Wakasaya Topiary Clippers
Hakaribasami
Nothing beats these one-handed Topiary Clippers
for box clipping and other topiary: easy on the hand thanks to the 5" blades and spring action, and infinitely better than ordinary sheep shears (which are fine if
you have the forearms of a Kiwi sheep farmer,
but useless for the rest of us.)
The Japanese name (hakaribasami) means leaf cutters:
it’s important not to cut old, hard wood, only
soft new growth.
June and July, just after box has had its short
growth spurt, is the time to do your clipping.
Keep a bucket of water handy, mixed with a dash
(5%, no more) of bleach. Dunk the clippers in every
so often, and it stops the leaf resin from cloging up
the blades. The bleach prevents the spreading of
nasty viruses between plants.
