Care for your garden tools will ensure they work smoothly and last longer, as cleaning, disinfecting, and oiling them regularly will protect plants from disease spread through dirty tools.
Before storing wooden tools, ensure they have been thoroughly rinsed and dried before being stored away. Sand the handles using medium grit sandpaper before wiping them with linseed oil to maintain optimal condition.
Trowels
Are You Starting Your First Garden, Or Are You an Established Homesteader? Regardless, all gardening enthusiasts require tools for each gardening season that work efficiently while increasing lifespan through regular care and cleaning. Regular upkeep of these essential tools ensures they remain effective while making them safer.
After each use, hose down trowels, spades, and other digging tools to eliminate compacted dirt. For metal tool heads that feature oil such as machine oil, mineral oil, vegetable oil, or even just some WD-40 (to help prevent corrosion), then dip a cloth in it before wiping down their heads with it – especially important on tools designed to dig hard soils.
Check wooden handled tools for signs of splintering by inspecting their handles with fine steel wool or fine grit sandpaper to smooth rough areas and help prevent further splintering. Also, consider applying some boiled linseed oil to keep them from drying out or cracking over time in cold climates.
Disinfecting garden tools at the end of each growing season and before storing them away for winter is crucial to protect yourself against disease-causing bacteria, fungi, or insects that could spread across them in subsequent years. Doing this will ensure they won’t spread microorganisms from year to year when kept outdoors.
If you’re having difficulty dispersing rust from your tools, give them a thorough blast with the hose to remove any remaining traces, then dip them in disinfecting solutions like vinegar and turpentine for disinfection. Turpentine also works great for items covered in sap or that have become covered in rust, so they can then be scrubbed off using wire brushes.
Hoes
Take care in taking good care in maintaining your garden tools as part of all of the other gardening duties you need to accomplish in order to prevent disease and fungus between plantings as well as when closing up for the season. It’s easy to overlook this aspect, but doing so can prevent disease and fungus spread between plantings as well as keeping disease at bay during their storage and use in future seasons.
Basic garden tools include a trowel (try this made-in-Japan design that looks similar to an old-school Japanese rake but allows you to dig in tight spaces), weeding hoe, flat-bladed edging spade (great for moving soil or mulch) and scuffle hoe (useful for opening up furrows, cultivating between rows, cutting weeds). A garden fork (which looks a lot like an ordinary dinner fork but features sharp prongs that break through the earth instead) is also great for loosening soil before planting and uprooting plants without damaging their roots.
A curved garden knife can help pick berries or cut fruit from trees, while pruning shears can trim dead leaves or branches or shape shrubs. Wheelbarrows are perfect for transporting soil, compost, firewood, or other supplies around your yard while garden carts make transporting larger items such as bags of soil and potted plants easier.
Other tools you should keep on hand include a bow rake for smoothing soil, breaking up clumps of hay, and mixing in manure or compost; a pitchfork with thick square tines suitable for working heavy materials like compost piles as well as moving light material like straw; and a shovel equipped with a sharp edge designed for digging heavy soil, removing sod and turning over vegetable beds. You could also consider investing in hand rakes with narrow prongs that provide precision cleaning in small spaces; hand rakes with narrow prongs that allow precision cleaning in small spaces; brooms designed specifically to sweeping leaves or mulch from garden paths; as well as tarpa or bags designed to store and transport dirt or debris – these tools make great additions to any toolbox!
Pruners
When searching for garden pruners, loppers, or shears, look for models with bypass blades that sweep past each other like scissors to cut without tearing the plant material. While these models cost slightly more upfront, they will hold up better over time and last longer than models without separate blades. Regular sharpening will keep your blades working like new, too. Once complete, use a soft cloth to wipe down the blades – this will remove any metal filings left from the sharpening process that could wear down its new edge or potentially give rise to metal slivers! After that, add some linseed oil lubrication on all blades, springs, and hinges; this will protect them from rust, keep them smooth for easy use, and reduce sticky sap adhering to them!
Disinfecting shears, loppers, or pruners is also crucial for preventing the spread of plant pathogens like fungus or bacteria between healthy plants nearby. Even small amounts of dirt or plant debris like roots adhering to shovel handles, sap on pruning shears or soil on pots and containers can act as vectors that carry these pathogens and cause infection in nearby plants if left on equipment that was never cleaned and disinfected properly after each use – cleaning and disinfection is also vitally important against spreading pathogens between plants.
A chlorine bleach or 10% bleach solution should do the trick when disinfecting shears, loppers, or pruning shears. Just be sure that when applying it on any gardening tools that, you wear gloves and open windows for adequate ventilation to avoid breathing in any chemical fumes that might escape. Also rinse and dry all tools carefully afterward! If you prefer baking soda as an alternative solution, you could also create a paste of baking soda and water and rub it into any grimy areas before leaving for 15-30 minutes before scrub using stiff-bristled brush or rag.
Shears
Pruning shears (secateurs in the UK) are an essential garden tool, and must always remain clean, sharp, and well oiled for best results. Gummed-up or sticky scissors can cause cuts on plants and spread plant diseases if left to collect dirt over time – an easy cleaning routine should ensure your pruning shears remain ready for action at all times!
Hand shears can help with all kinds of pruning tasks from trimming back roses to trimming hedge shrubs. A good pair should be present in every gardener’s shed but over time can become dirty with sap build-up and dirt accumulation if left unused. Regular maintenance will keep your shears looking great as well as performing better!
Clean pruning shears after every use to rid yourself of plant sap and any gummy build-up caused by soapy water or alcohol spraying. After cleansing the blades, use fine grade steel wool or medium-coarse sand block to scrub away any residual deposits from them and finish by adding some drops of oil to help prevent rust on moving parts of your shears.
Pruning shears should be regularly oiled to prevent them from rusting and maximize performance. Shear oil comes in various sizes to match the size of your shears, or general garden-grade lubricants like WD-40 are great ways to do just this; we at Homes & Gardens use it on all our tools in the garden such as pruning shears to ensure top condition!
Shovels
A shovel is one of the most frequently used hand tools in any garden, and often requires cleaning after each use. Due to contact with soil bacteria, fungus, and insects that could spread diseases to nearby plants as well as your hands, cleaning is crucial not only to sanitize but also remove moisture-laden dirt that builds up over time and protect against rust eating away at steel blades or handles.
After each use, most digging tools only need a quick rinse under a garden hose after being rinsed with soapy water from a garden hose. Longer handled tools, such as hoes, rakes and pruners may require further attention; for these tools a scrub with wire brush or putty knife and quick dip in soapy water may be necessary before being stored away safely for storage. Always ensure they dry fully prior to being stored away, or else they could quickly rust as soon as they get wet leaving your tools wet will quickly rust as well as damage their wooden handles over time if left wet for too long! If left wet they may rust quickly as well as be damaged due to wood rot in wooden handles causing damage by decay in their wooden handles being stored.
Making time to clean and care for your tools makes gardening tasks simpler and more productive, as it extends their lives and prevents disease transmission or insect eggs spreading from tool to plant – ultimately protecting the beauty of your gardens!
Sharp and clean tools will allow you to work more quickly and efficiently in the garden – and reduce wear-and-tear damage! Spend the time to ensure that your tools remain in prime condition so when it’s time for gardening next time, they will be waiting patiently on you!
