whole branch to succumb to stress and die.

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