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Adele has worked in gardening for 25 years. She grows a wide range of plants at the Which? Gardening trial grounds and is our compost expert.
Lawn edging shears are much quieter to use than a grass trimmer, as well as easier for cutting a neat edge to your lawn.
To find the perfect pair, the handles need to be the right length for you to use without being hunched over, and the blades need to stay sharp and rust free.
Which? Gardening tested 10 pairs of shears to help you buy the right one.
How we test to find you the best
We tested 10 models
Five gardeners tried out each model
Cutting
Neatness and ease of cutting
Comfort
Cushioning of the blades and ease of holding the handles
Handle length
Whether the shears are a comfortable length in use
Only logged-in Which? members can view the full test results. Join Which? now to get instant access to our test scores and Best Buy recommendations below.
| Product | Price | Overall score | Weight (kg) | Handle length (cm) | Neatness of cut | Suitable handle length | Handling weight | Handling comfort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bulldog Edging Shear 38" – Soft Touch Handle | Bulldog: £23.28 | |||||||
| Burgon & Ball Lawn Edging Shears | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50017182 | |||||||
| Darlac DP812 Telescopic Edging Shear a | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50017004 | |||||||
| Darlac DP813 Edging Shear | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50028886 | |||||||
| Draper Border Shears with Steel Handles | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50021003 | |||||||
| Fiskars LifeStyle 113310 Long-Handled Edging Shear | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50028885 | |||||||
| Kent & Stowe SureCut Adjustable Height Lawn Edging Shears 70100432 a | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50028887 | |||||||
| Spear & Jackson Razorsharp Advantage Edging Shears | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50024286 | |||||||
| Spear & Jackson Razorsharp Steel Telescopic Edging Shears a | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50028888 | |||||||
| Wilkinson Sword Long Handled Edging Shears | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50020999 |
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Lawn edging shears cut with a 'scissor' action. The cutting blade presses down against the anvil or non-cutting blade to cut the grass trapped between the two blades, leaving the stems uncrushed and healthy.
Sharpeners can be stone, steel or carbide. Aim to maintain the original cutting edge by keeping your cutting tool at quite an acute angle.
Move along the blade's cutting edge with small, circular motions and back again, using the whole abrasive area of your sharpening tool.
Stroke once along the back of your blade, keeping the sharpener flat, to remove metal burrs.
Only the cutting edge should be sharpened, not the inside or flat side.
Find out how to buy the best lawn mower
The length of lawn edging shears' handles is very important in terms of comfort when using them, so we recommend trying them out before you buy, so they're suitable for your height.
Telescopic models might be the best choice, especially if the tool is shared by gardeners of different heights.
In theory, a swivel-headed model that can make a horizontal cut is a versatile option if you need to cut a small, hard-to-access area. However, when we tested shears that have this mechanism, the blades were too short for effective vertical or horizontal cutting.
Discover our best grass trimmers
Five gardeners tried out 10 pairs of lawn edging shears, cutting around our trial beds for five minutes per pair.
We chose gardeners ranging from 156 to 188cm tall, as we were looking for comfortable tools regardless of how tall you are. If shears are either too short or too long, it’s hard to maintain an upright posture and back strain can set in quickly, even when edging a small lawn.
We also tested telescopic models – with widely varying results.