During periods of vibrant garden growth, keeping on top of cutting back greenery can feel like a full-time job, which is where the best pruning saws come in handy. Equipping yourself with the right garden tools will massively help you in your arduous task, and a pruning saw is such a tool that will assist you in taming your trees, beating back your bushes, and shearing your shrubs.
Sitting in your pruning toolkit alongside garden sheers and handheld secateurs, pruning saws are smaller and more agile than regular wood saws. Their manoeuvrability enables you to cut between branches and other growth to reach the parts of the plant that need a trim. Like traditional saws, pruning saws have sharp, serrated blades that are great at gripping tough surfaces and cutting through hard materials.
Best pruning saws at a glance:
Pruning saws come in two different designs; those with a traditional fixed blade, and those with a folding blade that tucks into the handle. Folding pruning saws are obviously more portable than fixed blade saws and take up less space in your toolbox. We have a sharp selection of both types in our roundup of the best pruning saws currently available.
Best overall pruning saw
Mossy Oak Offering excellent value for money, this Mossy Oak hand saw comes with three different interchangeable blades. The high-strength blades have varying teeth per inch (TPI) that make them suitable for different cutting tasks; pruning, cutting hardwood and plastic, and cutting metal and bone.
With a safety lock to keep the saw rigid during use, the blades measure 19cm and slot neatly into the 21.5cm handle with no exposed teeth for safe wearability and portability. This saw set comes complete with a nylon sheath case that holds all three blades and the saw.
Pros
- Supplied with three different blades to cut various materials
- Comes complete with a handy nylon storage pouch
Cons
- Have to manually change the blades
Best pruning saw with 3D teeth
Gruntek This highly-rated straight blade pruning saw from GRÜNTEK earns its "Barracuda" title from the type of teeth this boasts. Crafted from high carbon steel, this has seven teeth per inch, all of which offer three cutting edges for up to 50% faster cuts through tough branches.
This saw has an ergonomically curved, soft-touch handle that has a clip on one side to attach it to your tool belt. This comes with a plastic sheath cover to keep those 3D teeth safely tucked away when not in use.
Pros
- Straight 30cm blade with 3D carbon steel teeth
- Ergonomically curved, soft-touch handle
Cons
- 3D teeth aren't the easiest to sharpen
Best budget pruning saw
Flora Guard If you only use a pruning saw for an annual tidy-up of fruit trees or the like, you're not going to want to invest huge amounts in such a tool. This budget-friendly folding hand saw from FLORA GUARD is more than capable of helping you trim a few trees several times a year.
It has a high-carbon steel blade that's serrated with sharp teeth. The blade locks into position with a safety catch that you then depress to fold the blade down into its handle. That TPR handle is ergonomically shaped with a ribbed finish for a firm, non-slip grip.
Pros
- Handle has a textured, non-slip finish for good grip
- The blade is made from high-carbon steel
Cons
- No integrated belt clip on the handle
Best fixed blade pruning saw
Fiskars From Finnish brand Fiskars, famous for its blades, comes this pruning saw, specially designed to tackle the pruning of live wood. This fixed blade hand saw has coarse teeth to cut through bark and green wood and it can tackle branches up to 12cm in diameter.
This pruning saw measures 49cm overall, 33cm of blade, and the rest the curved plastic handle. There is a guard where the handle meets the blade to offer users optimal finger protection. This saw comes complete with a plastic sheath cover for safe storage.
Pros
- Supplied complete with a safety sheath cover
- Finger guard to protect your hands
Cons
- The handle is smooth with no textured grip
Best cork-handled pruning saw
Gruntek Cork handles are mostly seen on wood-turning tools, but this GRÜNTEK pruning saw gets in on the action. Cork manages vibration better than plastic handles, so it can reduce fatigue. It also has good moisture-wicking properties so can minimise sweaty palms for a better grip.
Away from the specialist handle, this folding hand saw is notable for its Teflon-coated blade. This promises a smoother cutting action and will help sap run-off when cutting live branches. This has a total length of 41cm with the 18cm saw blade folding neatly into the handle when not in use.
