These Professional-Grade Pruning Shears Are an Investment Worth Making – for Years of Efficient Gardening
A pair of Felco 8 Elite pruning shears could become a reliable and comfortable life partner
The Felco 8 Elite are undoubtedly premium pruning shears. Everything about them screams elite, from the sleek metal look to the leather-coated grips to the coated blade. But do they live up to the high standards they set for themselves?
The Felco 8 Elite is an upgrade of the classic Felco 8 pruning shears. I tested them by cutting a variety of shrubs in my garden, including laurel, euonymus, and conifer. I found them to be an impressive and comfortable set of pruning shears.
Tool type | Bypass pruning shears |
Blade material | Coated hardened steel |
Handle material | Aluminum |
Length | 210mm |
Maximum cutting diameter | 25mm |
Weight | 292 g |
First Impressions
As a gardener who has used the Felco number 2 pruning shears for many years (I was handed a pair as a welcome gift on my first day starting work at Hidcote Manor Garden in the UK over a decade ago), I know what to expect from this Swiss company. The standard is strong, durable gardening tools, and the Felco 8 Elite doesn’t fall short.
The pruning shears look sleek and impressive straight away. It is definitely a different look compared to the traditional red-handled Felcos I have been used to, but it does set these pruners apart, and what makes them more elite. The metal has a matte finish, rather than shiny, and the hand-stitched leather grips are so different from any pruning shears I have ever seen before – but there is no denying that they elevate the tool.
The tool is sharp and ready to use straight from the box. You could even still see and smell the lubricating oil on the blades, so I could pick them up and go straight out to cut. They look sturdy, but they are lightweight and comfortable in the hand.
In the packaging, you get an adjustment key to tighten or loosen the shears and a key ring to attach to the left arm. I didn’t feel the need to put this on the tool, but you could attach the adjustment key, a small sharpener, or a carabiner to clip the tool to your gardening belt.
Design and Features
Elite by name, elite by definition. These are pruning tools with an impressive list of features to make any trimming easy, smooth, and comfortable.
Starting with construction, Felco proudly says these tools are crafted using 100% renewable energy, 70% recycled aluminum, and 95% recycled carbon steel. This will appeal to those gardeners who prefer eco-friendly yard tools and try to adopt more sustainable gardening practises wherever possible.
The Felco 8 Elite cutting blade is coated to reduce friction and sap buildup, and keep it sharper for longer (good news for anyone who doesn’t enjoy sharpening pruning shears). And that blade is on an angled cutting head designed to reduce wrist strain during use. In addition, rubber shock absorbers are integrated to reduce fatigue and impact when cutting.
A standout feature is the hand-stitched soft-touch leather grips. There is no doubt that these grips are far more comfortable than the usual vinyl-coated ones, and Felco claims that over time, the leather will ‘mold naturally to your hand’ – which certainly sounds impressive.
One final feature is the mid-opening thumb catch. This notch on the opening and closing mechanism stops the handles from opening all the way and is designed to help with faster, smaller pruning cuts.
I stuck to using this catch during my time with the tool. Otherwise, the tool opened too wide. It is admittedly sold as suitable for gardeners with large hands (which I think I am), but I found it opened too wide for me when the catch wasn’t used.
Cutting Performance
I put the Felco 8 Elite through its paces on different shrubs and hedges around my garden. It included cutting an overgrown laurel that was desperately in need of control, trimming back a euonymus that was putting out stems where they weren’t wanted, cutting back the tips of a conifer hedge, and a range of other little tasks like pruning ivy, trimming rosemary, and cutting down the last of the perennial stems left from last year.
The tool cleanly cut all the different plants, and there was no need to expend lots of energy or use much force to make the precise cuts. It easily glided through stems all the way up to near its maximum diameter of 25mm; all the cuts were clean, and the blades reliably opened back up – no sticking or extra effort required to reopen the tool to keep cutting.
As mentioned earlier, I tended to prefer using the mid-opening catch for most of my pruning. I only needed to use the full width for the largest stems. With the catch in place, the blades open 1.3 inches compared to 2.3 inches when it isn't. The tool’s maximum cutting width is 25mm, and I managed to cut up to 20mm with the catch in place.
If you are doing lots of small cuts, the catch definitely helps to make trimming quicker without affecting the quality of the cuts. I can imagine that repetitive tasks like summer deadheading, cutting back perennials, shaping shrubs, and neatening topiary or formal hedges could be made more efficient using this catch.
Comfort and Handling
The hand-stitched leather grips aren’t just there to look good (which they do, as the red stitching really pops against the grey leather), but they do help make the tool comfortable in the hand. They feel soft and kind on the fingers, and I imagine will be a nice buffer from the cold metal on winter days.
I found the lightweight pruning shears were comfortable to handle and always felt secure in my hand. Whatever way you needed to turn them to get to the right pruning angle, it didn’t affect how easy the pruning was.
The cutting head is designed to align with your wrist, making pruning feel intuitive and enjoyable. While the rubber bumpers are not substantial, they are effective, and you don’t feel each cut shooting through the wrist (which I have had with other tools in the past).
It all makes pruning feel enjoyable and comfortable – which is what you want, especially if you have a long stint of cutting ahead. I used the tool in stints of around half an hour at a time, and felt no aches or pains in the hands or wrists, plus they didn’t stick or clog during that time.
An Essential Piece of Kit?
A good set of pruning shears is a must for any gardener. These are a premium example, offering great cutting comfort and performance, but there is no hiding the higher price tag compared to most other pruning shears.
The Felco 8 Elite is a professional-grade tool, but this shouldn’t automatically put it out of reach of passionate home gardeners. Whether or not they are a tool for you probably depends on your garden and how much time you spend in it.
If you have a medium-to-large garden and enjoy tending to it, these could be for you. A gardener with lots of shrubs, climbers, hedges, and perennials that need annual cutting back – along with routine deadheading and shaping throughout the year – needs a pair of reliable, comfortable pruning shears, as they are going to be inseparable throughout the gardening season.
Add to that you can use them for cutting flowers, harvesting vegetables, snipping herbs, removing dead or damaged material, and pruning small tree branches. It may surprise you how much time you spend with the pruning shears in your hands.
That is where investing in quality, strong, comfortable pruning shears shouldn’t be underestimated. Especially as the Felco 8 Elite pruning shears could last you a lifetime. They have fully replaceable components, with the packaging showing a myriad of spare parts you can get (from official replacement blades to grips to screws and everything in between) to extend the tool’s life.
H&G Verdict
I am a staunch believer that pruning shears are the most important gardening tools to invest in. You’ll potentially spend many an hour with them, so you should pick them wisely and think long-term.
As an investment, the Felco F8 pruning shears offer a professional-grade, sharp, and comfortable pruning experience. If you spend many hours or days throughout the gardening season pruning, trimming, cutting, shaping, or harvesting, you can look forward to many years of pain-free, efficient clipping. With care, attention, and some replacement parts, it is not unfathomable that they could see you through decades of gardening.
If you have a gardening addict in your family, the Felco F8 pruning shears would also make a fantastic gift. Don’t let a loved one struggle with cheap, uncomfortable pruning shears season after season; gift them a tool that takes the pain away and replaces it with a delightful, efficient experience.
I have mentioned above that a pair of pruning shears is an important purchase for any gardener. But it can get confusing, as there are lots of different features to consider, and jargon you may struggle to understand.
To help you make this key shopping decision, our guide to buying pruners reveals what you should look for to get the right pruning shears for you.
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