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Secateurs buying guide

Updated: 22 October 2026

You are looking at star ratings on amazon.co.uk before you have decided whether the stem in your hand is alive. A secateurs buying guide settles that first. Bypass blades pass each other and suit live green wood. An anvil closes onto a block and suits dead or hard wood, where a crushed end does not have to heal. The [secateurs comparison](/hub/garden-tree-and-hedge-shears/secateurs) holds the twelve listings Peter F. checked on 21 October 2026. There was no cutting test. Prices in that snapshot run from £7.99 to £23.99. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are looking at star ratings on amazon.co.uk before you have decided whether the stem in your hand is alive. A secateurs buying guide settles that first. Bypass blades pass each other and suit live green wood.

Our top picks

Kynup Kynup V-11

Best overall

Kynup Kynup V-11
9.0/10about £9.99
View offer
WORKPRO WORKPRO 200 mm

Best value

WORKPRO WORKPRO 200 mm
8.6/10about £7.99
View offer
Spear & Jackson Spear & Jackson set

Alternative

Spear & Jackson Spear & Jackson set
7.4/10about £12.71
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Bypass, anvil, or a set
  2. 2.Read the smaller cut
  3. 3.Hand, lock, and spring
  4. 4.What the price bands are buying

Bypass, anvil, or a set

Most household pruning in a UK garden is live: roses, shrubs, and thin fruit spurs. One bypass is the usual first pair. The Royal Horticultural Society expects a clean cut, and an anvil crushes green tissue. Kent & Stowe’s guide says to try the lock before you pay. Dead wood needs a real anvil, or a box that contains both. Spear & Jackson CUTTINGSET8, at £12.71, assigns bypass to live stems and anvil to dead wood, with a stated 15 mm cut and a pack weight of 572 g. The blade-type attribute still says Anvil only. If one anvil arrives, the title was wrong. WORKPRO’s £9.99 box is a bypass plus 160 mm shears, not an anvil. Roses and that clash are on the bypass versus anvil secateurs page.

Read the smaller cut

The Royal Horticultural Society treats stems under about 2.5 cm as secateur or lopper work, and thicker wood as a saw. Use the smaller figure on the page you are buying. This set includes 12 mm on the Spear & Jackson 7159BS, 16 mm on the WORKPRO 220 mm and on SOLODOTO, 19 mm on the WORKPRO 200 mm and the DECERK ratchet, and 20 mm on the DECERK bypass. Kynup’s bullets say 25 mm and the table says 1 inch, so both claims stay. The tazoueoo 21 centimetre line is length, about 14.5 to 21 cm, not a stem diameter. VOTREK VT-X850 prints 1 inch and 20 mm. No British Standard for household secateurs showed up in the sources used here. Where the cut sits is the how to use secateurs page.
Kynup Kynup V-11

Testsieger

Kynup Kynup V-11
9.0/10about £9.99
View offer

Hand, lock, and spring

Ambidextrous on these listings means either hand can hold the tool, not a mirrored blade. Which? treats left-hand geometry as a real pair. The 7159BS bullets say an ambidextrous catch and the attribute says Right. Kynup’s table says ambidextrous, and one left-handed UK reviewer called them right-handed and disliked the lock. None of these twelve is a left-hand pair. The lock should stay shut in a pocket and come off fully when you start. UK reviews on the 7159BS say the catch sticks. On the WORKPRO 220 mm, one review says the knob locks during a cut. On VOTREK VT-X850, several say the blades stay shut. DECERK’s bypass prints 60 HRC and a 5,000-cut line, while the attribute table says titanium. A spare spring counts only when the components line names it. Kynup includes one. The WORKPRO singles do not.

What the price bands are buying

The entry band is about £8 to £13. Both WORKPRO singles are £7.99, but the 220 mm is 4.1 from 78 ratings and the 200 mm is 4.6 from 1,755. Kynup is £9.99. VOTREK C800 is £12.99, with 4.6 from 1,873 reviews. A cheap pair is a false economy when the lock fights you on the first afternoon. The mid band is about £19 to £24. DECERK bypass is £19.97 with 4.7 from 2,402 reviews. The DECERK ratchet is £23.99 with 4.8 from eight ratings. Felco’s en-GB shop listed the Felco 2 at £65. BBC Gardeners' World RRPs include Kent & Stowe Lite at £34.99 and Felco 8 at £65. Those prices are context, not rows here. The Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9, judges satisfactory quality against the price and the description.

Common questions

Should I buy bypass or anvil secateurs if I only want one pair?
Buy a bypass if you mostly deadhead and prune live shrubs. An anvil crushes green tissue, which is the wrong finish on a rose. Add an anvil, or look at Spear & Jackson CUTTINGSET8, only if you also cut dead or hard wood. That set’s title names both tools, and its blade-type attribute says Anvil, so check the parcel. One pair cannot be the right jaw for every stem.
Which diameter should I believe when the page prints two?
Use the smaller figure, and say both if you quote the listing. Kynup prints 25 mm in the bullets and 1 inch in the table. VOTREK VT-X850 prints 1 inch and 20 mm. The Spear & Jackson 7159BS prints a single 12 mm cut. The tazoueoo 21 cm line is the length of the snips, not a stem. Above about 2.5 cm, the Royal Horticultural Society points you to a saw.
Does ambidextrous mean the secateurs are left-handed?
No. On these pages it means either hand can hold the handles. A left-handed pair has the blade arranged for a left-hand cut, which Which? treats as a real product rather than a central lock. The 7159BS table says Right while the bullets mention an ambidextrous catch. Kynup’s table says ambidextrous, and a left-handed reviewer still found them right-handed. That geometry is not in this twelve.
Is an £8 pair a false economy?
It depends which £7.99 file you mean. The WORKPRO 200 mm is a named bypass with a 19 mm cut and 4.6 from 1,755 reviews. The WORKPRO 220 mm is the same price at 4.1 from 78 reviews, with a knob that locks during a cut. Cheap is reasonable when the action and the review count agree. It is a poor trade when the lock fights you every time.
Does SK5 mean the blades will stay sharp?
No. SK5 is a steel name printed on several listings, sometimes beside a second material. DECERK’s bypass bullets add 60 HRC and a 5,000-cut line, while the attribute table says titanium. None of that is an independent test. Sap still sticks, and the Royal Horticultural Society still tells you to wipe the blade, oil the pivot, and sharpen the bevel only.

Related pages

Best secateurs

Secateurs for weak hands

Secateurs

Bypass vs anvil secateurs for live wood and dead wood

How to use secateurs: where to cut, and when to stop

Sources

Public UK sources for cut size, rose cuts, sharpening, grip, and consumer-goods rules. Listing prices, stars, and review counts are the amazon.co.uk lines saved for this comparison.

  1. RHS — how to prune a tree (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  2. RHS — rose pruning (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  3. RHS — sharpening tools (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  4. Arthritis UK — gardening (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  5. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  6. GOV.UK — General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  7. BBC Gardeners' World — best secateurs (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  8. Burgon & Ball — bypass, anvil or scissor (retrieved 22.10.2026)