I’m usually not much for product promotion or endorsement, but so few people seem to know about these spiffy little Swiss-made nippers, seems deserving of a post. Leyat Sàrl is a long-time manufacturer of sécateurs (I love that word – sounds way more dramatic/awesome than “pruners.” Hee!).
Leyat pruners come in all sizes and are pretty popular in orchard and vineyard circles, but I can’t say I’ve seen them at many retailers. I found an old pair of the little ones and have been toting them around for several years, never quite sure where they came from, thus terrified of losing them. While ordering some power Felcos for our blueberry pruning endeavors (three acres-worth – and that’s another story entirely), the online purveyor also carried these same little pruners I thought I’d never find again.
This is why they’re awesome:
They fit into your pocket and do not fall out.
I do plant walks for i.d. classes and garden tours all the darn time. I’m always grabbing a flower or leaf of whatever I’m talking about, and it’s handy to reach into my back pocket or jacket pocket and nip the stem (versus accidentally yanking the entire plant out of the ground while trying to get the stem to break, which tends to appall students and garden visitors).
I have a shoebox full of Felcos and Coronas, but these are my go-to bypass snips for either the purpose described above, or light work such as deadheading. Of course I’llwhip out the bigger pruners for more challenging tasks.
The stainless steel blade takes well to sharpening, and the bright color helps me keep track of them. I’m not a fan of plastic moving parts, but the little square closure has hung in there on my old pair.
They are in stock on a few online sales sites – my shiny new ones came from The Pruner Warehouse – several bright colors in stock, plus on sale for $16.99.. Sold out now! Guess some folks took my advice. Try www.landscapetools.com – they’re $20.10 though. The official model is “Leyat HLB1 Bypass Pruner HLB1”.
FYI,
They are sold out and the company will not be carrying them any longer Boo Hoo
Yow – they had several colors in stock the other day. Pink was sold out but that was all.
I updated the article with another company – might give them a try.
They’re also available directly from Leyat with free shipping. http://leyatpruners.com/
I definitely need to add a pair of these to my “tool box”! Thank you. I would think they will work great for taking cuttings!
Description about the pruner is well. Thanks, pruner lover.
My beautiful new blue Leyat pruners came in the mail today. Wow! They are making me want to get out and do stuff in the yard, but the cold and snow and slop say I should probably wait a few more weeks. Thanks for the recommendation, Holly. They are a perfect size for light work.