I’m not ready for it, but since I could see my breath last night, I have to admit it is Fall.  And that means getting the house and garden ready for frosts, freezes, snow, ice, and other unpleasantness.

One of my tasks sometime in the upcoming weeks will be to trim back all of our liriope.  Last year, this was not a difficult job as we only had four plants.  We went a little crazy with the ground cover this year and the kitchen shears are not going to cut it.

I originally purchased the Saboten 1218 Pruning Shears to trim iris leaves.  Since it sliced through those like butter, I anticipate being able to lop of the liriope by the handful.  Yeah, they’re a little more expensive than other pruning shears, but the comfort of the handle alone is worth the extra cost.  After pruning for half an hour I could feel the difference between these and my old shears (as in I could actually use my hand for other tasks).  The blades are coated with Teflon so if you are pruning a “sticky” or “juicy” plant, the shears will not get stuck together.  These shears even have a wrist strap so you do not have to set them down and pick them up every time you need both hands.