As gardens get ready for winter sleep, gardeners can start preparing for the spring awakening by cleaning, sharpening, and sterilizing the tools that make gardening possible. Some gardeners regularly maintain their tools during the gardening season, but for those of us who do not, autumn maintenance is a good idea.
Consider a few benefits of tool maintenance:
• First, you can extend tool life by preventing or removing rust and grime, while reaping an economical benefit as well.
• Second, you can keep your plants healthier by cleaning and disinfecting tools used on diseased plants. Sharpening blades is another way to prevent disease. According to William Moss in a National Gardening Association article (at garden.org), dull blades make ragged wounds, which “are easier to infect and take longer to heal” than the clean, straight cuts made by sharp blades.
• Third is more effectiveness and efficiency for the gardener. Sharp blades cut cleaner and faster, as Moss puts it, “A sharpened shovel moves through garden soil like a hot knife through butter!” Removing stuck-on sap and grime from blades also makes the tool work better and faster. For example, stuck-on sap can make pruner blades stick after every cut, which slows down and frustrates the gardener.
Time spent on maintenance tasks in the fall (or in winter) can go a long way to increase gardening pleasure in the next gardening season.
To learn how to clean, sharpen, and sterilize tools, search gardening websites and YouTube.
— Growing Green is a regular feature prepared by the Mount Hamilton Horticultural Society (https://gardenontario.org/view/society-layout/entry/517/ or Facebook). The writer, Judy Hernandez, lives in Hamilton.
As gardens get ready for winter sleep, gardeners can start preparing for the spring awakening by cleaning, sharpening, and sterilizing the tools that make gardening possible. Some gardeners regularly maintain their tools during the gardening season, but for those of us who do not, autumn maintenance is a good idea.
Consider a few benefits of tool maintenance:
• First, you can extend tool life by preventing or removing rust and grime, while reaping an economical benefit as well.
• Second, you can keep your plants healthier by cleaning and disinfecting tools used on diseased plants. Sharpening blades is another way to prevent disease. According to William Moss in a National Gardening Association article (at garden.org), dull blades make ragged wounds, which “are easier to infect and take longer to heal” than the clean, straight cuts made by sharp blades.
• Third is more effectiveness and efficiency for the gardener. Sharp blades cut cleaner and faster, as Moss puts it, “A sharpened shovel moves through garden soil like a hot knife through butter!” Removing stuck-on sap and grime from blades also makes the tool work better and faster. For example, stuck-on sap can make pruner blades stick after every cut, which slows down and frustrates the gardener.
Time spent on maintenance tasks in the fall (or in winter) can go a long way to increase gardening pleasure in the next gardening season.
To learn how to clean, sharpen, and sterilize tools, search gardening websites and YouTube.
— Growing Green is a regular feature prepared by the Mount Hamilton Horticultural Society (https://gardenontario.org/view/society-layout/entry/517/ or Facebook). The writer, Judy Hernandez, lives in Hamilton.
As gardens get ready for winter sleep, gardeners can start preparing for the spring awakening by cleaning, sharpening, and sterilizing the tools that make gardening possible. Some gardeners regularly maintain their tools during the gardening season, but for those of us who do not, autumn maintenance is a good idea.
Consider a few benefits of tool maintenance:
• First, you can extend tool life by preventing or removing rust and grime, while reaping an economical benefit as well.
• Second, you can keep your plants healthier by cleaning and disinfecting tools used on diseased plants. Sharpening blades is another way to prevent disease. According to William Moss in a National Gardening Association article (at garden.org), dull blades make ragged wounds, which “are easier to infect and take longer to heal” than the clean, straight cuts made by sharp blades.
• Third is more effectiveness and efficiency for the gardener. Sharp blades cut cleaner and faster, as Moss puts it, “A sharpened shovel moves through garden soil like a hot knife through butter!” Removing stuck-on sap and grime from blades also makes the tool work better and faster. For example, stuck-on sap can make pruner blades stick after every cut, which slows down and frustrates the gardener.
Time spent on maintenance tasks in the fall (or in winter) can go a long way to increase gardening pleasure in the next gardening season.
To learn how to clean, sharpen, and sterilize tools, search gardening websites and YouTube.
— Growing Green is a regular feature prepared by the Mount Hamilton Horticultural Society (https://gardenontario.org/view/society-layout/entry/517/ or Facebook). The writer, Judy Hernandez, lives in Hamilton.