Diamond Garden Buzz

Keeping your gardening tools clean will extend the life of your tools and prevent bacteria, weeds and help control insects and pests from spreading in your garden, lawn, and flower beds. Dirt and dirty caked on mud is like a carrier that transports weed seeds, insect eggs, and fungi everytime it comes in contact with with soil and plants. Your tools should be cleaned everytime they are used.

The moisture in wet mud also contributes to rust accumulating on the heads of garden tools, if left to dry over any length of time, the rust will eventually mar and pit the finish of the metal of your gardening tools. A smooth, polished metal will slide through soil and make your digging cuts easier. Bring in your tools and put them away every time they are used to extend the life of your gardening tools.

A gardener needs to work out his own system for garden tool maintenance methods and types of products to use. On researching information for this article I have tried to furnish different views. There is no cut and dried methods for accompolishing these tasks. About the only real thing that everyone seems to agree upon is that — “Gardening Tools need to be cleaned, sterilized, sharpened, oiled and wood handles coated for weatherproofing every year or more often if a tool has frequent use”.

Cleaning Garden Tools

Now that winter is around the corner, you should have time to clean and get all of your gardening tools in good working order and organized for next spring.

Get all those spades, digging shovels and forks, hoes, trowels, hand tools, rakes weeding tools, in fact any garden tool that comes in contact with soil, needs to be hosed off. Use a steel wire brush for those tough caked on clods that have adhered to your tools. Steel wool works great to remove any accumulation of rust build up on the metal heads. Get all the moisture off by wiping your tools down with soft rags and make sure that your garden tools are good and dry.

Now it’ time to clean all your pruning and cutting tools. Round up those bypass and avil pruners, loppers, shears, edgers, saws, garden knives, scissors, and all other cutting tools.

Some people recommend using a water hose and spraying garden pruners and cutting tools, just like all your other manual tools to remove the dirt and particles with a small brush while spraying. Then turn the water off and dry them completly with clean soft cotton rags.

I’m not too fond of getting my pruners all wet, as there is usally not much dirt or garden soil on them. If there is sap from conifers or a accumulation of sap from shrubs, I’ll apply a little paint thinner with a small brush. Let it set a bit, then wipe with a rag to remove the tough stuck on sap or whatever it is.

All pruners and cutting tools need to be need to be sterilized often to prevent the spread of disease from one plant to another. A good disinfectant to use on garden tools is Lysol, because it has been found to be the least corrosive to pruning tools. Lysol comes in spray cans or concentrate form, the concentrate would probally be less expensive as it would go further than a spray can. You can use a small brush for applying the concenterated lysol to make sure and get it into all the curves and grooves.

Actually it’s best if you sterilize all of your gardening tools with good disinfectant treatment that is noncorrsive to gardening tools. Clorox bleach has been found to be the most harmful disinfectant to use on pruning tools.

Sharpening Garden Tools

A sharpened digging tool will cut through tough or harden soil easier and requires less engery by the person digging. Sharpened pruners and cutting tools will furnish cleanier cuts and cut more accurataely. Tools should perform at their peak efficiency at all times. That is why a good gardener should clean and sharpen their gardening tools at least once a year or more often if a tool has heavy use.

The basic tool needed for sharpening garden tools is an 8-inch long mill file with a bustard cut, which cuts finer than that of a coarse file. The videos below show how others sharpen garden tools.

There are requirements of sharpening each and every type of garden tool. Sharpening gardening tools depends on the angle of the blade or head, how the tool is used and also for the purpose of the tool.

Oiling & Preserving Garden Tools

All garden tools need to be oiled with a god household oil, such as WD40 or 3 in 1 oil. Spray WD40 or squirt a little 3 in 1 oil onto the metal head or blades or your tool, the rub it around to coat all the metal parts of your gardening tool.

Take a piece of fine sand paper and make a few quick sanding runs up and down the handles to knock off any bumps on the wood. Use linseed oil and apply a little on a clean rag to wipe all the wood of the handles down. Cover every wooden part and weatherproof it. Now your gardening tools should look like the day they were bought.