Looking after garden tools

Garden tools last for decades if they are kept clean, dry and sharp. Sharp blades also make cleaner cuts, which heal faster on plants, and take less effort to use.

Cleaning

Soil is knocked or brushed off after each use, and stubborn dirt is removed with a stiff brush and water. The tool is then dried. Sap on secateurs and loppers is cleaned off with wire wool or a scouring pad and a little soapy water. Blades that have cut diseased material are wiped with a garden disinfectant or methylated spirit before being used on another plant, which helps to stop diseases such as box blight and fireblight from spreading.

Preventing and removing rust

Rust forms when steel is left damp. Metal parts are wiped with an oily rag before storage, and moving joints are given a drop of oil. Light rust is rubbed off with wire wool or a wire brush, and heavier rust with coarse abrasive paper, before the metal is oiled. Stainless steel tools resist rust but still benefit from cleaning.

Wooden handles

Rough or weathered handles are sanded smooth and rubbed with linseed oil, which stops the wood drying out and splitting. Rags soaked in linseed oil can heat up and catch fire as they dry, so they are spread out flat outdoors to dry before being thrown away.

A broken handle on a spade, fork or hoe can usually be replaced. The remains are drilled or driven out of the socket, the rivet removed, and a new handle, traditionally of ash, tapped in and fixed with a new rivet or screw. A cracked handle is replaced before it fails in use.

Sharpening hand tools

• Secateurs and loppers: the bevelled edge of the cutting blade is stroked with a small whetstone or diamond file, following the original angle and working from the pivot to the tip. The flat side is given only a light pass to remove the burr.
• Shears: each blade is sharpened along its bevel in the same way, and the pivot nut is adjusted so that the blades meet along their length.
• Hoes, spades and edging irons: a flat file is pushed across the bevel, away from the body, with the tool held in a vice.
• Knives are finished on a fine stone.

Gloves are worn, and the file or stone is always moved away from the hand holding the tool.

Mower blades

A blunt rotary blade tears the grass and leaves the tips brown. Before the blade is touched, the mower is unplugged, the battery removed or the spark plug lead detached. A petrol mower is tipped according to its handbook, generally with the air filter and carburettor uppermost, so that oil and fuel do not flood them. The blade is unbolted, sharpened with a file along its existing bevel, and checked for balance by hanging it on a nail through the centre hole; a blade that dips to one side causes vibration. Blades that are bent, cracked or badly worn are replaced. Cylinder mowers need regrinding by a service engineer.

Winter storage

• Tools are cleaned, oiled and hung up in a dry shed or garage, off the floor.
• Petrol machines are run dry or the fuel drained, since stale petrol causes starting problems in spring.
• Batteries are stored indoors, partly charged, away from frost.
• Hoses are drained and outside taps protected from frost.
• Powered machines are serviced in winter, when repair shops are quiet.

Health

Tetanus bacteria live in soil and enter through cuts, so gardeners are advised to make sure their vaccinations are complete. Cuts are washed thoroughly, and a deep or dirty wound is seen by a medical professional.

The choice of tools is covered under garden tools and lawnmowers and powered garden tools.