Gardening Update: Cut above the rest

MY FELCO secateurs were bought 16 years ago for the extravagant sum of pounds 8. It felt like a fortune for secateurs. This month they have been back to the manufacturer for the second refit of their busy lifetime. Burton McCall, which distributes these Swiss-made secateurs, currently gives them a full overhaul (new spring, new blade etc) and posts them back to you for pounds 4.90. Mine even returned with a new plastic sleeve on the handle, which stops the aluminium blackening the hands. If only this excellent service on an excellent product existed for other garden tools]

My pair, the super-deluxe model with rotating handle, cost anything between pounds 28 and pounds 48 nowadays. If you are the sort of person who doesn't lose a pair every year in the compost or the bonfire, then Felco must be a worthwhile choice.