The Columbus Dispatch: Give Your Garden Tools Some TLC

In this article today, Jane Martin of the Columbus Dispatch offers some good advice about caring for your garden tools over the winter.  From the article:

Soil and plant sap left on tools hold moisture that can cause rust on metal parts. Start by rinsing tools with water and using a wire brush or coarse steel wool to remove soil. To remove rust, use steel wool on small tools, and medium-grit sandpaper on larger flat surfaces such as spades, shovels and hoes.

Use a whetstone to sharpen pruning shears, doing your best to follow the original factory edge. Spades, shovels and hoes can be sharpened with a metal file or grinding wheel, also following the original edge. Then coat metal surfaces with lightweight oil. Wooden tool handles should be cleaned with a brush and sandpaper, then coated with boiled linseed oil.

There’s a lot more good advice there.  Check it out; it’s a good read.

To Avoid Rust, Tools Need Some TLC During Winter Lull [The Columbus Dispatch]