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Get your garden looking spick and span

ow is the ideal time to get out and get pruning.

Look at your outdoor space - does it look like an overwhelming challenge? You’ll be surprised just how easily messy shrubs or straggly, jungly trees can all be neatened and tidied up with just a few snips and lops.

Transform your outdoor oasis with a trusty set of shears to tackle the likes of shrubs, roses, and grasses. Most plants that flower in the summer will love a cutback now too. It shapes it and encourages strong, thick growth - but be sure to leave any that are flowering now as they can be trimmed at the end of summer.

Always stand back and imagine not only the shape you want of the plant, but how that will look in high summer. Add a good third of the plant on, and that’s how much bigger it will be in five months time. At least.

When it comes to your garden tools, especially one as essential as shears, they have to be good. Sturdy, comfortable to hold, and above all, sharp.

The better the shears, the more the job is a pleasure rather than a chore.

This is a great pair of solid, sturdy shears with durable wishbone handles that are weatherproofed for when you inevitably forget them outside. Spear & Jackson offer an extremely easy to use model. The notched blade is a great extra that most shears don’t have. It can easily lop up to about 1.5 cm branch. Very handy.

Hand forged in Sheffield, these are the classic hand topiary shears. They are specifically designed to be held in one hand. Solid and sharp, they are for those smaller, more design oriented jobs like the shaping and neatening of small bushes and shrubs. Not for anything wider than thin stems.

A little heavier than other shears, these Japanese shears are for the smaller jobs in the garden. The blade action is very smooth so is recommended for hedges and bushes (i.e. box plants). Remember to always clean and oil your blades after use.

For an excellent garden helper, you have come to the right place. Fiskars’ PowerGear shear is a nice weight with very good rubber handles and a unique patented cutting mechanism. Its SoftGrip material and 3D moulding means you need less force to hold it. The blades effortlessly cuts through anything up to 1.5 cm thick.

For those just out of reach bits, these lightweight telescopic shears are perfect. Un-extended, they are fine cutters with wavy blades that give you an extra hold on branches and stems. Extended, they are invaluable. Although not the most solid tool, they give a great cut to unwanted growth that’s just that bit further away.