Best Secateurs UK 2026: A Garden Designer’s Honest Guide

What frustrates me about most “best secateurs” guides online is that they are written by people who borrowed a pair for a weekend or were sent them by a company in return for positive reviews. Worse still, some gardeners barely prune or have little expertise in using and maintaining secateurs. It means that when you seek advice online, you should take it with a pinch of salt.

I want to give you the honest view from someone who uses secateurs professionally, season after season, across different soil types, plants, and pruning tasks. This guide covers the types you actually need to know about, which pair suits whom, and where to find them at a fair price.

Bypass, Anvil and Ratchet: Which Type Do You Need?

The single most important decision you will make when buying secateurs is choosing the right cutting mechanism for the job you are doing. Get this wrong, and even an expensive pair will perform poorly; worse, you will damage your plants in the process.

1) Bypass Secateurs

Two blades pass each other like scissors. The gold standard for live, green wood. They make clean cuts that heal quickly. This is my first recommendation for the vast majority of gardeners and the type I reach for most often on site.

2) Anvil Secateurs

One blade presses down onto a flat metal block. Better for dead, woody, or dry stems. They require less hand strength than bypass secateurs but can crush live stems if used on green growth. I use mine as a second pair for tidying up dead material rather than as the primary tool.

Ratchet Secateurs

Either bypass or anvil blades with a mechanism allowing the cut in three to four small squeezes rather than one continuous action. This dramatically reduces hand fatigue and peak grip force. The standout choice for arthritis, reduced grip strength, or simply long pruning sessions, where your hands start to complain.

For most UK gardeners, a quality pair of bypass pruners is the right starting point. If you have a lot of dead wood or woody shrubs, a decent pair of anvils makes a useful complement. And if joint pain or fatigue is a factor, go straight to ratchet. Your plants will thank you for cleaner cuts when you are not struggling.

What to Look For Before You Buy

Steel quality matters more than brand name

The best secateurs use hardened carbon steel or Japanese steel, often referred to as Hitachi Yasugi steel or SK5 steel. These hold their edge significantly longer than stainless steel, which sounds impressive but is actually too soft for precision cutting tools.

Hardened carbon steel that you sharpen regularly will always outperform stainless steel that you never need to sharpen. However, carbon steel goes dull faster, so it needs regular sharpening.

Size and hand fit

Secateurs come in different sizes, and it matters to get the right weight and size for your hands. A pair that opens too wide for your hand means you are fighting the tool rather than the plant. Most major brands offer small, medium, and large versions. Felco’s model range is built entirely around this principle. If you are buying online, check the handle opening width. For most adult hands, an opening of around 65-75mm is comfortable.

Weight and balance

A heavy pair feels reassuring in the shop but can cause real fatigue during a long pruning session. Look for secateurs in the 200-280 g range for general garden use. Japanese models like the Okatsune tend to be lighter than their Swiss counterparts, which suits many gardeners, particularly those with smaller builds or who garden for extended periods.

Replacement parts availability

This is the single most overlooked factor when buying secateurs. A quality pair of Felcos or Niwaki can last 20 years or more, but only if you replace the spring, blade, and buffer pad as needed. Before spending serious money, check that replacement parts are readily available in the UK. Budget brands often offer no replacement parts at all, making them disposable by design.

Safety catch design

Some safety catches are genuinely frustrating, particularly the sliding bar designs that lock accidentally mid-cut when you are wearing gloves. The best safety catches open with a single thumb movement and stay locked reliably when you want them to. Felco’s rotating catch and Niwaki’s simple ring catch are both excellent. This is a detail worth reading reviews for before buying.

My Top Secateur Picks

🏆 Lee’s Top Pick: Felco Model 2 Classic Bypass Secateurs

Around £55 to £65

The Felco 2 is the standard against which every other pair of bypass secateurs is measured. I have been using these for well over fifteen years, and the pair I reach for most on-site dates back to when I was still doing my RHS training. The carbon steel blades take and hold a superb edge, the aluminium handles are light but robust, and every single component is replaceable. That last point cannot be overstated. A £60 investment in Felco 2s genuinely represents better long-term value than buying three pairs of £20 secateurs over the same period.

They suit medium to large hands. The safety catch is a rotating disk that becomes second nature within a few days. These will handle everything from deadheading roses to cutting back established shrubs with stems up to 25mm thick.

Best for: All-round use, serious gardeners, anyone wanting tools that last decades.

