March Tips
TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

Contact: Diane Relf, Extension Specialist, Environmental Horticulture

October 1996

  • Protect yourself and the blade of your pruning saw during storage. Make a cover for it using a piece of old garden hose the same length as the blade. Cut the hose lengthwise on one side, and place it over the saw blade.

  • A 5-gallon bucket, already a popular garden carry-all, can be converted into a dual-purpose, tool holder/harvest bucket by tying a tool pouch to the outside. Outside the bucket, carry trowels, pruner and seeds. Inside, collect vegetables or weeds.

  • Ice cream scoops are great for digging holes for transplants; the dirt slides off easily.

  • If you haven't done it already, check stored tools and outdoor furniture for signs of rust. Remove any surface rust with steel wool, and paint with rust-inhibitive paint.

  • If your tiller turns over sluggishly in spring, before trying to start it, move it to a sunny location and cover it with a black plastic garbage bag for half an hour. A few minutes of solar heating will warm up the fluids and make starting easier.

    Monthly Tips have been prepared since 1986 by various staff of the Office of Consumer Horticulture including Ellen Bennett, Michelle Buckstrup, Susan Day, Susan DeBolt, Sharon Dendy, Kate Dobbs, Sheri Dorn, David Gravell, Virginia Nathan, Jenny Shuster, Ellen Silva, and Ruth Sorenson. Resource material for the development of this information includes the Virginia Master Gardener Handbook; Extension Publications and newsletters from VCE, numerous other states, and the USDA; and an extensive library of over 900 books, magazines, and journals. Project funded by The Virginia Gardener Newsletter subscription fees. Diane Relf, Project Director and Content Specialist.

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