Shoptalk

But an afternoon tackling one of the most overgrown corners left me with a swollen and aching hand, barely capable of holding a glass of wine. That's serious, and it seems that even though as many women as men are gardeners, most garden tools are designed for hulking great he-men.

In the interests of consumer testing, we would have liked to have researched hulking he-men, but settled, more safely perhaps, with looking at secateurs that were particularly suitable for women.

What we were looking for was something light enough to be comfortable but tough enough to tackle a wide range of jobs. A delicate balance. Interestingly, we found a number of secateurs that supposedly came in different sizes to suit different hands, but it was very difficult to find any Small or Medium. Yet a number of men we spoke to also said they prefer using smaller secateurs as they are more comfortable and certainly less likely to cause strain if you have a lot of work to do.

So why don't more manufacturers make secateurs in smaller sizes and if they do, why aren't they more widely available?

The top of the range secateurs are Felco, beautifully-made precision tools, who also make left-handed secateurs. They are proportionately pricey - ranging from around £38 to £50, fine if you're a careful gardener, but a bit of a blow if you lose them in the compost heap.

So we've been looking at other, more humble makes. Our testers ranged from women in their twenties to those old enough to have been working during the last war.

(N.B. There are two brands called Wilkinsons. To try and avoid confusion, we've used Wilko to denote the cheap and cheerful high street store, and Wilkinsons when we mean the people who also make the swords and razor blades.)

B&Q BRANCH AND THICKER

STEM SECATEURS

£14.98 H JOINT FAVOURITES

These were the only ones we found in a Small hand size. And we loved them. They were very lightweight, needed hardly any pressure and were very comfortable and easy to use. They were also very efficient, tackling thick stems and small branches with ease. They became an instant favourite.

B&Q VALUE FLOWER AND STEM SECATEURS £3.29

These were very nice to look at - very simple and stylish. But they had chunky handles and were quite stiff to use. The cheerful yellow slidey lock didn't always slide easily either.

HOMEBASE BY PASS SECATEURS

£14.99 H JOINT FAVOURITES

Tried these in Medium. And they were very comfortable and easy to use. No strain at all. Come complete with spare spring, oil and a ten year guarantee.

WILKO'S PRUNING SHEARS

99p H BARGAIN

Easily the cheapest, very basic and very light and insubstantial. We thought they'd be lucky to last one afternoon, but they were surprisingly efficient and comfortable to use. The handles were very narrow and they became a favourite for light jobs. And they are still going strong. At that price, you could treat yourself to a new pair every year.

WILKO'S HEAVY DUTY BY PASS PRUNING SHEARS

£6.99

Vicious looking beasts. One of the handles is "auto rotating" - which means it moves around, This is meant to minimise strain and fatigue, but actually we found them very uncomfortable. They also had a large protector over the handle, which we quite liked, especially when cutting back brambles and roses. These were every efficient, but too bulky to be comfortable.

WILKINSON SWORD CLASSIC PRUNER

£9.98 H WORTH TRYING

Very nice. Very effective. Fairly comfortable even when cutting quite thickish branches. We found a Medium pair which were very good, but we think the Small might have been even more comfortable. If we ever find a Small size in these, we think they could be a very good buy. They also come with a 15 year guarantee.

WOLF CLASSIC

£12.99

These were available in S/M size, "with ergonomically designed handle grips for the smaller hand", quite comfortable and efficient but a bit stiff to use and we couldn't use them for very long.

God's sign, we decided, to go in and have a nice cup of tea. Or something stronger.

www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/features/