By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine
Everything you prune that is smaller than your little finger should be cut with a pair of good bypass pruners. (For larger cuts, use a saw; see yesterday’s post).
General pruning principles are pretty straightforward: first cut out dead, diseased and injured branches; then remove one of either of two parallel or crossing branches; then prune for shape. There are lots of variations on this theme, but it’s enough to get you started.
Most of this is done with bypass pruners. Having tried more brands than I can remember, I find that I’m equally content with Bahco (French made, Swedish steel), Corona (Spanish-owned American), and Felco (Swiss) bypass pruners. An excellent new pruner is the Corona BP 3640, for around $20.
There are also lots of crummy copies of good pruners on the market. Avoid them. Instead, buy pruners that are forged (like Corona 60s and 80s), or ones that come with replaceable blades and springs (Bahco and Felco, for example). Don’t accept theoretical replacement parts: ask the dealer if they keep them in stock. On that score, Corona has a clear advantage because they have a toll-free number (800/847-7863) you can call for either parts or pruning advice.
Fit is important. Bahco sells pruners in any combination of three grip sizes and three head sizes. Most Corona and Felco models are made to fit average size hands, but the Felco #6 is a fabulous pruner for smaller hands. Felco and Bahco also sell left-handed pruners.
Pruners with rotating handles are for people who do hours of pruning at a shot. You probably don’t need these unless you have an orchard, vineyard, or the biggest rose garden in town.
Angled heads are a different matter. If you hold pruners in your hand with your wrist straight, the pruners point straight up (see bottom photos). You need to bend your wrist down so the pruners will face forward for action, but when you do that, you lose about 40 percent of your hand strength. To compensate, some manufacturers build pruners with heads already tipped forward. This is a good thing.
You’ll also find that you often bend your wrist to the side a little bit to make the cutting blades parallel with the tree. That motion costs you another 10 percent of your strength, so some ergonomic Bahco pruners compensate by not only tilting the head forward, but to the side as well. The resulting pruners (shown above) look a little odd, but work extraordinarily well.
But how does all this theory hold up in practice? Red Pig Garden Tool owner Bob Denman, who has designed bypass pruners and has worked as a garden-tool consultant for many years, watched commercial vineyard pruners at work making more than 2000 cuts per day with different kinds of pruners. It turns out that early in the day, workers don’t feel much difference in pruner design. But as the hours pass, when muscles are tired, better-designed pruners are markedly easier to use.
On one level that means that you don’t have to be too picky if you don’t prune much. But as your gardening skills advance, it’s nice to have tools that don’t hold you back. Buy right the first time and you won't have to buy again later.
