Why Japanese Hand Pruners Are Still My Go-To After 30 Years of Gardening

I got my first pair of Japanese hand pruners as a present from a dear friend who, on her 88th birthday, had reluctantly agreed to let someone else take over the heavy work in her garden. Mary’s best hand pruners were so dear to her that she couldn’t entertain the idea of them lying unused in her shed, and so she passed them on to me, a ribbon carefully tied around their handles by her ancient, arthritic hands.

Now I’ll be honest: although I was very appreciative of Mary’s kind gesture, I fully intended to leave her precious pruners lying unused in my own shed. Until I tried them, that is.

Because they were easily the best pruning shears I’d ever used, hands down.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of using a pair of Japanese pruning shears then, I promise you, you’re missing out. Although Mary’s pruners were at least two decades old, they still cut tough, woody stems well, momentarily hitting the resistance of the outer ring of bark then swiftly gliding through the centre. You know the slight pressure you need to break through the sugary crust of a lemon drizzle cake, before the momentum carries the knife through the moist cake with zero additional effort? Just like that. Pruning with these shears was as satisfying as eating a syrupy slice of lemon loaf, too: they were a joy to use.

Why Are Japanese Hand Pruners the Best?

The joy of using Japanese pruning shears isn’t just because they stay super-sharp. Though they absolutely do, as they’re typically made from carbon steel which is hard and fine-grained so holds an edge far longer than stainless steel. Or because their blades are beautifully aligned to give positive, precise cuts. Though they absolutely are, as the handle and blade are often forged from a single piece of metal.

And it’s not that these snips are so well balanced that they almost become part of your hand, either, nor that the simple spring action gently bounces the blades back open each and every time, making them almost effortless to use.

No. What makes using Japanese hand pruners so utterly gratifying is that they make you feel like a fabulously good gardener. You can snip-snip faded flowers from a full border in a trice, and slice stems in exactly the spot you want when pruning, at just the desired angle. And I swear they know the three Ds rule of pruning themselves! Shaping shrubs has become a breeze, and my Hebe and lavenders – even the bay trees – have all mysteriously morphed into aesthetically pleasing spheres almost without me trying. Most importantly, my plants always spring into life post-prune, as their cleanly-cut stems heal so swiftly.

How Are Japanese Hand Pruners Designed?

If you’ve ever visited a Japanese-style garden, you’ll already understand the ethos behind the design of these pruning shears. Nihon teien, as Japanese gardens are more properly called, are a blend of art and science; a tranquil, minimalist landscape where every element is carefully considered and thoughtfully positioned. They’re well-balanced and purposeful, simple yet exquisite. Japanese hand pruners are the same: everything that should be there, is; anything that doesn't need to be there, isn’t.

Take the simple handle-end hook that locks the blades together. I’ve closed Mary’s pruners so many times by briefly brushing the hook past my hip that it’s almost a reflex action; sliding a clunky button on a western pair of secateurs feels so cumbersome in comparison. That literature documents over a thousand years of Japanese gardening, yet a modern-day pair of hand pruners are locked by a mechanism that has existed for just as long, tells me that it works.

Obsessed, I figured that if an old pair of Japanese hand pruners felt this good to use, then a new pair would be nothing short of great. And so I treated myself to some Kakuri Japanese Pruning Shears from Amazon. Though a mid-priced product, I found these hand-forged shears were super quality, a cinch to sharpen, with a razor-edge that easily lasted many full afternoons of pruning. I soon learnt not to leave them outside, however, as the carbon steel blades quickly spotted with rust. The oxidation rubbed off just as speedily with vinegar, and I found an occasional rub with camellia oil, available from Amazon and happily smelling of toasted hazelnuts, protected as well as lubricated the blades.

I couldn’t have been happier with my buy.

Three Brands Worth Knowing

How Many Pairs of Pruners Do You Need?

I know, I know, I really shouldn’t have bought yet another pair of Japanese hand pruners at a summer flower show last summer. A lightweight Niwaki design, I only picked them up to see how heavy they were – but as soon as they were in my hands, I knew they were mine. Slightly slimmer than a regular pair of hand pruners, with slender blades and weighing a scant 188g, they’re divine. The cutting action is sumptuously smooth, their curves perfectly contoured for a woman’s hand. And I can easily justify their cost: I pick these pruners up so often – for shortening cut flowers and foraging as well as in the garden – that on a cost-per-use basis they’re an absolute bargain.

Now I use my Kakuri snips for all the tough donkey work of pruning woody plants, so my latest buy will – I hope – last my lifetime. And my very first pair? I still pick them up when I want to remember my dear friend Mary, now cloud-pruning in the sky, and thank her for introducing me to the joy of Japanese pruning shears.