Simone Rocha swears by these $46 Japanese pruners for stunning rose cuttings – a master gardener agrees she 'would never use anything else'

Master gardeners and fashion designers agree that these affordable high-quality pruners are some of the very best on the market

simone rocha on a green background
(Image credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty Images)

When she's not dressing the most fashionable people in Hollywood, designer Simone Rocha likes to spend time in her garden. Just like her designs, her garden tool of choice, the Niwaki Secateurs Pruners (from Goodee), is at once avant-garde and classic.

She explains her love for the Japanese gardening tool in an interview with The Strategist. Simone states: 'I love being in my garden, and I love growing flowers. I have inherited some rose bushes that were there before, and then I have some that have been planted. For me, the biggest gift to oneself is taking the cuttings from your own garden to bring into the house. You just feel so smug. I like to do all the deadheading of my roses. It’s a very cathartic experience, but incredibly enjoyable. And these secateurs are incredibly nice.'

We consulted with a bona fide master gardener and Homes & Gardens' Head of Gardens, Rachel Bull, to confirm if the shearers are worth your time. Unsurprisingly, they're the exact set Rachel uses to prune her own roses. She says: 'I have been using these Niwaki pruners for five years now, and I can honestly say I would never use anything else.'

What makes these some of the best hedge shears? It comes down to pure functionality.

Rachel explains: 'They might lack some of the comfort in the handle that the best competing brands can offer, but the key to this tool is in its simplicity. It can cut through the thickest of stems with complete ease, and has needed zero maintenance in five years.'

Furthermore, the look of the essential pruning tool is totally irresitable. Rachel says: 'There is definitely something in the traditional, pared back Japanese design that I love, too. It's uncomplicated and yet carries a heritage feel of a tool that is simply incredibly well made, stylish and yet unassuming.'

Shop Gardener's Favorite Shears


If you love cut flowers as much as we do, a great pair of shears is an essential tool in your pruning arsenal. With the approval of a master gardener and a fashion designer, we can't think of a better endorsement.


Sophie Edwards
News Editor

Sophie is a writer and News Editor on the Celebrity Style team at Homes & Gardens. She is fascinated by the intersection of design and popular culture and is particularly passionate about researching trends and interior history. She is an avid pop culture fan and has interviewed Martha Stewart and Hillary Duff.

In her free time, Sophie freelances on design news for Westport Magazine and Livingetc. She also has a newsletter, My Friend's Art, in which she covers music, culture, and fine art through a personal lens. Her fiction has appeared in Love & Squalor and The Isis Magazine.

Before joining Future, Sophie worked in editorial at Fig Linens and Home, a boutique luxury linens brand. She has an MSc from Oxford University and a BA in Creative Writing and Sociology from Sarah Lawrence College.

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