Comparing pruning tools: secateurs, loppers and saws

With the right pruning tools you can trim shrubs, roses, fruit trees and hedges neatly without damaging the plant. On this page you can compare secateurs, loppers, pruning saws and chainsaws from, among others, Felco, Fiskars, Gardena, Wolf-Garten and Makita, with the current prices.

Bypass or anvil?

With a bypass pair of secateurs, two blades slide past each other, just like with ordinary scissors. This gives a clean cut and is therefore suitable for living, green wood. With an anvil pair of secateurs, one blade presses onto a flat surface. This gives more force and is good for dead or hard wood, but can bruise living wood. Also pay attention to the maximum cutting diameter and the size of the handle: many brands make models for small and large hands, and for left-handed users.

From secateurs to chainsaw

• Secateurs: for branches up to around 2 to 2.5 cm.
• Loppers: with long arms for more leverage and thicker branches, sometimes telescopic.
• Pruning saw: for branches too thick for secateurs. Folding saws fit folded up in your pocket.
• Chainsaw and cordless pruning saw: for trunks and thick branches. Small cordless pruning saws are light and suitable for fruit trees and shrubs.

Brands

Here you can compare secateurs from Felco, Fiskars, Gardena, Wolf-Garten and Spear & Jackson, loppers from Fiskars, Gardena and Wolf-Garten, and chainsaws and cordless pruning saws from Makita, Einhell and other brands. On each brand page you will find all the products from that brand together.

To keep a hedge in shape you use a hedge trimmer. You can find all types on garden tools.