The Ultimate Garden Tool: Why You Should Invest in a Pruning Saw

Struggling with to cut thick branches? Could a hand pruning saw be the right solution for you?

Everyone knows the effort required to keep a garden neat, tidy and healthy. Trimming branches is an important part of keeping your garden looking good.

For many years I struggled away with a pair of secateurs and some long reach loppers. Often I’d make a horrendous job of cutting thick branches. I’d twist the loppers round, making multiple cuts before the branch would tear off with a horribly messy cut. 

I went on the hunt for a more appropriate tool and stumbled across a hand pruning saw. Like a cross between a penknife and a machete this is a single handed tool consisting of a comfortable handle and a saw-toothed blade. 

Pruning saws are designed to fill the gap between loppers and bow saws, or indeed chainsaws. Used just like a simple hand saw, they work great on thicker branches where other tools typically struggle. 

They are small and manoeuvrable allowing you to cut branches in tight spaces. They are also highly versatile, coping with varying thickness of branches and different types of wood – both alive and dead. 

Pruning saws are much safer than using power tools and allow for precision, making clean cuts without causing damage to plants and trees. 

I only bought a pruning saw because I was fed up of fighting my loppers on thicker branches. I was struggling to keep some trees and a hedge under control. My research was fairly limited and I opted for a cheap and cheerful solution as I expected I wouldn’t be using it too much. I picked the GRUNTEK Barracuda Pruning Saw. It’s a lightweight saw with a 30cm blade and a 15cm handle. Let’s face it, I was probably swayed by the name. 

After the Barracuda’s first outing I was converted. This was the best sub £20 garden purchase I’ve made. Getting the tree and hedge under control was easy work. I’ve since lowered the height of a number of Hazel tress and removed a large Buddleia.

The GRUNTEK Barracuda coped with small branches a few cm thick right up to 20cm branches and logs. You can certainly work up a bit of sweat on the larger, denser branches, but I’d never have been able to achieve this with a pair of loppers and I was in tight spaces where a couldn’t fit a bow saw. 

It’s a great tool to have handy. When mowing the lawn I found a long dead branch on an Elder tree. It took less than a minute to cut the branch off cleanly and chop it into 3 sensible sized lengths. This was an 8cm thick branch; my loppers wouldn’t have opened that far. It was also near ground level without much room to manoeuvre.

Great for thick branches, overgrown trees and deadwood removal, this is now a mainstay in my gardening toolkit. The only negative I’ve found is how my wife reacts when 10 minutes with the GRUNTEK Barracuda Pruning Saw makes more of an impact on the garden than her all day effort.

Even if you aren’t on the lookout for a new gardening tool, I highly recommend getting yourself a pruning saw. The ease of use, clean and precise cuts and speed at which you can make progress in the garden is phenomenal. The GRUNTEK Barracuda was not a big outlay and it fills a big gap. You’ll find yourself using it more than expected.