The 13 best secateurs to buy: prune like a pro in 2025

Keeping your garden looking neat and tidy is a lot easier when you have a trusty pair of secateurs. Our list of the best secateurs includes a range of styles with a variety of strengths so you can find a pair that suits you and your garden's needs.

The best secateurs to buy in 2024

Burgon & Ball National Trust secateurs

• Personalisation available

Pros: beautiful handles, personalisation available, locking catch

Cons: wooden handle less resilient than plastic options

These secateurs have two institutions behind them: the National Trust and Burgon & Ball. The latter has manufacturing credentials dating back to 18th century Sheffield, and creates tools which last. These are very handsome secateurs, with brown handles finished with brass rivets. We love the idea of getting them engraved if you're buying them as a gift too.

Customer review: "These secateurs are sharp, easy to use and well crafted. They will need attention to keep them looking nice and working well but it’s lovely to have good quality tools with no plastic."

Felco Model 2 Secateurs

• Wire-cutting notch

Pros: shock absorber handles, easy-to-find bright handles, locking notch, wire-cutting notch

Cons: not as good for smaller hands

If you think a small pair simply won't cut it, we recommend these secateurs from Felco. Renowned for their Swiss precision, the brand promises clean and efficient cutting. There's also a wire-cutting notch for anything that requires a particularly sharp blade.

The non-slip, ergonomic handles have a cushion shock absorber, which should make them comfortable to use throughout the day.

Customer review: "Excellent, sharp secateurs. I've used them on roses and quite a few different flowers and small branches, they have cut through with ease and no force needed."

Niwaki GP Pro Secateurs

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• Right and left handed models, and holster available

Pros: quality Japanese design, lightweight, locking catch

Cons: more expensive than other options

If you're happy to prioritise precision over strength, this pair of secateurs could be what you're looking for thanks to their hand-forged blades and sleek, lightweight design. They're ideal for anyone with slightly weak grip, and are designed for light pruning work. We love the elegant, stylish look of them too.

Customer review: "Great for pruning roses etc. They are very positive and feel more precise than Felco secateurs... [T]hey are not so good as the ubiquitous Felco No2 for more heavy duty work such as tree pruning. That said, these are still my favorite secateurs."

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Spear & Jackson Ratchet Anvil Secateurs

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• Ratchet anvil mechanism

Pros: ratchet anvil mechanism makes it easier to cut tough branches, grippy handle, locking notch

Cons: locking notch can be tricky for those with weak grip

These anvil secateurs are ideal for cutting hard, chunky branches. The ratchet feature allows you to prune in four short steps while the PTFE-coated blades help you make smooth cuts. Unlike a lot of designs, these secateurs have a spacious handle for comfort. They're designed by Spear and Jackson with the horticultural team at Kew Gardens, so if you're looking for quality, these are likely to deliver.

Customer review: "If like me you suffer arthritis in the fingers these make light work of pruning especially thick branches."

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Hawkesbury Round Head Pruner

• Ash wood handle

Pros: natural wood handles, locking catch, inexpensive

Cons: wooden handle less resilient than plastic options

We love the rustic and charming appeal of the wooden handles on these round headed pruners. Designed specifically for pruning flowers and plants and encouraging growth, this lovely pair are bound to help you keep your garden in tip top shape. These secateurs can also be used for indoor plants so you can look after all of your foliage, wherever it lives.

Customer review: "These are lovely and sharp. Feels nice to use. Has a smooth mechanism. Feels good quality and looks very nice hanging with my other garden tools."

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Sophie Conran Secateurs

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• Comes in gift box

Pros: all-metal, rust-resistant design, locking catch, great as a gift

Cons: all-silver colour might make it harder to see in toolboxes

Another great pick for women, these Sophie Conran secateurs have been designed for gardeners with small hands. The rust-resistant stainless steel and brass lock make these a practical and attractive choice. They are 20cm in length and work well for general pruning tasks.

Customer review: "Really gorgeous pair of secateurs, love the materials and finish. Comfortable to hold and really easy to use, these chop through small to medium branches and are great for pruning."

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Darlac Professional Left Handed Secateurs

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• Left-handed design

Pros: bright handles makes them easy to find, locking notch

Cons: not as good for right-handed gardeners!

There's no need for left-handed gardeners to struggle with ill-suited tools thanks options like these secateurs. They're ideal for those with smaller hands and the non-slip handles allow for a comfortable, secure grip. With a cut capacity of 16mm, they're best for light pruning rather than heavy-duty tree cutting.

Customer review: "Pruning has never been so easy. I bought these for my wife who, as a left-hander, struggled for years to prune effectively with the blunt side of the blade. She says this little pruner has made pruning so much easier, not to mention quicker and better for the plants. Brilliant!"

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Kent & Stowe Garden Life Snips

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• Small size ideal for herbs, topiary and deadheading

Pros: compact size, locking notch

Cons: not designed for cutting thick stems and branches

A small and compact choice, these snips are ideal for deadheading and looking after your herbs. They're 12cm long, so nice and neat, and they come with a five year guarantee so you won't need to replace them in a hurry. The easy thumb operated locking catch means you can store them safely and avoid any accidental cuts.

