Here at Frostproof, we’re big fans of using the right garden hand tool for the right job. We think it’s good idea to use a grafting knife when you’re grafting instead of just grabbing any old knife out of the toolbox. We think it’s best to use a professional picking bag that won’t bust under the weight of the fruit, all the while providing the best support for the picker’s back. And we know that good tree care begins with a nice, sharp saw.

While a traditional pruning saw is going to be a great option for limbs that you can reach from the ground, most every tree out there is going to outgrow your reach eventually. That’s when you need a telescoping pole saw to make your job a lot easier. Not only will it make your job go faster, but it might even save your neck as well. Here’s how.

Getting On A Ladder

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably done something pretty stupid on a ladder. Maybe you leaned it against something wouldn’t support the weight, you might have put it on uneven ground, and maybe you even stepped on the “this is not a step” step, which isn’t a step we’re told. Most of us get on a ladder thinking “that horrible thing that sends thousands of people to the emergency room every year isn’t going to happen to me. I’m just going to wiggle back and forth and ‘walk’ this step ladder forward a few feet so that I can reach that next branch.”

The more you get on a ladder, the more likely that you’ll eventually end up on the ground in extreme pain. And when you’re on a ladder with a regular pruning saw, that saw has to land somewhere after you land on your back. And we’re not even going to think about what’s going to happen if you were using a chainsaw at the time. You don’t think of it either.

Wouldn’t it be great if there were some sort of saw that was at the end of a pole so that you didn’t have to get up on a ladder? Some sort of...pole saw? Or one that would allow you to work on the third step of a stepladder instead of on the seventh step? Hmmmm……….

“The Readjustment”

One of the best methods of trimming a tree is to step back and take a look at it after every cut. When you do this, you can make sure that you’re shaping it to your liking and don’t take too much away.

When you’re using a ladder and using a short pruning saw, you have to make a cut, get down from the ladder, and take a look at the tree. You identify your next cut, but then you have to readjust your eyes back to the ladder and focus on climbing that. By the time you’ve gotten back up, you’ve lost sight of which branch it was that you were about to cut, because now you’re looking at it from a different angle. You have to get back down from the ladder and take another look, wasting all that time.

When it comes to pole saws, all you have to do is pick your cut, keep your eyes on it, and then apply the saw. It sure beats heading up and down the ladder 100 times an hour.

Parting the Jungle

When you’re using a regular saw and a ladder, you have to brave the scratching branches of the tree just to get to the limb you’re interested in pruning. Instead, why not send the very thin pole saw through to get the branch you want to prune?

Grab A Saw!

If you’ve been dealing with a short pruning saw all your life, it’s time to move up to a pole saw. Find Frostproof’s selection of telescoping pole saws right here.