Putting your garden tools to bed for the Winter

By Melanie Mathieson
Gardening Guru

Just because the gardening season is over, now that the early signs of winter are here, that doesn’t mean that you just throw your tools in the shed until next spring. The point of this column is to remind you to care for the tools that served you so well throughout the summer months.

You won’t need many supplies to get your hand tools into shape. You can start by scrubbing them with warm water and soap to remove the grime that has accumulated over months of use. Make sure that you remove all of the caked on dirt as this will encourage rust to develop. Rust will shorten the life of any tool, so removal is imperative.

A putty knife works well for smaller spots, while larger spots might need steel wool and elbow grease. An SOS pad can also be used to get your tools gleaming. Rust that is allowed to accumulate eventually pits the metal. If some of your tools already have pits, the pits can be removed by sanding the metal with sandpaper. Once clean and dry, the metal can be further protected with a layer of paint or some gardeners prefer a light coating of oil or WD40 spray. Some gardeners even spray PAM on their tools to protect them and keep the dirt from sticking.

Tools with wooden handles need to have their handles protected, to prevent them from drying out and cracking. You can repaint the handles with oil-base or latex paint or polyurethane.

You can also apply a good quality paste wax or Future liquid wax, or mineral or tung oil to the wood and let it soak in and buff away the excess. At this time you may discover that some of your wooden handles are broken or starting to shows signs of breakage. Most of these handles can be replaced. Check your local hardware or feed supply store for the correct replacement handle for your tool. By doing this you will be able to save a valuable tool and render it useful again.

Keep in mind that in some cases the quality of garden tools has diminished over the years, as well as, the availability of some traditional tools like 5-tine cultivators, hay forks and grub hoes has become greatly reduced. By taking care of these tools and replacing the handles, as needed you will ensure you will have a quality tool in working order for years to come.

Make sure all your tools are sharpened before you put them away for the winter. Sharp tools reduce your labour effort and work more efficiently. Bypass pruners can be sharpened using a stone for sharpening knives or you can have your neighbourhood knife sharpening business do them for you. Shovels, edgers and hoes should have the edge that cuts into the ground sharpened as needed. You should sharpen these edges at a forty-five degree angle on the face edge.

You can use a sharpening stone for this or reduce your labour by using a metal grinder or Dremel tool with a sharpening stone for this. You will be amazed at how effective a sharpened shovel, edger or hoe will work. To keep the tool sharp and safe while not in use, you should cover the sharp edge with either a piece of strong tape or a cover fashioned from cardboard or canvas. Some handy gardeners use a section of rubber hose over the sharp edges.

Lawn mowers appreciate a good scraping and spraying with the hose underneath the deck, to release any caked on grass clippings. A thorough cleaning on the deck and top of the lawn mower is also a good idea. Any stubborn grease or gasoline stains can be removed with a degreaser or vehicle engine shampoo product. Make sure the mower is thoroughly dry before you put it away. This is also a great time to remove and thoroughly clean the mower bag. Dump out all clippings and thoroughly spray out with the hose. Make sure the bag is completely dry, before you store it in order to prevent mould and rot over the winter. Remove the blade and have it sharpened.

Fall is a great time to perform a tune-up and an oil change, so it will be ready to go in the spring. Don’t forget to add a gasoline stabilizing product to the gas tank before you put the mower away for the winter. You can follow the same maintenance program for your gas trimmer and tiller as well.

One tool that can be used frequently throughout the summer but often forgotten and not often considered a tool is the garden hose. When storing the hose for the winter make sure you drain any of the residual water from the hose and lay it out in the sun on a warm day to dry. If you store a hose containing water the water can freeze and expand in the hose causing it to split. Always disconnect the hose from the house and put it away. Make sure you also turn off the water feed to the outside tap from inside the house so your pipes do not freeze in the winter.

Before you close up the garden shed for the winter you will also want to assess the remainder of your gardening tools. If you are not using some tools you should ask yourself why. If you do not like the tool or have no use for it then make sure you give it to another gardener, donate it or sell it in your next garage sale. There is no sense hanging on to tools that you are never going to use. If the tool is broken and cannot be fixed then discard it. When storing your tools, you should either hang or store your tools in an organized manner so they will be easily retrieved during the gardening season.

By taking some time and making sure that your tools are well taken care of at the end of each season you will ensure that they will provide you with service for many gardening seasons to come.