Choose shears with long blades of at least 21 cm for large gardens; this way you won’t spend all day edging the lawn. Shorter, 17 – 21cm blades will work well for smaller gardens. However, you should also pay attention to the depth of your verges.

So how do I make my edging shears last a lifetime? Well there’s Winter care and how you put them away for the four or five months they don’t get used, steel quality of the blade, handle material, and then the quality of the fixing holding the blades together. For a start, the first thing that grabs your attention is that there is only one handle. So how does the cutting motion work? I found myself thinking. I laid them on the floor and started thinking how? This is a big one. You don’t want to spend good money on a nice looking pair of edging shears only for them to start falling apart after a month. Brands like VonHaus, Draper, Wilkinson Sword, and others are usually trustworthy when it comes to building solid tools, and if there is a problem, these brands will nearly always have a guarantee that covers a replacement for you. Best edging shears in the UK This makes them comfortable to manoeuvre and use for prolonged periods; plus, on top of this, they have the addition of non-slip handles for better grip. As a result of these three factors, they’re some of the best edging shears in terms of comfort, particularly for taller gardeners who may have to stoop a lot when using other models.Weighing 2.4 kg, these shears are a little heavier than many others on the market and require reasonable upper-body strength to use. They also need to be used on edges that have quite a deep gully, due to the depth of the blades, and will be more difficult to use on shallow edges. If the last set of shears were a high quality budget model. These servo-system edging shears from Fiskars are definitely a premium product, with it sporting some nice little design features for the extra bit of money you need to shell out for them.

Lawn edging shears traditionally have long handles which allow them to be used from a standing position. However, if the handle is too short or too long, it could arguably be more uncomfortable than simply working kneeling down. When it comes to brands that are trusted names, Wilkinson sword is right up there with the best of them and for the most part, have been producing high quality products for centuries. Fiskars have opted to make the blades for this model out of stainless steel for increased longevity. Usually this means the blades aren’t as sharp as carbon steel, but these did a great job of cutting through everything I aimed them at, so no complaints there. Wilkinson swords are known for offering long guarantees on their products and this one is no exception. The Brand is offering a 10 year guarantee against faulty material or workmanship, and their confidence in these edging shears inspires confidence from me too.Then there are hard wearing plastics like polypropylene and good old wooden handles. Whichever you decide to go with, make sure that there are some nice soft grips on them or you might find yourself nursing blisters after too long. Telescopic edging shears Long-handled edging shears can vary dramatically in terms of how much they weigh. In some cases, very light shears may not be very robust, though this isn’t always the case.

In length, these shears measure 95 cm and have lacquered, hardwood handles that are relatively easy to hold onto. They have no grips added onto them, so wearing rubberised gardening gloves will help.

The verdict: Garden shears and secateurs

Speaking of comfort, there are plastic sleeves on the top sections of the handles to help with grip, making the shears easier to hold. Confusingly, there are similar products with very similar names from this brand, the only difference is the word ‘steel’ added between the Razorsharp and edging shears. Telescopic edging shears are great because they take the guesswork out of what is the right length for you. It also means that they can be used effectively and comfortably by different people. When buying telescopic edging shears, it is my advice to always go for the premium models as very cheap ones will no doubt cause you problems. Blade material – the quality of the steel Well, you could get a tape measure out and see how far it is to the ground from where your hands hang down in front of you and then search for products with that length, or you could invest in these telescopic edging shears from Faithfull. Fiskars LifeStyle 113310 Long-Handled Edging Shear with 100 cm Handle have looked after me for a long time

While there are some similarities between the two, we think that this particular model is slightly superior for a few reasons that we will highlight here. This product comes with a 12 month ‘no quibble’ guarantee from the makers, which is very good considering the low price of these edging shears.The overall length of these Bahco edging shears is 95cm and the cutting blades are around 18cm long. I’m not sure of the exact weight of this model but they felt similar to the Wilkinson sword and had a fair bit of weight to them. This usually means that they are made from solid stuff though, so you can’t have everything. Some edging shears have self-sharpening blades. The angle at which the blades work produces a small amount of friction, which means the blades sharpen with every cut. The 20 cm blades are drop forged and hardened with chrome plating; in real-life terms this means they are powerful blades that create a very clean cut against edges. They’re sharp, and stay that way for a long time thanks to their self-sharpening mechanism, and have a smooth cutting action. At the top of the handles are large, yet soft and comfortable grips made from rubber that are designed to be anti-slip and they work really well. I used these shears without gloves on for a short while and I liked the way they felt in my hands, secure but still comfortable.