Two winners this year for their efforts in keeping me gardening!
This year, there are two Product of the Year winners, which have enabled me to carry on gardening, despite my joint problems. First up is the ARS Needle Nose Fruit Snip.
I am absolutely hopeless with secateurs – or very good at losing them, whichever way you care to look at it. This lackadaisical approach has meant I don’t spend a fortune on them. I know they’ll end up missing or in the great compost bin in the sky.
Full year of use
However, I was given a pair of ARS-300L DX Needle Nose Fruit Snip to try at Glee 2019. They’ve been a revelation. I keep new cutters until the start of a season (just after Christmas), so they’ve had a year of use. The 300L DX is a Japanese-manufactured fruit pruner, but it is so much more than that. It’s extremely lightweight, has awesome cutting power and an ergonomic grip. The stainless steel blades surpass even Japan’s tough industrial standards. They’re light and very sharp. They don’t take much effort to use, ideal for people like me with weak wrists or dislocating joints.
Tackling the Phormium
They have fought through the toughest jobs this year, even cutting back the large Phormium (New Zealand flax) in the front garden. Phormiums are a devil to cut. The thick, fleshy strap-like leaves are filled with tough fibres, traditionally used in fabric, basket and rope making by the Maoris. Most secateurs won’t get through the fibre, and in the past, I’ve resorted to a pruning saw, which, while it gets through them, leaves an awful, jagged cut.
Long-time manufacturers
The ARS Corporation in Japan has been manufacturing pruning tools since 1876, and they’re available in the UK through importers/distributors Sorbus. The range includes saws, pole saws, secateurs, telescopic pruners, shears, loppers, plus products for fruit harvesting, floristry and handicrafts, plus spare parts. The snips cost £13.82. For more details, visit https://www.sorbus-intl.co.uk/tools/ars-range/ars-fruit-pruners/300L-Fruit-Snip.
