Cut and Hold Hand Pruners

In the first part of this series of posts I introduced the cut and hold pruner along with its benefits for all gardeners, especially those with disabilities or special needs.

Cut and Hold Hand Pruners

Cut and hold pruners come in a wide variety of sizes ranging from 8" to 10' long. The smallest are hand pruners which I will cover in this post. These are small and light weight and thus the easiest to use. However, since you can only prune plants within your immediate reach their use is more limited than the long-reach pruners.

I will present a handful of pruners to give you an idea what's available. This is not an exhaustive list of choices. All of the pruners are by-pass type pruners with hardened blades. They all have ergonomic non-slip grips. I'll list them by company.

Felco

Felco has been manufacturing pruning products in Switzerland for 60 years and sells them worldwide. They have an excellent reputation and are considered by most gardeners as top of the line. They have many varieties of hand pruners in their product line including one cut and hold model called the Felco 100. This model has light sturdy handles made of forged aluminum with a lifetime guarantee. It can cut branches up to 0.4" in diameter. It's about 8" long, weighs 9 ounces, and cost about $52.00.

Corona

Corona has manufactured professional quality tools since the early 1920s and is well known for quality and huge selection. They are a  practical, functional choice, and are seen as a good middle ground between cheap-o off-brand pruners and the spendy Felcos. Their cut and hold model is the Corona CH-7720 that cost about $45.00. This model has an angled head to reduce wrist fatigue. It's designed to cut branches up to 3/4" and has a one year warranty.  

ARS

ARS stands for "Always Really Sharp". They also have a large selection of pruners. Their model HP-120DXT is a lightweight high quality pruner that features an adjustable cut and hold feature. Ideal for picking roses and dead-heading. The pruner has hard chrome plated blades and a high-quality Japaneses style "V" spring. It's 8" long, weighs 6 ounces, and cost about $40.00.

Summary of Cut and Hold Hand Pruners

Any of the pruners listed here, and many others, would meet the pruning needs of most gardeners. If you have a small hand or if you are left handed you might be better off investigating other models offered by these companies. Most have regular hand pruners (i.e. not cut and hold) designed specifically for gardeners with those characteristics.

You will find gardeners that favor the pruners for each of these companies. Felco is probably viewed as the premiere manufacturer. However, all three companies have good reputations and provide quality pruners.

If your pruning needs can be satisfied with a hand pruner, one of these cut and hold models should work well for you and perhaps make your life a tad easier.