Great value drop-forged carbon steel secateurs, with a nice soft spring action and the simple lock catch at the bottom - learn to open the catch with your little finger.

An excellent introduction to the world of Japanese secateurs, but not as hard wearing as our GR Pro range. Perfect for light garden pruning.

• Clean with a Niwaki Crean Mate rust and sap eraser
• Sharpen with a Niwaki #1000 grit stone
• Protect with Niwaki Camellia Oil

Please note: By law, we are not permitted to sell a knife or blade to any person under the age of 18. By placing an order for one of these items you are declaring that you are 18 years of age or over. These items must be used responsibly and appropriately.

• 216g
• 206 x 52 x 19mm
• 55mm blades
• Max cut Ø7mm
• KA-70 Carbon Steel
• Made in Sanjo, Japan
• Includes Spare Spring

1997. Jake goes to Japan as a wannabe sculptor, to investigate the cultural phenomenon of the cherry blossom season, hanami. There he discovers the gardens, and the trees, and vows to learn more.

Back home in England, he trains as a TEFL teacher, meets Keiko, and drags her back to Japan. Year one is spent teaching, year two working at a traditional plant nursey in a rural part of Osaka, learning all about tree training, pruning and rootballing.

Back home again, Jake gets work at Architectural Plants in Sussex, where he is shocked to find people using FOUR LEGGED LADDERS (Can you imagine?) Brother-in-law Haruyasu is enrolled to ship over a couple of tripod ladders (still going strong today) which together with the robust secateurs and topiary clippers Jake insists on using, cause quite a stir.

And so begins the business.

What everyone starts to appreciate is that although these things are all Japanese, they work just as well in western gardens, and on a whole range of plants. Tripod ladders, it turns out, are just as useful for hedge trimming as they are for pine pruning; and of course topiary clippers work just as well on box topiary as they do on azalea karikomi.

You don’t need to grow bonsai to enjoy these tools.