Gardening with Daphne Ledward
All you need to know about secateurs
The other pair goes everywhere with him, and he was recently lamenting the fact that should he lose these, it would be a tragedy, because this brand was no longer on the market.
I told him I thought I’d heard they were back, and rashly promised to buy him a new pair for Christmas, so I did a web search this morning and found that, yes, they are back, but no, he wasn’t getting a new pair, as they are now nearly as costly as the most expensive alternative.
Luckily I found a pair on eBay for £12, so he’ll have to make do with these.
I can understand why many gardeners like anvil secateurs such as the Rolcut. They can be used right or left-handed, there are few parts to break or go wrong, and a sharp blade cutting onto a hard surface will make a nice, clean cut.
I used to have a pair as a youngster (yes, I was keen, even then), but, like bro-in-law’s second pair, they disappeared, possibly ending up in a compost heap or bonfire.
When I started professional gardening, I treated myself to a pair of really expensive Felcos, but I lost these, and after about three replacements I decided I would be better with a cheap and cheerful alternative that could be replaced about four times for the price of one of these up-market tools.
Most serious gardeners are divided into two camps – the ones who prefer the anvil types of secateurs and those who get on better with those with a scissor action.
Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but, having used both for lengthy periods, I tend to favour the latter as I find I can see more accurately where to cut.
Their only real drawback is that if your prune left handed, you need a left-handed model, but I have overcome this by learning to use them right-handed, which isn’t difficult if you do a lot of pruning.
It’s usually cheaper and easier to adapt!
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Weather for Spalding
Monday 20 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 10 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: North
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Temperature: 7 C to 13 C
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