Pros
- Teflon-coated blade for smooth cutting action
- Handle made of cork for a more comfortable experience
Cons
- Total blade length is only 18cm
Best curved pruning saw
Samurai This pruning saw from Samurai has a curved blade. While straight-bladed saws are great for cutting branches right in front of you when you can enjoy a smooth, horizontal sawing action, a curved blade is better for tight spaces, and can give you a better angle if you're cutting high or low branches.
This high-end 33cm saw has hardened teeth, 6.5 per inch, that are extremely durable. This lightweight saw has an ergonomically designed handle with finger grips and comes complete with a sheath cover, or "scabbard" as Samurai calls it.
Pros
- Curved rubber handle with pronounced finger grips
- A lightweight choice at less than 370 grams
Cons
- The saw's blade is not Teflon-coated
Best portable pruning saw
WisdomlifeWhile pruning saws have obvious uses in your garden, many campers, hikers, hunters, and outdoor enthusiasts find them a great bushcraft cutting tool for taking into the wilderness. Such saws can help you chop firewood, cut branches to be used in shelters, and clear space to make camp.
This affordable WISDOMLIFE folding hand saw is ideal for such outdoor usage. The 17.8cm blade locks down into the handle giving you a compact tool that measures in at 23cm long and weighs just over 200 grams. There is a hanging hold in the handle so you can suspend this for portability and easy access.
Pros
- Very portable and lightweight at just over 200 grams
- Teeth can cut when both pulling and pushing
Cons
- Reviewers say the blade needs occasional tightening
How we chose the best pruning saw
All of these pruning saws have been hand-selected by our team of Modern Gardens shopping experts. We carefully considered the saw's design, blade quality, and usability in our selection of the best. Our team has spent hours investigating and researching pruning saws to make it easier for you to find the very best, and we'd never recommend a product we don't believe in.
Where possible, we also test and share the latest and best products you should know about. And with help from Modern Gardens Magazine, Garden News, and Garden Answers, we share expert gardening knowledge to help you get the most from your product.
Fixed blade versus folding blade
Anyone who is comfortable using a traditional saw may like the familiarity a fixed blade pruning saw offers. The blades of fixed-blade pruning saws are generally larger than folding blade options, enabling you to tackle larger branches.
Folding blade pruning saws shine in their portability. The way the blade folds safely into the handle makes them compact and ideal to take out and about, whether that's on your plot or into the great outdoors.
Curved blade versus straight blade
While pro-level gardeners and tree surgeons will have both types of blades in their cutting tool arsenal, it's not necessary for the average gardener to invest in both types of pruning saw.
Straight-bladed pruning saws are a great, everyday choice for straightforward pruning jobs when the branches you want to cut are between knee and shoulder height. Curved blades can give you an improved cutting angle if you're cutting above shoulder height, or low to the ground.
FAQs
How do I sharpen my pruning saw?
Sharpening serrated blades isn't as simple as honing flat blades, whatever the type of tool. If you want to sharpen the teeth of a serrated blade you need to source a saw file.
Saw files, also known as three-square files or triangular files, work between the saw's teeth to remove a minuscule layer of steel to make the cutting edge sharper.
Saw files come in different sizes to work with your saw's TPI design. The information booklet that came with your saw should inform you of the correct size file you need.
What are the best pruning saw alternatives?
If you don't think a pruning saw is the garden tool for you, consider these alternatives.
Mini chainsaws - These cordless power tools boast chain-covered blades of between four and eight inches, offering a very efficient and fast way of cutting through all kinds of branches and wood.
Electric secateurs - These powered hand tools can take on most average garden pruning challenges with most offering the ability to cut branches with a diameter of up to 30mm (approximately 1.18 inches).
Hedge trimmers - These are more designed for cutting greenery and foliage than lopping off branches, but they are great for hedge management.
Garden multi-tools - Depending on the model, garden multi-tools have interchangeable heads that can include mini chainsaws and pole saws for a capable multi-tasking tool to cover your pruning needs.
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Amy-Mae Turner is a Commerce Content Writer for Modern Gardens, Yours, Take A Break Pets, and A Modern Kitchen. When she's not pottering in the garden or mucking around in the kitchen, she can be found having doggy cuddles with her two beloved cockapoochis.