Whether you’re a novice or have a green thumb, any gardener recognises that keeping garden tools in good condition makes all the difference in ensuring your garden is well-pruned.
Whether you’ve just moved house or need a more convenient storage solution, you might be wondering how to store your garden tools to keep them in the best condition.
To store your garden tools, you will need to:
- Thoroughly clean and dry your garden tools
- Arrange your garden tools into piles
- Create a convenient storage system
- Store your tools in a dry location
- Secure and lock your garden tools away
1. Thoroughly Clean & Dry Your Garden Tools
Before you can store your garden tools, you’ll first need to clean your garden tools.
Whether you’re a regular gardener or haven’t picked up your tools in a long time, it’s important to give them a thorough clean before storing them to remove any dust or dirt.
To do this, you can hose them down with water and use a wire brush to remove any soil.
To remove any residual soil that is stuck to your garden tools, you can also place your tools in a bucket of soapy water and allow them to soak for 15 to 20 minutes.
Why Is It Important To Clean Your Garden Tools?
Cleaning your gardening tools after every use is important to ‘keep diseases, fungi, insect eggs, and weed seeds from being unwittingly spread around the garden’.
This also prevents any future insect infestations from hatching wherever you store your garden tools.
To prevent the metal surfaces of your tools from rusting in storage, you’ll need to ensure that you thoroughly dry your garden tools with a microfiber cloth after cleaning them.
Cleaning your gardening tools after every use is important to ‘keep diseases, fungi, insect eggs, and weed seeds from being unwittingly spread around the garden’.
2. Arrange Your Garden Tools Into Piles
The next step is to arrange your garden tools into piles.
If you’ve gardened for a long time, then you likely have a lot of tools in your collection that you’ll need to sort and arrange into piles.
For instance, you might label your piles ‘most-used’ for the tools you need access to on a regular basis and ‘less frequent’ for tools you don’t reach for as much.
This is also a good time to make a ‘recycle’ pile for any old garden tools and accessories that you no longer need, such as rusty tools or old gardening gloves that have become worn and are no longer safe to use.
3. Create A Convenient Storage System
Before you can store your garden tools, you’ll need to create a convenient storage system for your garden tools.
The storage solution you choose will depend on the amount of space that you have available to you.
If you’re storing your tools in a shed or garage, for instance, you might decide to install a pegboard to store your individual garden tools. Additionally, hooks and tool holders are great for storing everything from rakes to shovels.
Alternatively, if you’re limited on wall space, you might decide to upcycle an old set of drawers to store your garden tools.
Whatever storage system you opt for, make sure that it’s convenient for the amount of gardening that you do.
The storage solution you choose for your garden tools will depend on the amount of space that you have available to you.
4. Store Your Tools In A Dry Place
You’ll want to store your garden tools in a dry place that’s not far from the garden itself.
This could be anywhere you can easily access, such as a garage, storage shed, greenhouse, or summer house.
Storing your garden tools somewhere dry is crucial to keep your tools in the best condition.
That said, where you store your tools won’t matter if you don’t make sure that you clean and dry your garden tools after every use time you intend to store them.
If you fail to clean and dry your tools as required before you store them in the dry location, they won’t stand the test of time.
To learn how to move garden pots and garden supplies, check out our blog here.
5. Secure & Lock Your Garden Tools Away
Last, but not least, you’ll need to secure and lock your garden tools away.
Considering that ‘around 300,000 people are hurt seriously enough in their gardens to need to go to hospital every year’, being sensible and locking your garden tools away is essential.
From garden shears to garden cutters, you likely have an array of sharp garden tools in your collection that could cause an accident if left unattended.
To ensure that your tools aren’t in danger of harming anyone in storage, be sure to secure and lock your tools away to keep your little ones and other family members safe.
Considering that ‘around 300,000 people are hurt seriously enough in their gardens to need to go to hospital every year’, being sensible and locking your garden tools away is essential.
So, there you have it. Hopefully after reading this article, you have a better understanding of how to store your garden tools.
To learn more about our removals services or purpose-built storage facilities, contact Nathan. At Falconers we use meticulous moving techniques, passed down and perfected through generations for over 132 years, to ensure your goods are moved with expert precision and kept in perfect condition. For more expert advice on how to pack, move and store your belongings — or other FAQs on how removals work — check out our blog page.
Written by Jemima Thomas for Falconer Removals & Storage.
