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First, a confession: pruning is my all-time favourite gardening task. I love the sound of well-sharpened secateurs slicing a stem, and the best will help you deal with dead, damaged or diseased plant material; pruning’s ‘three Ds’ are non-negotiables.
Along with a trowel and fork, secateurs are a must for any garden toolkit. Sharp blades and a comfortable grip are essential, but what constitutes the best secateurs is subjective, and there’s a range of styles to choose from.
While bypass secateurs are versatile, their slicing action is particularly appropriate for green wood and live stems. Anvil models (with a cutting blade that crushes down onto a flat anvil) are more suitable for dead wood, as a clean cut is less important. Meanwhile, ratchet designs increase power, making larger stems easier to cut – they can be especially helpful if you have mobility issues like arthritis
Whatever the design, I’ve trialled a selection that should meet the needs of most gardeners, whether tending to balcony pots or a multi-acre plot.
My top choice are the Okatsune 103 bypass secateurs, but there are several other great pairs available across a range of price points. Keep scrolling to find out more.
How I tested
I set the secateurs to work in my garden, when cutting back herbaceous perennials and pruning roses (Abigail Willis/The Independent)
After consulting RHS Gardening through the Year by Ian Spence (£12, Amazon.co.uk), I set about testing a range of secateurs on a variety of seasonal tasks in my own garden.
Over six weeks, I pruned rambling roses and early flowering shrubs such as philadelphus; I harvested dahlias and sweet peas; deadheaded roses, and cut back herbaceous perennials such as hardy geraniums to encourage new growth. I also enjoyed a few fragrant sessions trimming flower heads from lavender bushes to promote side shoots and compact growth.
On my allotment, I used the secateurs to prune gooseberry and redcurrant bushes and thin this year’s bumper apple crop. I also offered my services in a friend’s garden and did a morning’s bramble bashing in the overgrown back garden of my local bookshop.
As well as RHS-ratified tasks, I channelled the spirit of the late Christopher Lloyd, who, in The Well-Tempered Garden (£14.19, Amazon.co.uk), advocated doing gardening tasks when “in the mood”, as opposed to when the gardening manuals dictate. This Lloydian approach involved freestyle shearing on shaggy shrubs such as fuchsia, bay, pyracantha and pittosporum as well as “heading back” over-exuberant apple branches.
On top of that, I cleaned, sharpened, and oiled them as I went, so I have a good sense of how easy it is to maintain each tool. While testing, I considered the following criteria:
Quality of cut: I was after sharp blades that could give a clean and precise cut through plant tissues, helping the plant to heal quicker and therefore reducing the risk of disease and infection. A sharp blade also reduces the stress on the plant by minimising the size of the wound created.Comfort: As an essential piece of kit that is used over a long period of time, secateurs must be comfortable to grip and hold.Manoeuvrability: I also assessed how easily they moved around stems. As a natural lefty, I also tested some left-handed secateurs.Ease of use: No one wants sticky latches on secateurs, so I was keen to find ones that were simple to get to grips with.Springs: Like a sharp blade, springs can ease effort and produce a cleaner cut through a stem. Good spring can also help those with weaker wrists.Longevity: I was after secateurs that are sustainable and have parts that can be replaced.Ease of cleaning and maintenance: I wanted secateurs that were easy to clean, sharpen, and oil.Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
The Independent’s dedicated shopping section, IndyBest is committed to providing unbiased reviews and expert advice. Our team of editors and writers have years of experience in testing products and trialling them within their own homes and gardens.
Abigail Willis is a garden writer and an RHS-qualified gardener with more than 25 years’ experience across gardens and allotments. She is the author of The London Garden Book A-Z (£3.51, Amazon.co.uk), Secret Gardens of Somerset (£17.99, Amazon.co.uk) and The Remarkable Case of Dr Ward and Other Amazing Garden Innovations (£12.99, Waterstones.com). An avid (read: compulsive) pruner, she welcomed the chance to unleash her inner Edwina Scissorhands while putting a range of secateurs to the test.
The best secateurs for 2025 are:Best overall – Okatsune 103 bypass secateurs: £46, Amazon.co.ukBest budget buy – Burgon and Ball bypass secateurs: £19.54, Crocus.co.ukBest left-handed – Niwaki mainichi secateurs: £42.00, Niwaki.comBest compact – Burgon and Ball professional compact bypass secateurs: £35.99, Burgonandball.comBest ratchet – Darlac super classic ratchet pruners: £17.99, Amazon.co.uk
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