Corona Leaf & Stem Micro Snip (FS 3214D): Product Review
An ideal tool for delicate pruning, where a regular set of bypass pruners would be overkill.
Available on Amazon
Buy itI have several useful Corona pruning tools in my trug bucket, but I found the Corona Leaf & Stem Micro Snip particularly useful this Spring. It arrived attached to a sturdy cardboard placard and the blade tips were encased in a rubber-like blade tip cover, for safety.
Comfortable, Slip-Free Handles
This small tool, only six inches long, has ComfortGEL® handles and tapered double-beveled cutting tips. The ComfortGEL® is designed to reduce hand fatigue and eliminate the need for a bumper between the handles. I found the handles exceedingly comfortable. They have a nice soft feel to them and are slip free when hands are sweaty or wet.
Sturdy Cutting Mechanism
The blades are residue resistant stainless steel. I found that they worked well when cutting through sap laden twigs. They have a built-in lock made of a soft plastic-like material. The lock takes a little effort to make it work, both opening and closing, but that is my only proviso to the tool’s utility. As with many tools, it takes some “break-in” time for locks to work seamlessly. I attribute the little effort to manipulate the sliding locking button to just that. They were brand new and needed many opening and closings of the locking mechanism to make them slide effortlessly. I figured I hadn’t reached that point because it’s not an everyday use tool for me.
The sliding lock needs a little thumb strength to open and close the snips
Besides the locking button, the snips are opened and closed with a coil spring. The spring pressure was strong enough to keep them open, but not so stiff that using them caused any hand fatigue.
Lightweight
Another nice feature is that the Corona Leaf & Stem Micro Snip (FS 3214D) is ultra-light, weighing only a few ounces. I didn’t have a scale that would measure the exact weight, but they were (by my estimates) less than an 1/8 of a pound. This, combined with its small size, made them very comfortable and dexterous in my hand.
I should also mention that they are ambidextrous and can be used by left-handed and right-handed individuals.
The snips are small, lightweight and comfortable in my hand.
Many Uses for the Micro Snips
When the snow and ice left us at the end of April, I was finally willing to get out in the garden and see what had survived our long cold winter and start working again. The buds on shrubs and vines were hinting that it was time to see what was alive – and what needed to be trimmed away. I used the micro snips on shrubs to cut away dead flowers and seed cases that should have been pruned last fall. The cuts were clean, and easy to make because the blades are very sharp. The small size of the Micro Snip makes it more comfortable to work with in crowded spaces than my regular pruners.
Because of their small size, the snips were able to get into tight pruning spots,
I found the Corona Micro Snip valuable for pruning out wayward honeysuckle vines (about ¼ inch in diameter), cutting back early spring flowers like tiarella that had gone by, and pruning back zinnias that I had started from seed, but could not plant because of bad weather.
I also found the snips especially useful when pruning my roses. As May progressed I could see where the roses suffered winter kill and I could begin pruning them. Because the micro snips are small and very sharp I had an easier time with this job than ever before. I actually enjoyed going out to the garden to snip out winter kill or spent roses, feeling like an elegant and skillful British gardener.
The snips are extremely sharp and make very clean cuts.
The size of the Corona Leaf & Stem Micro Snip means there is a limit to the types of pruning it can be used for. Use your regular pruners for removing shrub and tree branches. The Micro Snip is good for harder woody stems up to about 1/8 inch in diameter. It will prune soft tissue material up to 3/8 inch (like live rose canes and soft honeysuckle wood).
Another neat use for this tool is pruning the initial cuts from fresh cut flowers so that they will more readily absorb water and stay fresh for longer. And thinking completely outside the box, I would use these like a kitchen scissor for food prep. I would of course sanitize them before I started using them in the kitchen.
Warranty
Corona offers a limited lifetime warranty against defects in materials and workmanship.
Recommendation
I found the Corona Leaf & Stem Micro Snip (FS 3214D) more useful than I had expected. It turns out I have more small tasks in the garden than I remembered, and this small tool was very efficient and easy to use. The ComfortGEL® handles made a real difference in the overall comfort of the pruning experience. If you’re considering a pair of micro snips, the Coronas are well worth the price. And they’re not just for outdoor use which makes them an even more handy tool to have.
Where to Buy
The Corona Leaf & Stem Micro Snip (FS 3214D) is available online from Amazon. You can also buy it on the Corona website for $15.00 + $9.99 shipping.
Last update on 2023-03-31 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
