The UK's bestGarden Shears2022 Review

There are times when garden shears can be easier to use than electric or even petrol strimmers, and the lightweight nature of the ARS-KR-1000 Ultra Light Professional Multi-Purpose Shears makes them a great tool to have around for a variety of jobs – even cutting back larger hedges.

Whereas power tools often weigh several kilograms, these shears are very light at under 900 g, making them a lot easier to use for an extended period of time. They’re also extremely sharp (so much so that you need to be really careful when cleaning them), so cutting branches manually can be done very efficiently.

These shears can cut up to a diameter of 10 mm with their 18 cm blades, meaning that the majority of hedges, be they horn beam, laurel or conifer, can be approached without needing any other tools. Of course, the job that will take a little while longer than if you were using a power hedge trimmer, but seeing as you’ll have to take less breaks, it’s likely the timing will even out.

They’re also a good all-round tool, efficiently cutting bigger hedges as mentioned, whilst being sharp and precise enough to be used for some types of topiary as well. The long 47.3 cm handles make it possible to access different angles, whilst being comfortable to hold in different cutting positions.

The main thing to watch out for, which can’t really be put down as a fault of the shears, is their sharpness. The blades are made from chrome-plated high carbon steel, which doesn’t wear down easily. When cleaning, the blades are sharp enough to easily slice through cleaning cloths, so wearing gloves is essential (as is having your guard about you at all times).

Fortunately, they do come with a blade guard for storage which makes them a little safer to have around.

If you’re trying to tackle a variety of different hedges, shrubs and plants in your garden, the Spear & Jackson Razorsharp Active Soft-Grip Hand Shears cope well with both softer and slightly thicker materials.

Whilst they are still shears, and not intended as secateurs, they do have a branch ‘notch’ feature at the top of the blade which means they can clamp down on some bigger stalks without slipping. Therefore, if you occasionally come across some tougher branches when trimming the hedges, you’ll be able to crack on with getting rid of them uninterrupted.

When I say ‘branches’, we’re still not talking about anything huge, but they can tackle the odd woody shrub.

This cutting power comes from the chrome-plated carbon steel blades which are 23 cm long, aided by the leverage of 30.5 cm handles. This length overall offers a reasonably long reach, although overall they’re about 9 cm shorter than the ARS-KR-1000 shears that are also featured on this page.

In terms of weight, at 1.11 kg, these shears are neither the lightest nor the heaviest – this sort of weight is reasonable to manage for a fair amount of time, but it’s true that some gardeners might prefer something lighter.

One thing that does help in terms of comfort is the non-slip grips on the handles. These pad-out the tubular steel, making the shears easier to hold and control, no matter what length you are holding them at. Plus, they have the Spear & Jackson logo cut into them, so, as shears go, they also look quite attractive too.

Overall, these shears offer the quality you would expect from such a well-established company; they’re sharp and strong, with a blade that won’t dull quickly, and offer reasonable value for money.

I imagine many of us will have experienced the difficulty of trying to trim a hedge that has some branches lying frustratingly just out of reach. If this happens a lot in your garden, these Wilkinson Sword Telescopic Garden Shears are a useful tool to have around; they offer a lot of flexibility in their length, making it easier to reach awkward spots.

Instead of getting the ladder out, these shears can be extended from 68 cm to 87.5 cm, giving an extra 19.5 cm of reach to an already reasonably-long pair of shears. Even in their non-extended state, these are the longest hedge shears featured on this page, making them the best garden shears for tackling taller, more difficult-to-reach hedges.

Of course, performance needs to be taken into account as well, as there’s no point having longer shears if they are going to cut well, but fortunately these get pretty glowing reviews.

The blades themselves measure 23 cm and are covered with a non-stick coating to stop sappy branches and cuttings clogging them up. They’re very sharp, and the shears overall are sturdy and versatile – they can be adjusted to several different lengths in order to facilitate jobs at different ranges.

Due to the fact they’re reasonably long, regardless of whether they’re extended or not, they’re better for bigger jobs than smaller ones. For more close-range topiary they’re likely to be a little large and unwieldy.

Weighing 1.24 kg they also might be a little heavy for some gardeners, not helped by the way the weight is distributed due to their telescopic nature. This is pretty common with telescopic tools, but the uneven distribution can often mean that they’re a little uncomfortable to use for extended periods.

Apart from that, they have soft grips on the lightweight aluminium handles so will be pleasant enough comfort-wise on the hands themselves, it may just be a case of taking regular breaks or only using them to cut the awkward branches and not the whole hedge.

Whilst these aren’t strictly ‘shears’ in the traditional sense, this Bosch Isio Cordless Shrub and Grass Shear Set features an edging shear and a shrub shear that are battery powered and take the manual work out of hedge cutting.

For this reason, they’re a particularly good choice for anyone that struggles to use manual shears, although there are several other ways that they can come in handy.

It works as you would expect; allowing you to approach much of the soft growth of hedges and ivy as if you were wielding a pair of large hair clippers. They shear through leaves and the lighter stalks of smaller shrubs, giving you approximately 50 minutes of run time from one charge.

As you may have gathered, they’re not going to be the right tool for approaching a large hedge or thick growth, but they’re some of the best garden shears available for quickly doing a bit of topiary/shrub neatening.

The two attachments that come included are an 8 cm grass-shearing blade and a 12 cm shrub-shearing blade. You can use the grass blade for edging the lawn, and it’s easy to ‘click’ out one blade to exchange it for the other – it’s therefore nice to get a bit of extra value from one machine, given that it has two functions.

When the battery starts to run low, the LED lights will indicate how much battery is left and when to plug it in.

Overall, this is a good tool for gardens who have several smaller shrubs/bushes as it really helps quickly neaten them up and keep them in shape. If you have larger hedges as well, you’ll want an additional bigger set of shears to tackle them.

If you like to use shears to trim the grass in your garden, the Spear & Jackson Razorsharp Steel Lawn Shears are a good option for keeping the lawn looking tidy without having to do a lot of bending down.

They have 90 cm long handles that connect to angled carbon-steel blades measuring 23 cm. Therefore, if you have a couple of ‘features’ in your garden, perhaps a bird bath or a fountain which you can’t get close to with the mower, these shears help get all the grass to the same level.

The main benefit that they offer is a comfortable working height, making it possible for most gardeners to trim the lawn without having to bend over. They cut horizontally across the grass to catch anything that couldn’t be reached by larger machines in the garden.

Grippy ends on the handles also improve comfort, stopping hands slipping when cutting the grass. However, you do need to work out the best hand-hold to use, as sometimes when you bring your hands together to cut the grass they knock together. This can interfere with how easy it is to completely close the shears.

Their overall weight is 1.5 kg which might also need to be a consideration for some people – whilst they work well thanks to being incredibly sharp, the downside of their design is that you have to hold them elevated the whole time you’re cutting.

This could get pretty wearing after a while, depending on physical capability. Whilst they’re worth using for small jobs, if you have a lot of grass to cut you might need a lighter pair of shears to work comfortably.