ON TEST Anvil loppers

The autumn-winter pruning season is about to begin and if you’re cutting anything thicker than a finger’s width, then you’ll need a pair of loppers. Bigger and tougher than secateurs, you use them with both hands and their long handles make them ideal for cutting branches up to 50mm thick.

If you’re pruning dense dead wood, then a pair of loppers with an anvil blade is the tool for you. Cuts are made as the top blade slices through the wood onto the flat anvil base. They can crush stems as they cut and although bypass blades make cleaner, more precise cuts, anvil blades have greater force. They are ideal for clearing dead