Pruning the Roses!! #Hausandgarten

I didn’t get a chance to do much in the way of gardening this spring. First, every weekend for awhile there brought rain, and then I ended up having surgery requiring almost one month recovery time. Now that that’s over with, I have finally been able to wander through my garden and do some of the inevitable to-do’s. I discovered the hops have gone somewhat feral this year, the strawberries came back, the lettuce re-seeded, and I’m growing an onion in a big pot. My rose bush went wild on me. It is still going to require some good, old-fashioned clean up, but with the help of a pair of new garden pruners by Haus and Garten (given to me for free in exchange for an unbiased review) – my roses look fantastic!

So, you wouldn’t think the type of pruner matters, but it kind of does. With a  stub nose pruner, it can be a bigger pain in the rear to make precise, delicate cuts to smaller, thinner individual stems, especially when you have stems clustered together. With the #Hausandgarten Titanium pruning shears, the pointed, curved end, helps you get in between those delicate stems to snip off the dead roses. The job went quicker, I didn’t have to wear gloves to constantly move branches like I do with the snub head pruners, and fewer nice roses were snipped prematurely.

The cuts were nice and precise. The pruner is sharp. The grip was comfortable and easy on my carpel tunnel and osteoarthritis.

Now, I also tried the pruner on thicker stems, more toward the base of the rose bush. For up to about a quarter of an inch, the pruner does fantastic. But on dead, dry stems about a quarter of an inch thick, the pruner has a bit of trouble getting through it and my hand hurt with the amount of pressure I had to use. That may be a matter of adjustment. You can totally adjust these pruning shears. If you have doubts though, it might still be a good idea to grab a pair of long-handled pruners to take out dead stuff at the base. But for delicate flower heads and stems up to 1/4 inch – the Haus and Garten pruner is a time saver! I had all the dead flower heads off my three rose bushes in about ten minutes. It usually takes me 15-20 minutes, with gloves, to do that. This time, no gloves. Just me, a titanium head pruner, and the rose bush. It was magical.

The one thing about these pruners that I’m not sure about is the plastic closure lever. I worry that after time that will eventually wear down and break. Most of my snub nosed pruners have metal closure clasps. Time will tell.

Otherwise, a laudable pruner and if you are a flower person — totally worth the price tag if you’re in the market for a great pruner. Love them and pleased to have them in my arsenal of gardening tools.