Winter Care for Garden Tools

It's that time again:  Tool Time. Time to clean oil and store garden tools for the next growing season. Taking care of your garden tool will greatly diminish the high costs of replacements and make you a much happier gardener when springs roll around again.

What You'll Need

1. Soap
2. Water (hot if you're lucky)
3. Large bucket
4. Clean cloths
5. Wire brush
6. Fine grade stainless steel wool pads
7. Fine grade sandpaper
8. Sharpening file
9. WD-40 lubricate
10. Linseed oil
11. Eye protection for sharpening blades

• Start out giving everything a good cleaning. Dirt left on your tools is a breeding ground for rust and rot.
• Fill your bucket with hot water and dish soap.
• Brush off dirt with the wire brush and remove damaged edges and rust with the stainless steel pads.
• Place your garden tools as space allows for a good 15-20 minute soaking.
• Rinse thoroughly.
• Dry thoroughly with the cloths and leave out until completely dry.
• Tighten nuts, bolts and screws.
• Smooth dull cutting edges with your sharpening file. A few long strokes is all you need. You're only removing roughness, not creating a new blade.
• Use sand paper to smooth wood handles.
• Coat wood handles and metal with oil using dry, clean cloths. Wipe away excess.
• Use WD-40 to lubricate hinges and other moving parts.

Other Tasks

• Sterilize pots and clean garden ornaments (unless you are going for that weathering effect with the latter). Pots need to be free of bacteria, mold and fungus before any replanting occurs so don't skip this final garden chore.
  • Rinse with the garden hose and remove debris with your wire brush.
  • Using your large bucket, prepare a solution of 10 percent bleach and dish soap.
  • Soak your ceramics in the solution for 10-15 minutes.
  • Rinse complete and let dry before put on storage shelves.

• Drain garden hoses, wipe clean with an oily cloth, roll and hand in a dry location.

• If rust is extensive apply a rust-proofing primer and spray paint.

• If you're a novice sharpener, mark your blades with a black felt pen and in long, smooth strokes in one direction file until the blades are free of the black marks. Be sure to lift your file between strokes; no back and forth movements.  If in doubt of your abilities, have your tools professional sharpened.

• Lawn mowers can prove to be in a job within themselves so give yourself plenty of time (or help) to clean out grass, sharpen blades and oil metal and wood parts. It's a good idea to have a professional do the sharpening unless you are well versed in the craft. If a power mower, check the spark plugs and replace the oil in the crankcase to keep the engine protected from winter cold and ready for that spring startup.

• You can store larger metal tools in buckets filled with dry sand and enough oil to create a thoroughly moist environment. At winter's end just brush off the sand and oil.You can save the sand/oil mixture, or prepare a new, clean mixture if necessary, to use throughout the year. Just dunk the tools in the mixture a few times to remove debris, wipe the excess and hang the tool. This wintering and maintenance process will protect rust and corrosion when the elements would have otherwise.

Now put those clean and oiled tools in a protected, dry location preferably on a rack elevated from the floor. Smaller hand tools can be stored in a basket as long as air circulation is possible.

Gardening is so much more rewarding with the right tools in the right condition. Proper care will ensure your tools last for years and do the jobs intended.

Fall Tips For Your Garden

Winter can be brutal, so take the time in the Fall to prepare for the dark days of winter and ensure a healthy, happy bounty again in the Spring.

It's time to trim and toss in the compost pile, foliage that will not survive the winter. Don't ever waste nature's bounty by tossing the clipping in the trash.

Your lawn mower can make quick mulch of large jobs and hand crushing is just fine for small ones. The clippings will soon break down into carbon and nitrogen rich material to use either as a last pre-winter feeding or a superior mulch for next Spring.

Cut back stems so plants can go fully dormant. This will encourage new growth at the bottom of the plant in the Spring.  Start protecting the soil with mulch to discourage weeds, retain warmth and moisture and prevent pest infestation. Depending on your climate, you will start this in either early or late autumn.

Use natural mulches such as leaves, pine needs, straw and bark. They will naturally enrich the soil preparing it for your Spring bloom. If you live in an especially wet climate, to prevent water retention and rot use stones and add non-organic materials such as burlap, plastic, felt and paper.

In extreme cold climates, use up to six inches mulch but avoid covering the plants, which still need light and fresh air. Snow itself is a good insulator and makes for strong,  hardy plants but should snow, winds or freezing require additional plant protection lay some evergreen boughs lightly over and around your plants, still allowing for some light and circulation.

Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower. Albert Camus

Now it's time to plant your bulbs, daffodils and crocus. Make sure you get them in before the ground freezes, not just for your own sake for the digging but so that these spring surprises have time to root before winter hits.

Most people fertilize their lawn in the summer but fall is the best time for this chore.  Like bears, grasses store food for the long winter and, if fertilized in Fall, they will awake in the Spring ready to go.  Don't wait until the first freeze through, early Fall is the best time.

Mustn't forget the birds in autumn.  In your trimming and tossing process, don't include the plants' seeds. Leave them as a snack for your feathered friends and let them spread the harvest al natural.

Finally, make time for your garden decorations and, especially, your tools. Clean, oil, polish, dry and store as necessary and you will save yourself time and money when spring arrives.