Care and Repair of Garden Tools

Knowing how to properly use and maintain garden tools will increase their life, help prevent personal injury, and increase your gardening enjoyment. For example, properly uncoiling a hose will prevent you from tripping or catching your foot in the coil. The points of an upturned rake can inflict painful and sometimes serious puncture wounds when stepped on, to say nothing about the possibility of the handle flying up and striking you in the face. Tools must not be left where their edges or point may be hidden by grass, leaves, or other material. Keep your fingers away from the blades of the lawn mower: merely striking your hand against the blades can lead to a brutal injury. A small, slight crack in a wooden handle can be repaired by wrapping the handle with tape. A glass filament tape is particularly useful for such a job.

Splinters in wooden handles of rakes, hoes, and shovels can be cured by sanding the surface until it becomes smooth again; this not only protects your hands, but keeps the cracks from spreading and causing the handle to break. A good way to preserve a wood handle is to apply several coats of quality varnish or to paint it. The metal parts of the tool may be painted, with a primer coat, and two coats of exterior paint. However, any metal part which goes into the ground should not be painted.

Aside from preservation by paint, the tools are easier to find when their handles are of a color which makes them conspicuous if left lying on the grass: The color, therefore, should not be green or brown, but a bright contrast to the grass such as red. yellow, blue, or white. The metal edges of shovels, hoes, rakes or other garden tools may become nicked. These may be smoothed with a metal file. Any rough surfaces should be gone over with steel wool or other abrasive which is good for metal. Dents may be straightened out by hammering with a mallet. A wheelbarrow break, in the wood or metal parts, should be repaired at once. Painting the wheelbarrow helps preserve the wood. The moving parts need occasional oiling, to run smoothly. For winter storage, keep tools in a dry spot as dampness could be harmful. Wipe all tools clean of any dirt or grass before being stored. The metal parts should be coated with a mixture of petroleum jelly and light oil, to prevent rust.

Caring for your garden tools will help them last year after year!

In Search of the Best Gardening Tools

Different kinds of gardens require different kinds of garden tools. Hardware stores mostly cater for a wide range of tools, but there are shops that specialize in the more expensive kind of garden tool that shouts quality. Wherever you decide to shop, here are a few pointers to advise you. 

Do you have small garden or a large one? A small garden will not require the same large equipment that would be of use in an extensive one. A ride-on mower is unnecessary if you only have a small strip of lawn. Another point to consider is who does most of the gardening? Some tools are too heavy for use by women.

When you buy secateurs make sure the blade always stays sharp to avoid damaging the plant. Look for models that have blades that can be sharpened or replaced, models with tension control and with sizes that best fit your hands. Secateurs usually cost around $50 - $130.

Hedge trimmers or shears are handy - but only if you have a hedge, or plan on growing one.  Some hedge trimmers have curved blades to stop branches from sliding out when cut.

Forks are used for turning and aerating compost and breaking up lumps of soil. The cheaper ones are often not strong enough for heavy soil, so go for sturdiness instead of price. Forks usually cost around $30 - $100.

A shovel has a scoop blade and is best used to move around dirt and garden soil. A spade has a flat blade great for cutting edges, digging and dividing plants. The edge of a spade should be kept sharpened for clean and efficient cutting will cause the least amount of damage to plants. These are a basic garden necessity and usually cost from $30 - $50.

A pruning saw is used for pruning trees and larger shrubs, while secateurs are for plants like roses. Pruning saws have a narrow curved blade that fits between stems or branches and easily and cuts them as you pull the saw backwards. They are approximately $27- $55.

A chipping hoe is a handy tool for getting rid of small weeds. The Dutch or push-hoe is slightly more user-friendly as the action required to use it does not jar the neck and shoulder quite so much.

A rake is also a basic requirement for the garden. The strong rake with the flat head and sharp metal prongs is used for smoothing a garden bed and getting out the last of the bumps and weeds. The plastic rake is used to gather leaves and grass clippings only. 

Gardening tools don't have to be expensive. Flea markets and garage sales can be excellent places to pick up great tool bargain.

An Introduction to No-Dig Gardening

The idea of no-dig gardening was developed by an Australian named Esther Deans. It was originally both developed both as a labor saving idea, and a method to rejuvenate badly depleted soil in a vegetable garden.

The process involves starting with layers of newspaper, and by adding lucerne hay, straw and compost in succeeding layers, you can create a growing medium without resorting to heavy digging, and one that is rich in nutrients and which will simplify weeding and encourage your much desired plants to grow. The layers compost together, and greatly encourage earthworms. The gardens are maintained by adding manure, compost, etc., and should not be dug up, as this will undo the good work. I have used this approach to creating vegetable gardens, and it certainly does work.

The principle of not digging has sound foundations. Excessive cultivation of the soil, especially when very wet or very dry, will damage the structure of the soil, and lead to compaction. Such excessive cultivation can also discourage the earthworms, and they are the best free labor a gardener has.

Some followers of permaculture and organic gardening have translated no-dig into never-dig, which I believe is sadly mistaken. If you start with a base soil that is badly compacted, then your no-dig garden will initially work well, but you may find your garden does not continue to perform well. The fertile layer you have built up will encourage the earthworms, but we do know that the worms need to shelter from excessively hot, dry, cold or wet conditions. They have been found to seek shelter from extreme conditions by burrowing more deeply into the soil, sometime many feet down. If they cannot shelter in this way, it is my contention that they will die out or move out. 

My belief is that an initial cultivation of the soil before you apply the no-dig system will guarantee a better environment for the worms, and thus a better garden for growing your plants, over the longer term. 

By all means give the no-dig approach a try – you will be pleased with the result.