Among the Daily Telegraph’s ‘Top Secateurs’: Opinel Le Secateur Beech and Stainless Steel 3 Position Pruning Shears

Gardeners are united in their requirement of a good pair of secateurs with a stainless steel blade. The most preen-worthy of pruners should be capable of both snipping at delicate plants and hacking away at thicker branches, cutting away dead stems to encourage growth. A simple enough purchase to make, you might think—until you quickly learn that not all secateurs are created equal.

Bypass secateurs are the best: similar to scissors, with two blades that glide past each other. They’re suited to caring for delicate, living plants and saplings, as well as fully-grown shrubs. A good, sharp pair of bypass secateurs is the ideal, and here are our new secateurs from the traditional French firm Opinel, a chic French brand who have been making their iconic knives and tools in the French Alps since 1890.

Opinel’s new secateurs have been listed in the Daily Telegraph ‘best secateurs guide’ for good reason. Cunningly, these bypass secateurs have three positions to fit the diameter of the branches and the size of the hand (wide opening, narrow opening, closed). The cut is clean and effortless. The handles are comfortable varnished beech and polymide, the spring mechanism is protected from dirt and debris to prevent clogging and pinching, and the stainless steel blade has a cutting capacity of branch diameters of 20mm. If you need a wider cut, opt for the Swiss-made classics, Felco No 2, at the Club price here. Otherwise, the Opinel will do the job to perfection.

Code OS20CW20. RRP £53. CCUK £39. Free UK mainland delivery.