5 Essential Tree Pruning Tools and When You Should Use Them

Find out which tree pruning tools you should use for everything from light trimming to cutting off large branches.

If you’ve ever struggled to cut through a branch that was a tad too thick for a pair of hand pruners, you know that choosing the right tree pruning tool for the job matters. Wiggling the pruners back and forth trying to complete the too-big cut can throw the blades out of whack. Besides damaging the pruners, the resulting ragged-edge stems look unsightly and will have trouble sealing properly. This guide explains how to choose between the most common tree pruning tools so you can complete your project successfully and safely.

1. Hand Pruners

Hand pruners, or pruning shears, are practically a necessity for home gardeners. They’re useful for everything from deadheading spent blooms to removing twiggy undergrowth. Some hand pruners are designed to be lightweight, ergonomic, or to fit left-handed gardeners or those with small hands—important considerations for anyone who uses them a lot.

The two primary types of hand pruners are anvil and bypass. Anvil pruners have a straight blade that closes against a backstop, or small anvil. Bypass pruners feature a scissors action with a curved blade that slides past another blade for a close, precise cut. This makes them perfect for pruning living stems. However, anvil pruners can tear or crush plant tissues, so they’re better suited to pruning dead stems. Both styles of hand pruners typically can cut stems up to 3/4 inches in diameter.

To avoid tearing a branch, position the hand pruners upside down and cut upward instead of downward, making contact with the deepest portion of the blades rather than the tips for better leverage.

Related: The 12 Best Pruning Shears of 2024 to Keep Your Garden in Check

2. Loppers

Thicker branches require something larger than hand pruners. Loppers, sometimes called lopping shears or secateurs, are like heavy duty hand pruners with bigger blades and longer handles. Loppers come in a wide variety of sizes and types, including anvil and bypass. Some offer ratchet action to cut large stems in incremental bites.

Loppers can easily handle branches ¾-1½ inches thick, depending on species (e.g. a softwood tree like willow is easier to cut than a hardwood tree like oak). Some models have thicker, larger blades or a guillotine cutting action to cut branches up to 2 inches thick. Others come with telescoping handles that extend your reach.

Related: The 8 Best Loppers of 2024 to Keep Your Yard Manicured

3. Pruning Saws

Pruning saws bridge the gap between loppers and chainsaws. One popular option is the bow saw, which has a bowed frame and straight, toothed blade that easily cuts through branches. There is also a Japanese pruning saw, which has a curved blade to work around competing branches and other tight spaces a bow saw can’t reach.

Some Japanese pruning saws are rigid, others fold up for easy transport and greater safety. Most feature sturdy blades with a razor-tooth design that easily cuts through branches up to 4 inches in diameter.

4. Chainsaw

When it comes to cutting down trees, a chainsaw can’t be beat. For general pruning, however, a pruning saw is preferable because it’s easier to make more precise cuts. Where a chainsaw does come in handy is working with larger branches, especially on hardwood trees, which would be labor-intensive to cut by hand. In that case, a cordless battery-operated unit with a 14- or 16-inch bar is a great help. A larger gas-powered unit with 16- or 18-inch bar can handle really big jobs—but it’s probably more than most people need for pruning purposes.

Related: The 8 Best Chainsaws of 2024 Will Make Heavy-Duty Yard Work a Breeze

5. Pole Pruner

With a pole pruner, you can reach into a tree’s canopy to prune without a ladder. While that sounds promising, the drawback is that it is sometimes difficult to position the pruning mechanism at the proper angle to ensure a close, clean cut. A pole pruner has a cutting action similar to loppers, with a hooked blade moving across a straight blade with the pull of a rope. While the pruners typically handle 1-1¼ inch branches, depending on the model, many are mounted with a curved saw blade to remove larger branches.

When using a pole pruner or pole saw, wear safety goggles and helmet, and take care to avoid being hit by falling branches as you trim.

Pole pruners typically have 5- to 6-foot wooden, fiberglass, plastic, or aluminum handles that extend 10-12 feet. Professional models can reach well over 20 feet, but these can be unwieldy and not really suitable for homeowners. An alternative to a pole pruner is a battery-powered pole saw, which is like a small chainsaw on a stationary pole. It makes fast work of branches too thick for a pole pruner or its attached saw blade.

Related: The 8 Best Pole Saws for Safe and Painless Tree Maintenance

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