🛒 Buy Felco Model 2 Secateurs from Amazon UK

⭐ Best Japanese Alternative: Okatsune 103 Bypass Secateurs

Around £30 to £38

If the Felco 2 is the Swiss benchmark, the Okatsune 103 is the Japanese alternative that professional gardeners quietly champion. Made by Okatsune in Japan using Hitachi Yasugi steel, the same steel used in surgical instruments, these secateurs are razor sharp from the box and stay that way. They are lighter than the Felco 2 and have a clean, unfussy design with minimal moving parts. BBC Gardeners’ World has awarded them Best Buy, and having used them extensively I understand why.

The Okatsune 103 is noticeably easier to sharpen than the Felco 2, which is a real advantage if maintaining your tools is not something you particularly enjoy. The red and white handles are also useful in spotting where your snips are in a flower bed! I have never lost a pair in the border, which I cannot say for every tool I own.

Best for: Gardeners who prefer lighter tools, those who prioritise sharpness, and excellent value for professional-quality performance.

🛒 Buy Okatsune 103 Secateurs from Amazon UK

💷 Best Mid-Range: Burgon & Ball RHS Bypass Secateurs

Around £26 to £32

Burgon and Ball have been making Sheffield garden tools since 1730, and their RHS-endorsed bypass secateurs show exactly why that heritage matters. Drop-forged carbon steel blades, a ten-year guarantee, and a comfortable handle design that works well for a wide range of hand sizes. These are the pair I recommend to clients who want quality without the Felco price tag. They are not as refined as the Okatsune, but they are robust, widely available, and backed by a guarantee that gives real peace of mind.

Best for: Gardeners wanting reliable quality at a sensible mid-range price.

🛒 Buy Burgon & Ball RHS Secateurs from Amazon UK

🌟 Best for Precision: Felco Model 6 (Compact)

Around £45 to £55

The Felco 6 is the compact version of the Model 2, designed for smaller hands. I bought a pair for my mother several years ago, and she has not looked back. Everything that makes the Model 2 exceptional, the carbon steel blades, the replaceable parts, the rotating safety catch, applies here in a body sized for hands with a smaller span. If the Model 2 feels slightly too wide in the grip, the Felco 6 will almost certainly suit you better. Hand size affects both comfort and cutting precision.

Best for: Smaller hands, gardeners who find standard secateurs slightly too wide, detailed work in mixed borders.

🛒 Buy Felco Model 6 Secateurs from Amazon UK

Best Budget Secateurs Under £20

Not everyone needs or wants to spend £55 on secateurs, and I respect that entirely. There are situations where a budget pair makes perfect sense. A second pair kept in a trug for quick deadheading, a pair for a beginner who is not sure yet how much they will use them, or simply a household where tools have a habit of going missing. The key with budget secateurs is managing expectations. They will not hold their edge as long, replacement parts are usually unavailable, and the safety catches are often less reliable. But used appropriately, they absolutely serve a purpose.

Best Under £15: GRÜNTEK Professional Bypass Secateurs

Around £10 to £14

For budget secateurs, the GRÜNTEK Professional range consistently outperforms its price point. SK5 carbon steel blades, Teflon coating to resist sap, and a comfortable grip that works well with gloves.

These will probably not last twenty years, but they will give you a season or two of competent service. They are consistently among the best-rated budget secateurs on Amazon UK with thousands of positive reviews. At this price, they are essentially disposable, but disposable in a way that feels considered rather than cheap.

Best for: Beginners, secondary pairs, gifts for occasional gardeners.

🛒 Find GRÜNTEK Secateurs on Amazon UK

Best Under £25: Kent & Stowe Eversharp All Purpose Secateurs

Around £18 to £24

Kent and Stowe occupy a useful middle ground. Their Eversharp range uses carbon steel blades with an ergonomic grip that reduces wrist rotation during use, a subtle design detail that makes a real difference over a long pruning session. BBC Gardeners’ World awarded them Best Buy for ease of use, and having tried them I can see why. Widely available from garden centres as well as online, so you can handle them before you buy, which I always recommend with tools.

Best for: Anyone wanting a step up from pure budget without committing to premium pricing.

🛒 Find Kent & Stowe Eversharp Secateurs on Amazon UK

Best Secateurs for Arthritis and Reduced Grip Strength

This is a section I care about personally. Several clients I have worked with over the years have had to give up much of the gardening they loved because their hands and joints would not allow it. That is genuinely sad, because gardening is one of the most beneficial things we can do for our mental and physical wellbeing. The right secateurs can genuinely extend your active gardening years if grip and joint pain are a concern.

