Rumor has it there ’s a secret password to freely get inside every botanical garden , conservatory , and botanic garden in the United States .
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It ’s only spoken in a hushed rustle , but right here , right now , you ’re going to read that password in print for the first fourth dimension ever .
Photo by Matt Suwak
That password is : Felco F-2 .
Okay , you got me . There is no occult password . But if there was one , you could bet your bottom dollar that it really would be Felco F-2 .
As far as pruners go , there is no other pick for the commencement , serious , or professional nurseryman . These things can be used for cuts up to 1 inch in diam , but are still articulate enough toprune roses .
Photo by Matt Suwak
What you ’re about to read is n’t a formulated rough drawing put together after a mere weeklong , hand - on review of these pruners . Any number of websites can severalize you about their devise aluminium construction and reliable lastingness .
Instead , this here is a firsthand account of a guy beat the hell out of his work tool on a day-by-day groundwork as a professional landscape architect and gardener .
Now , get ’s get to it .
Your Introduction to the Felco F-2
I received my first yoke of Felco F-2 pruners in November of 2016 . The preliminary workplace I put them through was intense , but it was pretty standard for landscaping work .
I pruned branches here and tree diagram limbs overhanging driveways there , snipped a few pieces of conducting wire for holiday palm ( the F-2 has a built - in and operative wire cutter ) , and cut back some dry out out perennials .
One of my first lesson as a landscaper was that a good nurseryman takes care of their shaft . So , as common practice , I care for my pruner like they were a delicate chick .
Felco F-2 Classic Manual Hand Pruners
Imagine my surprise when I saw a coworker using his F-2s as a power hammer , banging in the tension pin on a grass rake ! My look of fear was met with a shrug , and I tentatively began using my own pair as a clear - responsibility hammer too .
I ’ve used my dyad of pruner in such a agency that it voids any potential warranty : ram bamboo stakes into the ground , pins into position ( like the one on a grass rake ) , and opening plenty of beer bottle ( it take me a while to figure that one out ) .
During the Christmas time of year , when I pruned thousands of branches from viscid , sappy Christmas trees , the F-2s never hiccupped . Even when the blade and anvil of the pruners would get gunked up from sap , they still administered snappy and clean cut .
As New Year ’s issue forth and went , I placed my prunersnear my work bootsand gave them a much - needed relief until spring came .
The Real Test
As of this writing , it ’s been exactly 171 days since the landscaping and gardening season officially began in Philadelphia , and I ’ve put my pruners through 172 days of absolute hell .
envisage the typical punishmenta gardener ’s toolsare put through in a standard garden : there are perennial to cut back , trees to train , roses to prune , stakes to cut , and wind to trim . Now reckon performing that kind of work for fifty time of day a week and the bell it takes on the tool !
My trusty Felco tool has literally been at my side , along for the whole drive . severely , I feel like I ’m a cowboy putting away my six - torpedo when I holster my pruners . ( If you like the look , Felco holsters are alsoavailable on Amazon ) .
They ’ve prune through thousands of branches and stems , and only require some very canonic maintenance .
The F-2 erupt down into 12 pieces very easily , and can be reassemble quick . It is sold with a particular key fruit that can be used to adjust the tension on two of the screws , while the last continue deadbolt is easy align with a ½-inch wrench .
I ’ve used a bit of steel wool and oil to clean the blade and metal parts of built - up gunk , then sharpened the blade once a week using a standard whetstone . During the week and between pruning jobs , I use isopropyl alcohol to clean the leaf blade and anvil .
fine , since we ’re being honest here … I have definitely voided any potential warranty that Felco offer .
My pruners have been used as a hammer , used without regard to precipitation , dangle from high heights and used to cut swath of grasses and lilyturf , slice through thick - caliber wire , open bags of dirt and mulch , and break through open plenty of beer .
The Felco F-2s have proven themselves to be a pruner capable of handle a tremendous workload faithfully and without any defect . Throw in some basic maintenance and sharpening practice , and you ’ve got yourself a garden tool worth its weight in orange yellow .
But Wait, There’s More!
I did n’t distinguish you where I got my lopper , did I ?
The F-2s have a pretty hefty toll tag for a hand cock , about the same as a dinner for two at your average restaurant .
After moving to Philadelphia , I simply could n’t open to buy this vital prick .
Fortunately for me , a coworker happen to have a second pair . So he dedicate them to me , “ looking out for the young bozo , ” as he articulate . And he told me the story of where he found them .
This coworker was walking on Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia when he spot a pair of Felco F-2s lie in the street . If you are n’t conversant with Philadelphia , consider yourself a towny now that you have a go at it Germantown Avenue is one of the most hard traffic streets in the metropolis .
Classic F-2 Pruners from Felco , available on Amazon
So he blame them up and brushed off the forged of the harm and brought them home , switch them on a shelf in his garage . And then , after a few yr of sitting and waiting , he move over those bad boys to me .
These were ticktack up when I welcome them , scuffed and scratched and intelligibly well careworn . They incurred terms on a heavily trafficked street in one of the most populated cities in the United States . And then , these pruners were ruthlessly tested and wear - in for the above - described 171 days .
And they ’re still sound off ass .
The F-2 distinctly stands out as a workhorse in the garden , capable of delicately pruning rosiness and then taking one - in limbs and branches off of thatcrabapplethat ’s getting crowded over the drive .
And all the while , you could use them to hammer in stakes , beat in rake stick , and cut wire for your vacation needs … and all that with just a niggling basic sustenance .
The next meter you go to an arboretum , conservatoire , or botanic garden , whisper “ Felco F-2 ” might not carry through you the price of accession . But it will certainly earn you a knowing nod and show of respect from anybody work there .
You might not need all that the Felco F-2 can provide , but the Felco F-2 can put up for everything your garden needs .
A final note : When this clause was written , my Felco F-2s were used to hand prune 60American boxwoodsfor a client . This is my official quarter round up .
pic by Matt Suwak , © Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . extra production photos via Felco .
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Matt Suwak
