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I got out the files and the whetstone and set to. When I was done the tools were sharpened, the joints were oiled and tightened where necessary, the handles were painted neon pink and each one had its own peg on the wall. After that, spring cleanup in the garden was much more pleasant.
Tools I worked on: hand pruners, big loppers, manual hedge clippers, grass edger shears, the machete I use to chop up compostables, the Swiss Army knife I carry in my pocket, the shovels, the trowels, the leaf-shaped hand weeder, the square spade, both kinds of hoe, the half-moon lawn edger and, very important, the lawn mower blade. The more I looked, the more things I found that were dull or broken. It was a big effort just to set to rights so many years of neglect. But it has paid off in convenience many times over.
Dull tools don't work well. The effort to cut a branch with dull pruners not only hurts the plant by crushing its stem, it hurts my arthritis. A sharp shovel cuts into the soil so much easier than a dull one-and it's easier on my back. The lawn doesn't get that brown cast when the mower blade is sharp because the leaves have been cleanly cut, not ripped out in tatters. And when you're teetering on a ladder trying to tie up some vine, it's wonderful to have a knife that severs the twine on the first try.
I'm a convert to the neatness school and I will never go back to my slovenly ways. The payoff for cleaning up the tool shed is bigger than you might think. First, you can find your tools when you need them without wasting half an hour rummaging through a dirty pile of miscellaneous stuff. Second, bright painted handles make it so much easier to spot a tool left out in the garden before it composts itself over the winter like my original pruners did. Consider that a high hook gives you a place to keep that now razor-sharp machete where the toddlers can't reach it but you can get at it whenever you have cornstalks to shred.
The best part is that you don't have to do all the work yourself. There are people who sharpen tools for you at a very reasonable cost. I now go to the man who contracts with my local fabric store chain. Once a month he sets up shop and sharpens scissors, knives and lots of other tools in the back of the store. If you don't have someone like that in your mall, ask at the home improvement store or at your local nursery or garden center. They will have a list of handymen/women who can help you.
Knives, pruners and machetes need to be very sharp, while shovels or hoes don't. If you like to do things yourself, a good metal file and a whetstone are all you need for improving pruning tools. The process is simple-bevel the edges by pulling the file across the metal at a consistent angle. For finer sharpening, as with knives, grind the blade on an oiled whetstone in a figure 8 pattern like they taught you in Scouts. Check with your tool supplier for more instructions on specific sharpening needs.
Spring brings lots of work in gardens, and it's satisfying to know your tools will be on your side instead of working against you.
Hortsense: Managing plant problems with Integrated Pest Management