🏆 Best for Arthritis: Felco Model 12 Rotating Handle Secateurs

Around £60 to £70

The Felco 12 has a lower handle that rotates as you cut, reducing the twisting force on the thumb and forefinger joints by a meaningful amount. Over a long pruning session, this is the difference between finishing comfortably and stopping early.

The cutting mechanism and blade quality are identical to the Model 2. You are simply getting a more ergonomic handle system. Occupational therapists often recommend rotating handle secateurs for clients with rheumatoid arthritis, and the Felco 12 is the model that comes up most often in those conversations.

They do take a while to get used to. I have a pair here at Garden Ninja HQ which I use when I’m cutting back a lot of herbaceous plants in a pruning marathon, as they are slightly more forgiving on the tendons and muscles in your hand! But at first the rotating handle may feel a bit surprising, you’ll soon get used to it though!

Best for: Arthritis sufferers, gardeners with reduced grip strength, and anyone who experiences hand fatigue during pruning.

🛒 Buy Felco Model 12 Secateurs from Amazon UK

Best Value Arthritis Option: Spear & Jackson Kew Gardens Ratchet Anvil Secateurs

Around £15 to £22

Developed in partnership with the horticultural team at Kew Gardens, these ratchet anvil secateurs are specifically designed for gardeners with limited hand strength. The four-step ratchet mechanism means you are making short, manageable squeezes rather than one powerful squeeze, dramatically reducing the peak force required. For anyone with arthritis who cannot stretch to the Felco 12, these represent outstanding value and genuine accessibility engineering. The non-stick carbon steel blade and included sharpener are both welcome additions at this price.

Best for: Arthritis on a budget, lightweight pruning tasks, gardeners who want a practical, accessible tool without premium pricing.

🛒 Find Spear & Jackson Kew Ratchet Secateurs on Amazon UK

Strong Mid-Range Choice: Fiskars PowerGear P921 Rotating Handle Secateurs

Around £30 to £38

Fiskars’ PowerGear mechanism claims to reduce the effort required by up to three and a half times compared to standard bypass secateurs, and in practice, that is not far off. The rolling handle works similarly to Felco’s approach but at a lower price point. These are not the refined tool that a Felco 12 is, but they do the job well and are widely available. A good option for gifting to someone who needs ergonomic help, but whose Felco price is out of reach.

Best for: Mid-budget ergonomic option, gifts, reliable everyday use with reduced hand effort.

🛒 Buy Fiskars PowerGear P921 Secateurs from Amazon UK

Best Secateurs for Small Hands

Small hands are genuinely underserved by the secateur market. Most standard pairs are sized for average to large male hands, which means that if you have a smaller hand span, you will open the blades wider than is comfortable and do extra work with every single cut.

Over a full session in the garden, this adds up to real fatigue. The solution is simply to buy a pair designed for your hand size, which several of the major brands now offer.

I have tiny hands, so I always pick the smaller size for my snips. When using other gardeners’ or landscapers’ secateurs on jobs that are too big for my hands, my cuts slow down and feel laboured after a while, so it is worth choosing a pair of secateurs that fit comfortably in the size of your hands.

Top Pick for Small Hands: Okatsune 101 Small Bypass Secateurs

Around £25 to £32

The Okatsune 101 is the compact version of the 103, at 180mm length rather than the standard 200mm. Everything that makes the 103 exceptional, the Hitachi Yasugi steel, the light weight, the clean action, is present here in a smaller package. For anyone with small to medium hands who has struggled with standard secateurs, these will feel like a revelation. Highly recommended for deadheading, harvesting, and detailed work in mixed borders.

Best for: Small to medium hands, detailed pruning work, and anyone who wants Okatsune quality in a compact format.

🛒 Find Okatsune 101 Secateurs on Amazon UK

Budget Option for Small Hands: Darlac DP1050 Compact Bypass Secateurs

Around £15 to £22

Darlac’s compound action secateurs are designed for small hands and use a mechanism that gives extra cutting leverage without requiring a wide hand opening. They were recommended by BBC Gardeners’ World as a specific pick for gardeners with small hands and a weaker grip. Not the most premium tool on this list, but genuinely thoughtfully designed for its intended user. A solid choice if you want a compact pair without the Okatsune price.

Best for: Smaller hands on a budget and light-to-medium pruning tasks.

