Posts tagged as:

tools

When do you need to disinfect your tools?

by Leslie Crawford on February 8, 2010Thank you

I will be the first to admit that I don’t do a good job of taking care of my tools. Rust is probably one of the most prolific things I have going at times in the garden, unfortunately. A little more TLC would be a good thing and I’m trying to do better.

I had not considered the fact that I could be spreading more problems around my garden with my dirty tools. So, when should I disinfect my tools and how should I do it? Interesting questions and I have some answers for you….

First, when is it important to disinfect? Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott writes an article called “Sterilized Pruning Tools: Nuisance or Necessity?” that is a good overview of this question. Read this first before you get yourself all worked up about having to disinfect. Maybe you’ll dodge a bullet….

But if not:
In another article, written by Dr. Chalker-Scott, titled “The Myth of Cloroxed Clippers – A bleach solution is the best choice for disinfecting pruning wounds and tools” that talks about this second issue, with the author discussing a lot of options and why she likes Listerin, Lysol and Pine-Sol best for disinfecting. Sounds easy enough, which is good; otherwise, I’ll never get around to it!!! (Hey, at least I’m honest about it!!!) :-)

Tagged as: garden tools, sterilize, tools

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Smith & Hawken closeout

by Leslie Crawford on October 22, 2009Thank you

If you haven’t heard, Smith & Hawken is on its way out. ALL stores will close down permanently at the end of the week so they are clearing out everything. I stopped by there the other day with my friend Terry and we had a field day. We got great deals on all sorts of great stuff including store fixtures. I bought a lot of little crates that the stores use for holding merchandise and I also bought a bunch of wooden shelves that I will use for a variety of things. Some of the coolest things I found were some racks made in Holland. They were used for display in the store but I can use them for sifting dirt from my compost pile, covering over empty planting beds and other uses I haven’t thought of yet. (Yes, I know, a bad justification for buying!) The best part of our shopping experience is that they were taking offers on the fixture pieces so I got to haggle. Love that! Here’s a picture of the haul!

Terry guards our haul while I get the car.

Terry guards our haul while I get the car.

Tagged as: Nurseries & Gardens, tools

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