Pruning Saw

by Francesca
FuoriBorgo

Are you in need of a last-minute present idea for a gardener? Or are you a gardener with limited storage space and room for only the essential tools? In either case, a pruning saw might be the tool for you!

I fall into the second category: I'm a gardener who's limited by a serious space shortage, which means I can only keep a handful of essential hand tools. About a month ago, a friend of mine saw me struggling to prune some laurel trees with a regular cross-cut saw. He whipped a pruning saw out of his pocket, and cut back the laurels quickly and effortlessly. The day after, I bought my own pruning saw for a very modest price, and have found it to be right up there with my sickle in terms of usefulness and efficiency.

My pruning saw has a straight blade and offset teeth, and it folds in half like a pocket knife. It's perfect for cutting medium-sized branches which are too large for gardening shears, and slices easily through hardwood branches as thick as a couple of inches in diameter. I've used it already in a variety of projects: to make our Christmas elves, to remove dead limbs from a cherry tree, and to saw a branch off of a plum tree that was invading the area where we keep our compost. It's amazing how much you can accomplish with the right tool!