Have you ever wondered what garden shears are used for? Or have you ever asked which pair of shears would be best to use for cutting back shrubs? What about shaping box hedges? Our friends at Pots & Trowels explore how to use some of the finest tools in the Darlac range and answer these common gardening questions.
To find out more, read on or watch the video below as Martin Fish shares some expert advice for shaping your garden with shears. You’ll have your edges neat and bushes trimmed in no time!
Some hedges will often retain their old foliage over winter, so it’s a job worth doing to trim them back and keep on top of their maintenance. They soon burst into life in the summer with fresh growth.
As a cautionary note though, if you’re cutting hedges from March to July, always check your hedge first to make sure there are no nesting birds. It’s against the law to disturb them, so please be careful. If there are birds nesting, keep well away. There will be plenty of time to sort your hedges once they fly the nest.
Let’s start to look at the Darlac shears range in more detail and explore how these tools can help you in the garden.
The Clip ‘n’ Cut Hedging Shear
These shears are very strong, lightweight and have extremely sharp blades. The Clip ‘n’ Cut Hedging Shears are ideal for trimming hedges and keeping them in tip-top shape. These shears work well for taking off any jagged edges, so when your hedges start to grow they keep their shape and stay looking great.
As you’re trimming, if you find you have stems that are too thick for the shears to cut, you’ll see how the small clip ‘n’ cut section really comes into its own. It’s in the middle of the shears and acts almost like a pair of pruners attached to your shears. To use this part of the tool, loop the clip ‘n’ cut edge over the thicker branch and cut. You’ll get a lovely, neat finish on your hedge without having to swap tools or take extra time to get the job done.
You can also use shears for lots of other garden jobs, like trimming grasses. Pampas grass or other ornamental grasses like Miscanthus can need lots of cutting back. Simply cut out all the old growth with the hedging shears to make way for the new shoots that will emerge from ground level. Use your shears to give the grass a good haircut. The good news is all the old stems can be shredded and added to the compost pile. Make light work of cutting down these grasses with the Darlac Clip ‘n’ Cut Hedging Shears.
TriBlade Shears
These are shears with a difference! The Darlac TriBlade Shears are quite unusual to look at. You may not have seen anything like this before, but they work incredibly hard, so you don’t have to. You’ll find a central blade with cutting edges either side and then two more blades each side, as with normal shears.
When all the blades come together, they cut in two directions. This means you can be extremely accurate and gain a neat finish. It’s also much faster than using a conventional pair of shears.
For trees and hedges that don’t need formally shaping, but you want to keep compact, these shears can be used to neatly take off the tips. This allows you to keep natural round shapes with little effort. This trimming will mean you’ll see a flush of fresh growth when the weather warms up.
You can now purchase these shears with telescopic handles, giving you even more reach and power to tackle your garden pruning jobs.
Topiary Shears
The Darlac Stainless Steel Topiary Shears are easy to use – think of them almost like a giant pair of shears or the old sheep shears that used to be available. These trimmers are wonderful for taking off lanky growth, helping to create the exact shape you want. As these have such a sharp edge, it makes it easy to do. You can control how you want to cut, allowing you to create intricate shapes. These are also great for delicate topiary work, as the control they give is key.
Edging Shear
As soon as the grass starts to grow, you’ll get the lawn mower out, but it’s also important to keep the edges of your lawn neat and tidy too. The Darlac Edging Shear is the perfect tool for this work. It helps to smarten up the lawn and keeps it looking well-maintained. The long arm on this tool means you don’t have to keep bending down. These shears make a neat job of trimming your lawn edges and they are easy to operate.
When you are using these, instead of moving both arms, keep one arm straight and then move the other arm to chop. This stops your arms from aching and makes the job much easier. The bottom straight arm will keep the blade in position and the top arm will do the cutting, trimming the grass by lifting the blade up and down. It takes a bit of practice, but you’ll get a lovely, neat job and it will save your arms.
Another top tip: be sure to wipe down your blades when you’ve finished. Grass can be quite corrosive, the acid in the grass can cause problems with rust. Use a cloth with a small amount of oil to rub down your blades. This will get rid of all the dirt and grass clippings – coating the blades with a thin film of oil. Your shears will be ready to use when you next reach for them. You can read more about how to take care of your tools here.
As you can see there are lots of tools for the job, but it’s important you look after your tools and research which tool is the best fit for the work you want to carry out. You can purchase all of the tools we’ve mentioned in store from your local garden centre. Read more about Darlac stockists here.
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