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At the very beginning of spring, when the temperature no longer drops below -2 degrees, trees and shrubs are pruned in each garden. This necessary annual event is designed to heal, rejuvenate the trees, shape their crown so that they can bear wonderful fruits. Do this with a special garden tool.
Why do you need a tool in the garden
Early spring and late autumn are the time for tree pruning. Remove branches that have withered or become damaged during the winter, shoots that will not bear fruit or cannot bear the weight of the fruit.
These branches can be of different thicknesses, be at different heights, in order to more easily cope with this work and not harm the trees, they use different garden tools. Usually every farm has a pruner. If you have a young garden, then one may be enough for the first couple of years. It is great for pruning thin branches less than 2,5 cm in diameter. When it comes time to remove old thick branches or entire trees, you will need a garden saw (hacksaw). To work inside shrubs or pruning branches growing at a height, use a lopper.
All garden tools must be very sharp, otherwise you will not get an even cut, which means that instead of rejuvenation and healing, you will get tormenting trees. They are subject to minimum requirements:
- comfortable safe non-slip handle;
- correct shape – strongly tapered ends at the pruner and lopper (to get wherever you need);
- the strength of the material, so as not to break from considerable effort.
Such instruments, or rather, their handles, are usually painted in bright colors – this makes it easier to find in the grass or among the branches.
Video “Choose the pruner correctly”
Secateurs
There are two types of secateurs:
- bypass;
- with an anvil.
Bypass secateurs are the most common. They cut just like scissors, only one blade is wide convex, and the second is much smaller, it is concave. A wide blade is called a working blade, and a narrow blade is called a support blade. When you use a bypass pruner, the working blade should be placed on top, slightly facing the branch from which it is cutting, then everything will turn out well. When buying a bypass pruner, you can try cutting paper with it. If he did not chew the paper, then the shoots in your garden will be even more good to cut.
The pruner with an anvil cuts not like scissors, but like an axe. The sharp working blade is sharpened on both sides, it cuts until it hits the anvil. Such a pruner is more suitable for trimming dry branches, it is difficult for them to get close to the very base, and a bypass pruner cuts live branches better.
What to look for when buying? You should not take a pruner with a stainless steel blade – it will become dull very quickly. It is much better if it is made of hardened steel, then you can use it for several years and not sharpen it. And even better if the blade is chrome or Teflon coated. It’s great if the secateurs have a stepped mechanism, this will help a lot when trimming thick, strong branches. It is very convenient if there are rubber pads on the handle – it is comfortable to hold and the hand does not slip. As for the springs, the tape type is considered more reliable than the wire type.
Delimbers
A pruner is the same secateurs, but only with long handles. They work with both hands at a height, where they cannot be reached from the ground with a pruner, or in thickets of bushes. It is able to cut thick branches up to 5 cm in diameter. There are loppers with telescopic handles that extend several meters.
This is an advanced tool for your garden, it can be not only mechanical, but also electric and gasoline. Gasoline and electric, of course, work much faster, they require less physical strength than mechanical ones. But on the other hand, they have a higher cost and you will constantly have to spend money on food during operation. And gasoline is still noisy and emits harmful gases. If you have a huge garden, then you should consider which one to choose. And if only a few trees and shrubs grow, then you can get by with a good quality mechanical tool.
Garden saw
When replacing trees or pruning thick branches, use a garden saw. It should not be confused with a hacksaw for wood. The garden saw has teeth of at least 5-7 mm, they are hardened and sharpened so that they saw perfectly in two directions. Always remember that we need a tool for trimming live trees, and we need to do it with the least loss for the trees. A hacksaw is not suitable for this, it can only work when cutting dead wood.
Garden saws can be with a straight, curved and onion-shaped blade 30-35 cm long. When choosing, the thickness of the blade matters: too thin can break under load. The best option is hardened steel, and the handle should be comfortable and not slippery, preferably rubberized.
There are folding garden saws with a blade of only 20 cm, but with an extension pole. When pruning thick branches, the saw is used from below and from above. The branch must be fixed, otherwise it may break off under its own weight and the effort directed at it. If this is impossible to do, then they cut up to half from the bottom, and then finish from above.
Two more garden tools – a knife and scissors – will come in handy for cutting shrubs and removing unwanted bumps. Here is a minimum of garden tools that will help you always keep your garden and cottage in order.
Video “Tree Shaping Tool”
The choice of these components is not an easy task, so it is important to take it seriously. As an example, you can see the information from the video below.
