Gardeners’ go-to tools for spring: secateurs, hori hori and more

In my garden, the celandines are popping, the blackthorn buds are breaking, and the bees are beginning to bumble. These seasonal omens signal the start of tasks to come: seeds to sow, shrubs to prune and perennials to chop back and divide. Being well equipped makes every bit of difference, so here are dependable, tried and tested — and in many cases beloved — tools recommended by head gardeners, growers and cut-flower producers.

Many professionals have shifted the great “cut back” into the new year, and reliable snipping tools are essential for pruning roses, hydrangeas and summer-flowering shrubs, and for trimming hedges. Affordable Burgon & Ball bypass secateurs are praised for everyday rigours, while Chatu Madhvani prefers Felco’s No 6 for its mechanics and comfort.

Toby Shuall recommends Niwaki’s GR Pro secateurs for larger stems and the compact Tobisho Pro Snips for delicate work, and Selina Ozanne keeps her tools in a Niwaki double holster.

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