Container Garden 411

There’s nothing worse than an inefficient tool when an important garden job needs to be done. After so many uses, your garden tools can easily become dull, rusted, dirty, and sometimes they break. It’s an inconvenience to stop your activity and go buy another. You just want to get the job done, and you really don’t want to spend any extra money. Continual maintenance will help you to save money and time with your gardening tools. The following article will give you some handy tips on caring for your tools. These tips include the why and how of cleaning your tools, sharpening them, and storing them.

Cleaning Your Garden Tools

You want your tools to stay clean and looking good. If tools are dirty, it can make them dull. It can also enable them to rust more easily. So what you’ll want to do is clean excess dirt and rust off of them with water. Dry them off after you clean them because if you leave them wet, they can rust. Scrape and wipe off extra stubborn dirt and rust. Cleaning your tools can be done with an old towel. You can also clean off some dirt after use (if they don’t need a thorough cleaning) by wiping them through and on grass. But this won’t do it if the tool needs a thorough cleaning. If joints in your tools are creaking, you’ll want to lubricate them. Any lubricating spray will work fine. This helps ensure that rusty bolts and joints don’t break and work smoothly.

Storing Your Garden Tools

You’ll want to store your tools properly to keep them safe from harm, theft, rusting, and other things. If you uncaringly toss your tools to the side when you’re done with them, there’s a possibility of breaking or losing them. So what you want to do is have a specific safe and dry place to store your tools, such as a barn, basement, or garden shed. Always try to keep your tools organized and stored where they are easily accessible. When you’re done with the tool, clean it off and put it back where it was. If you leave tools sitting in bad positions, they can break or bend, and they won’t work properly. Tools should always be kept in a safe secure place. Put them in a place where you know they are, and only you have access to them. Garden sheds have some great storage systems and are probably the best way to store your tools.

Sharpening Dull Garden Tools

Dull tools don’t work as well as they should. If they are not maintained they can be dangerous to the user and harm the plants they are being used on. They can make bad or dull cuts, or not make cuts at all. If you have a dull tool, you don’t have to buy another one. You can simply sharpen your tools. Before sharpening, you’ll want to make sure your tools are clean. This will help them sharpen better and it will keep your tools for sharpening safe from dirt and rust as well. You can use sharpening blocks and stones to sharpen things such as knives and scissors.Knives and scissors can also be sharpened with a file but you will need a different file for each utensil.You can use a file or sharpening stone for sharpening your hoe.You can also use sharpening stones or metal files for sharpening things such as shovels and rakes.You can use a file to keep your tools sharp.

It doesn’t matter what size your garden is, there’s no doubt that gardening tools can help make looking after your garden heaps simpler.  But there are so many tools available that it is very hard to know which equipment you really need, particularly if you’re new to gardening.  It’s tempting to avoid making a mistake by just buying everything, but then you’ll be left with no money and a storage area full of stuff you don’t need.

So which tools are worth buying?  Gardening involves shifting dirt around, so a digging tool is always a useful choice.  If you’re mostly working in pots or containers, then a sturdy trowel is a worthwhile investment.  A shovel is better if you’re going to be moving large amounts of soil around, or to assist you with planting trees, vegetables and flowers.  It might be tempting to save yourself some effort by choosing a power tiller or plough, but unless you have a very big garden, they probably involve more expense and trouble than they’re worth.

Another excellent tool to buy is a rake or hoe.  Again, if you’re going to mainly be working in smaller areas, a pot-sized equivalent is a good idea.  These tools can be used to smooth soil and remove weeds.  This sort of work can be done by hand, but it’s easier with the right tool, particularly in a big garden.

Although they’re not technically a tool, good gardening gloves are also useful.  It may be a good idea to have a couple of pairs – some heavy duty ones for rough work, and some thinner ones when you need to feel what you’re doing. 

Once your garden is established, then at least one pruning tool is necessary.  Depending on the size of your plants, choose anything from pruners or secateurs through to large tree loppers.  It’s worth spending a little more to buy a solid, reliable pruning tool, otherwise it may be ruined the first time you try to cut anything with it.

A few more tools that you can probably survive without, but will make gardening easier depending on the style of your garden, include:

- Wheelbarrow
– Garden fork
– Watering can
– Hose & hose reel
– Rake

Again, it’s not hard to buy cheap tools, but if you want to use your tools for a long time, think of choosing good quality tools as an investment.  Cheap tools don’t mostly work as well, and tend to be less sturdy and easier to damage.  Happy gardening!

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It is necessary for you to invest in some basic tools in order to start a garden. However, such tools will certainly not be costing you too much. Yard sales or flea markets may well make such tools available for you at costs even below a hundred dollars. In any case it is better to avoid purchasing the expensive tools while starting the practice of gardening because it might be that interest in gardening is lost very soon and the entire investment in garden tools turns out to be a loss.

Starting with the shovel and the rake- the two basic garden tools now there are quite a few basic tools for gardening that are available. Among these you can proceed to buy the things that you will really need more.

The spading fork is to be chosen as the first and foremost garden tool. This is because before any kind of planting is to be done the soil needs to be opened and improved. The spading fork will dig into hard soil and break up the ground. Next comes the need of a hoe. This is used in weeding and cultivating the surface of the soil in order to facilitate the penetration of water and plant nutrients.

A watering can is to be selected next. While choosing this it is to be remembered that long nozzles are preferable as they allow the water to come out at a gentle rate of flow and also prove to be helpful in reaching across longer distances. For watering young seedlings the watering can with a detachable spray head is best suited.

A round-ended shovel is to be importantly selected. This proves to be useful in case of larger digging projects like planting of shrubs and trees. There is also the need to buy a good bow rake- the one that has short tines on a side attached to a metal frame or bow. This comes of use in leveling the soil after the soil has been turned out before planting. It also helps in removing large chunks of earth or rocks from the soil. The bow rake can also be turned over and its flat side used for smoothing soil for planting preparation.

Finally, a pair of garden shears fitting comfortably in hand is to be opted for. The shears or clippers as they are sometimes referred to, serve the object of pruning, shaping and removing leaves or branches. There are expensive shears available too but these are only to be opted for in case gardening really becomes a fascinating hobby.

Over time and upon longer usage the tools used for gardening may become dull. This brings the need to sharpen them. The right file is to be chosen for sharpening. Large coarse files are meant especially for trimming and shaping materials and for smoothening and shaping edges small fine files are to be used.