Is your garden ready for the spring season? As the growing season nears, it’s worth checking out the shed if your garden tools and gardening supplies are complete. Without the proper garden tools and gardening supplies, doing yard work will be next to impossible.

How do you do garden maintenance?

Assuming you have the right tools, garden maintenance includes:

• Pruning
• Lawn care
• Weeding
• Soil amendment
• Regular clean up
• Hedge cutting and trimming
• Crop planting

Maintaining a garden should be well-planned, so your outdoor space will look exactly how you envisioned it. Before the growing season, think of the crops you want to plant, what kind of treatment to apply to the soil, what tools to use to clean up the garden, and what gardening supplies to stock up on. Plan the maintenance early so gardening will be taken care of for the rest of the year.

During the planning stages, you need to ask yourself these questions to achieve the desired results:

• What do you want the garden to do for you?
• What do you want the garden to look like?
• What garden supplies and garden tools issues have you tackled last year?
• How much maintenance are you willing to do?
• What kinds of tasks need to be done in every season?
• Can you commit time to do all the gardening tasks?
• What tools and materials do you need the most?
• How to extend the life of your gardening materials?

Daily Gardening Tools Maintenance

• Loosen caked-on soil and dirt from your tools using a spray hose and a trowel
• Spray WD-40 on cleaned garden tools to prevent rust
• Wipe the pruning shears and loppers, and other sharp tools with an oiled cloth after use
• Store your tools in the garage or the garden shed; never leave them out in the sun and rain

Springtime Garden Tools Maintenance

• Sharpen your garden tools yourself or have them professionally sharpened
• Oil up your gardening tools
• Prepare a bucket of sand with oil and plunge your tools into the bucket to prevent rust
• Stock up on whetstone for sharpening pruners
• Lubricate your tools with vegetable oil
• Tune-up, the lawn mower, replace worn out parts including spark plug and oil filter
• Fill electronic garden equipment with ethanol-free gas

Fall Season Garden Tools Maintenance

• Check your gardening tools for damage or part replacements
• Check your garden supplies and stock up on essentials
• Check tool handles, see which ones need sanding down or replacements
• Treat tool handles with linseed oil to protect the wood during the winter season
• Drain and put away the garden hoses
• Run the mower dry, do not store gas in the mower during the winter season because fuel will damage the fuel tank

How often do you do garden maintenance?

You need to do garden maintenance frequently, especially if you are growing your own food or selling crops for profit. The same thing is true if you want to create a manicured garden; yard work like pruning, trimming, etc., should be done weekly.

10 Useful Tools To Help You Maintain Your Garden

To prepare for the growing season ahead, you need to check if you have the right tools. Your garden will only be truly ready when you have all the right tools. Here is a checklist of the essential gardening tools that every grower should never be without:

Pruning Scissors: Also called pruning shears, this tool features two blades that close together to make clean cuts. This is used to prune, trim, and cut deadwood and soft live wood. Pruning scissors come in an array of designs, so choose wisely! If you are planning to get a lot of pruning done throughout the growing season, go for heavy-duty garden shears like the ECOgardener pruning shears

Garden Gloves: No garden toolset is complete without a pair of trusty garden gloves. Yard work and gardening can be quite hard on the hands. A pair of gardening gloves protect the hands from cuts and blisters caused by doing yard work. But just in case you lose your gardening gloves or end up damaging them, a pair of heavy-duty disposable nitrile gloves can work in a pinch. These powder-free gloves are less likely to cause irritation and have passed stringent quality tests. They also come in various sizes, from small to extra large. Keep a box of them within easy reach, as any layer of protection for your hands is better than nothing. This goes especially if you use sharp tools all the time. Apart from absorbing friction and shock, the gloves work as a barrier that reduces your risk of injury.

Hand Pruning Shears: Hand-pruning shears are similar to regular pruning scissors, but the handles are shorter. This tool is designed for pruning small plants such as bonsai, succulents, leafy crops, etc. Because the handles are shorter, you have more control over the blades, allowing you to make precise cuts

Hand Trowel: A hand trowel is a small tool shaped like a shovel with a short handle. It is used for digging small holes into the ground. Hand trowels are used to transplant seedlings, plant bulbs, or uproot certain plants.

Hedge Shears: Hedges provide a versatile barrier in the garden. You can shape the hedges to add privacy to your outdoor space, improve the look of the garden, or highlight your space from neighboring houses using a trusty pair of hedge shears. Hedge shears feature long, narrow blades to cut and trim branches and stems, even in tight spaces. Trimming and shaping hedges take a lot of work, so choose one that’s designed for heavy-duty use, like the ECOgardener garden hedge shears.

Rake: This garden tool consists of a row of metal teeth that’s attached to a long handle. A rake is used to level the soil before planting as well as to remove unwanted debris from the ground. It is also used to gather fallen leaves, stems, and other garden debris for easy cleanup.

Telescoping Branch Shearsr: Still lugging around a ladder to trim and cut branches and stems in high places? Telescopic branch shears feature a pair of adjustable handles to boost your reach. With this tool, you can trim trees, shrubs, bushes, and hedges high up without straining, thanks to the adjustable handles.

Shovel: This tool features a broad, flat blade and is used to move loose, granular materials like soil, composting materials, gravel, etc., from one spot to another. It is also used to dig holes for planting or setting poles, and trenches, lift sod, or even the edges of flower beds.

Weeder: Also called a weed puller, a weeder lets you clear the garden of pesky weeds without bending or kneeling down. You’re not even touching the weeds at all. A weeder like the ECOgardener weed puller features a claw-like head that clamps securely on the weed. Just give the handle a twist, and the weed is pulled roots and all. It will take time to get used to weeding using this tool, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll never weed the same old way ever again.

Hoe: A hole is similar in appearance to a shovel. It features a broad metal plate, but the edge of the plate is sharp like a blade. The wide metal plate is attached to a long handle. The sharp edge is used to break up soil or remove weeds.

A complete gardening tool kit is key to easy gardening at any season. When shopping around for garden tools and gardening supplies, the one thing to remember is to invest in quality more than anything else. You want your gardening tools to last you for years without the backbreaking maintenance. We’ve got all your gardening essentials at our online store. Shop now and make gardening a cinch.