🛒 Find Darlac Compact Secateurs on Amazon UK

How to Sharpen and Maintain Your Secateurs

This is where most gardeners let themselves down. A quality pair of secateurs that is never sharpened or cleaned will perform worse than a cheap pair that is properly maintained. The few minutes it takes to look after your tools is the single highest-return investment you can make in your gardening toolkit. Clean, sharp secateurs make cleaner cuts, which means healthier plants, fewer disease entry points, and genuinely less effort for you.

After every use

Wipe the blades clean with a dry cloth to remove sap and debris. If there is heavy sap build-up, a little methylated spirits on a cloth will remove it quickly. A quick spray with WD-40 or a dedicated garden tool oil will prevent rust from forming overnight. This takes thirty seconds and makes a significant difference over the course of a season.

Sharpening once a season (or more often)

You will know your secateurs need sharpening when they start to crush or tear stems rather than cutting cleanly. For bypass secateurs, only the bevelled inner face of the cutting blade should be sharpened. Sharpening the flat back face will throw off the geometry, making the problem worse. A small diamond file or a dedicated secateur sharpening tool does the job cleanly in a few strokes. The Niwaki Sharpening Stone is excellent for this and is designed specifically for the curve of secateur blades.

Niwaki Sharpening Stone

Around £18 to £25

Specifically designed for sharpening secateurs and other curved garden blades. The concave shape follows the blade curve perfectly. Soak it in water before use, and it will restore an edge in a matter of minutes. Excellent reviews and genuinely useful. I keep one in my tool bag at all times.

🛒 Find the Niwaki Sharpening Stone on Amazon UK

Annual deep service

Once a year, fully disassemble your secateurs, clean every surface, check the spring for fatigue, replace the buffer pad if it is compressed, and oil all moving parts before reassembly. For Felco owners, a full service kit costs around £10 and extends the tool’s life by years. It is a twenty-minute job that feels satisfying in a way that few gardening tasks do, and it is far cheaper than buying a new pair.

Common Questions Answered

What is the maximum thickness secateurs can cut?

Most quality secateurs are designed to cut stems up to 20 to 25mm in diameter. Beyond that you are risking damage to both the tool and the plant. For stems thicker than a thumb in diameter, reach for loppers or a pruning saw. There is a proper tool for every diameter, and using the right one gives far better results and far less effort.

Should I disinfect secateurs between plants?

If you are moving between plants susceptible to bacterial or viral disease, such as roses with black spot or any plant showing signs of infection, yes, absolutely. A quick wipe with methylated spirits or a diluted bleach solution between cuts is standard practice in professional horticulture. For general garden maintenance on healthy plants, it is less critical, but it is a good habit to build regardless.

Are Felco secateurs worth the money?

In my view, unambiguously yes. The Felco 2 costs around £60. Used regularly and maintained properly, it will last twenty years or more. The per-year cost works out at around £3. Three pairs of £20 secateurs over the same period cost more, perform worse, and create more landfill. Buy once, buy well, maintain it properly. That is the professional gardener’s approach to tools.

What secateurs do professional gardeners use?

Felco and Niwaki, specifically Okatsune, dominate in professional horticulture. I use both, depending on the task. For heavy seasonal pruning, I reach for the Felco 2. For detailed cutting and deadheading, I prefer the lighter Okatsune. ARS secateurs from Japan are also popular among professionals but are less widely distributed in the UK.

Can I buy spare parts for my secateurs?

For Felco, yes. Every component of every model is available separately, and their website makes it straightforward to identify the right part. For Niwaki, yes. For budget brands, generally no, which is one of the reasons I recommend treating them as disposable rather than investing time in trying to maintain them.

How do I know when my secateurs need sharpening?

The clearest sign is when a clean cut requires noticeably more effort than before, or when stems start to crush and fray rather than slice cleanly. If you are making two or three attempts to get through a stem that should require one clean squeeze, your blades need attention. A sharp pair should glide through green stems cleanly and leave a smooth, angled cut surface.

What is the difference between bypass and anvil secateurs?

Bypass secateurs use two blades that pass each other like scissors, making a clean slice through live stems. Anvil secateurs use a single blade that presses down onto a flat metal block, which works well on dead or very woody material but can crush live stems. For most gardeners working with living plants, bypass is the right choice.

Summary

If you can stretch to it, buy the Felco 2 or Okatsune 103 and maintain them properly. These are the two secateurs I would recommend to any gardener without hesitation. If budget is a genuine constraint, the Kent and Stowe Eversharp range will serve you well. And if joint pain or grip is a concern, go straight to the Felco 12 or the Spear and Jackson Kew ratchet secateurs.

The right tool makes every day in the garden more enjoyable, and that is what matters most.

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Happy Gardening Ninjas!