Anvil & Bypass secateurs!

We recently added some gardening tools to our range at The Plant Market – including secateurs of both the Anvil and Bypass varieties.  We’ve been asked by many customers what the difference between them is; so here goes;

A pair of anvil secateurs work like a knife and chopping board. A sharp blade is pressed down to meet a flat metal base; the blade is forced through your cutting material – the process produces the cut. The blades meet in the way a hammer and an anvil would but unlike the hammer, your cutting blade is razor sharp (make sure it’s razor sharp!).

The benefit of anvil secateurs is power, with a wide point at which the cut is made you require less force. This is great for hardier branches, woody stems, dead wood and the like.

The bypass cutting action mirrors the way a pair of scissors work, two sharp blades bypass each other and produce a clean precise cut. This method is extremely adaptable and suits a choice for all round use.

When using Bypass secateurs to prune you can make your cut near the bud without stress and the risk of damaging the stem that you would encounter with anvil secateurs. Bypass secateurs are great for the pruning of delicate stems and live green wood.

So now you know!