With his Homemade Back-Saving Pruning Shears, Michael Carr of Pierson (MI) can reportedly cut down scrub or other plants up to 1/2 inch in diameter at ground level without having to bend over. The tool consists of a 3-foot-long tube with a pair at wooden handles at one end and a curved metal blade at the other. The handles move in a scissor action, causing the blades to cut the plant on the opposite end of the tube. Small trees and thorny plants can reportedly be pruned by holding the device horizontally.