Customer review: "These are my second pair of these snips, they're my go [to] gardening cutters. I use them for all my light pruning, dead heading, taking out side shoots etc. They're lightweight & easy to use, I give them a little spray of WD40 in winter after I've cleaned & [sharpened] them."

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• Anvil mechanism

Pros: anvil mechanism great for cutting dead wood, smart look

Cons: not designed for deadheading or snipping small stems

A very different design from the same brand, this pair from Kent and Stowe has a carbon steel, heat treated blade that comes down onto a cutting block with the aim of performing powerful cuts with little effort. It has a cutting diameter of 20mm.

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Opinel Secateurs

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• Beech wood handle
• Personalisation available

Pros: stylish look, personalisation available, locking notch

Cons: wood and plastic design could be less resilient than other options

With a cutting capacity of 20mm, a stainless steel blade and a safety locking system, this pair of Opinel secateurs has all the features we'd expect, along with a stylish design. The smart, angled handle is made from beech wood so it has a lovely light and soft finish. You can even choose to have it engraved if you want to give someone a useful and thoughtful gift.

Customer review: "Very pleased with this product - excellent quality and looked great with the personalised engraving. Made a lovely birthday gift!"

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Petal Power Garden Secateurs for Small Hands

• Designed for gardeners with smaller hands

Pros: choice of sizes, locking catch

Cons: may lack some design details of more expensive options

These fun secateurs feature a high carbon SK-5 Japanese stainless steel blade and have a cutting capacity of 15mm. This pair is seven inches long, but if you'd prefer a bigger version, you can buy the eight-inch option instead. For us, the pink soft-touch grip is the perfect addition to liven things up if you find your tool box is looking a bit dull.

Customer review: "As my wife suffers with arthritis in the hands, this product is light and easy to hold and use effectively. Very good product and sensibly priced."

Spear & Jackson Kew Gardens Razorsharp Bypass Secateurs

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• Made in collaboration with Kew Gardens

Pros: grippy handles, smart design, bright locking catch

Cons: not as easy to find as brighter-coloured options

If durability and efficiency are your priorities, these hardy secateurs could be what you're after. We'd choose these for cutting through lots of material quickly, and as they're made by Spear and Jackson in collaboration with Kew Gardens, purchases send money back to Kew, which is always a good thing.

Customer review: "Easy to use, lightweight, very sharp, cuts perfectly, look good, good value for money."

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Sarah Raven Straight Pruning Snips

• Small size ideal for herbs, topiary and deadheading

Pros: compact design, lightweight, locking notch

Cons: not designed for cutting thick stems and branches

This pair of Sarah Raven snips make it easier to prune in hard-to-reach areas thanks to their slim, pointed blades. They're great for more delicate jobs thanks to their lightweight design, and we think the stainless steel blade and non-slip grip make them as aesthetically pleasing as they are functional.

Customer review: "Absolutely brilliant for precision cutting. Razor sharp blades and the snips feel very well made. Lightweight and easy to grip."

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What to use secateurs for

A vital addition to any gardeners' tool box, secateurs can be used for a range of things, including pruning, trimming, deadheading, harvesting and cutting flowers. They are handy for those intricate finishing touches as well as those bigger tasks that require heavy-duty cutting.

Types of secateurs

Bypass

Like scissors, bypass secateurs have two sharp blades which pass against each other to create a smooth, clean cut, so they're ideal for pruning live stems and branches. The blades are slightly curved to fit into tight spots and you'll probably recognise them as the most common type of secateurs out there.

Anvil

Great for chopping thick or woody stems, anvil secateurs work more like a knife, as they have one cutting blade and a sturdy metal block, which is sometimes serrated to keep stems in place as the upper blade slices downwards towards it.

Ratchet

Ratchet secateurs are a useful option for anyone with limited hand strength or conditions like arthritis, as they use a spring mechanism to gradually cut through thick branches in stages. Rather than squeezing tightly until the blades cut through, you repeatedly click the handles together as the upper blade progresses through the branch.

Electric

These days, there are a few electric secateurs you can buy to get even more cutting power. Usually, they run on batteries and have a trigger to engage the snipping action.

How to sharpen secateurs

The nature of the work they do means that secateurs are easily rusted and worn down, so it's important to make sure you're investing in ones that will stay the course and then sharpen them when necessary.

Read our piece on the essentials of how to look after and sharpen your tools, or choose a new sharpening whetstone from our list of favourites to get started.

How to clean secateurs

As one of the most commonly used tools in any gardener's collection, secateurs can become easily clogged up with dirt and plant sap. Plus, if you're cutting diseased growth back, you don't want it to infect other parts of your garden, so cleaning is essential.

For grimy blades, start by scrubbing them with wire wool or fine sand paper. You might want to add a spritz of WD-40 or soak them in white vinegar to help loosen rust and dirt.

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If you want to remove dried sap specifically, try Niwaki's sap eraser block.

For sterilising, spray or soak blades with household disinfectant or a specialised option like Citrox to help stop the spread of plant diseases. Don't forget to sterilise any cloths, brushes or accessories you use for cleaning as well.

Once your secateurs are clean and sterilised, give them a coat of Camellia oil to keep them in good condition for longer.

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