Cleaning garden tools

By George McVey, PhD.
Contributing Writer
Union County Post

The best thing you can do for your garden and plans is to keep your tools “hygienically” clean. This will help keep disease from spreading.

Hand Tools
You can use rubbing alcohol or diluted bleach solution. Here’s a little tip: keep a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and a pack of cotton balls or cotton makeup pads in your gardening tool bag or cart. After pruning your plant, they will be handy to clean your hand tools.

Large Tools
After doing any job with your shovel, spade or garden fork, wash and dry them. You can do this with a bucket of diluted bleach solution and rinse with a garden hose.
At Season’s End
At the end of the gardening season, sharpen your tools. Fill a 5-gallon bucket or several buckets with sand or kitty litter. Once you have done this, saturate the contents with motor oil. Dip your tools in the bucket and wipe them dry. This will keep them from rusting and they will be ready to use for the next gardening season.
If you continue to do this yearly, you won’t have to purchase new garden tools thus saving you money. Don‚t we all want to save money? Preventative maintenance can go a long way.
Happy Gardening!

The Master Gardener offers horticulture advice and tips, focusing on current issues, by volunteers who are with The Ohio State University Extension, Union County Master Gardener Program. For answers to gardening questions, call 937-644-8117 or e-mail gmcvey@ag.osu.edu. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.