Gardening

Garden tools take more abuse than anything in the workshop - wet, gritty, sappy work, often at arm's length above your head. The Japanese approach is to make the blade thin, hard and easy to replace rather than heavy and forgiving. Pull stroke saws cut a narrow kerf with very little effort, which matters when you are working one handed up a ladder.

Gyokucho pruning saws are the core of this section. The CAST 200 folding saw is the general purpose choice in medium, extra large and curved large tooth patterns, locking open for work and closing safely into its own handle. The Megumi Usuba comes in 210mm and 330mm for larger limbs, the Super Kenryu 240mm arrives with a wooden sheath for belt carry, and the TS144 Plant Hunter is a 100mm mini saw for propagation and close work, with a leather pouch available. The Shogun Temagari 360mm is a traditional greenwood saw for coppicing and thicker stems.

For cutting rather than sawing, the Japanese bypass secateurs slice cleanly through living wood, while the Rakunandesu anvil pruning shears crush and cut dead or woody growth - available with a case and replacement blade set. Kobayashi Seikyo bud snips and Misuzu laminated steel snips handle deadheading and thinning, and nigiri scissors suit the finest work. The Kanenori nata billhooks in 135mm and 180mm and the Ray Iles Newtown billhook take on hedging, brash and stakes, and the Nisaku hori hori weeder digs, prises and cuts roots.

Laminated and high carbon blades reward a little care. Camellia oil, applied with a traditional abura-tsubo, leaves a thin non-drying film that keeps rust off between jobs, and Yanipika sap remover spray dissolves the resin that gums up saw teeth. Replacement blades are stocked for every Gyokucho saw on this page, so a dull tool costs a fraction of a new one.