Winterizing Your Garden Tools

By Danielle Chapman

Properly preparing garden tools for winter does two things: first, it will add years to the life of your gear, saving you lots of money; and second, it means next year, you’ll be the first one out in your floppy hat on that first perfect spring day!

Begin by gathering all hand tools and removing any dirt or rust with a wire brush, steel wool or light sandpaper. An old pro’s tip is to keep a galvanized tub with sand and waste oil to clean tools in. By inserting the shovels, spades and forks into the mixture and moving them up and down, they get a good scrubbing with the abrasive sand as well as a coat of lubricant!

For tools that need sharpening, do so with a file that is made specifically for this task. Remember to move the file in one direction only, and at a 45 degree angle.
If necessary, sand wooden handles with sandpaper and follow up with a coat of paste wax or linseed oil.
Spray all metal parts with a good coat of lubricating oil. This will discourage rust as your tools wait out the winter in your tool shed or garage.
Store your tools up off the ground and in a dry spot.
Drain water hoses and hang them in the garage. Water hoses left out during winter and exposed to freezing temperatures are more likely to tear and spring leaks.
Don’t forget about the lawnmower! If you don’t have a chance to use up the gas before storing it away for the winter, add a gas stabilizer to the fuel tank to prevent corrosion.
Store pesticides out of the reach of children and pets. Store dry pesticides in plastic bags. Liquid pesticides should be stored in a location that will stay above 40 degrees F.
If you have one, ready your snow blower for the season, and if you don’t, make it your mission to have a good sturdy snow shovel at your disposal. It’s always much better to be ahead of the game- just ask the guy who stands in front of the empty snow shovel display after the first snow storm hits!

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