Pruning & Cutting

Bypass secateurs have two crossing blades, like scissors — they make a clean cut on living wood and are the right choice for most pruning. Anvil secateurs have a single blade that closes onto a flat platform — they crush slightly, which is fine for deadwood but should not be used on living stems. For 90% of garden tasks, bypass is what you want.

When they start crushing or tearing instead of cutting cleanly — usually once or twice a year for regular users. A small diamond file or whetstone does the job in five minutes. A sharp pair of secateurs makes cleaner cuts that heal faster on the plant; blunt secateurs damage stems and can spread disease.

Yes, particularly when pruning roses, fruit trees, and anything with visible disease. A wipe with surgical spirit or a quick dip in a 10% bleach solution prevents you spreading fungal and bacterial diseases from one plant to the next. It takes seconds and can save serious plants.

It depends entirely on the plant. Most flowering shrubs are pruned just after flowering — cut spring-flowering shrubs in late spring/early summer, summer-flowering ones in spring. Apple and pear trees are winter-pruned. Roses get a hard prune in late winter. The rule "prune when you can" is wrong for many plants — timing matters.