A good garden tool, properly looked after, should last decades. This is one of those areas where buying well once and maintaining carefully is far better value than replacing cheap tools every few seasons. The time you spend caring for your tools is paid back many times over.
That kind of longevity isn't luck. It comes from a simple care routine that takes no more than a few minutes after each session in the garden. The tools that get left in the wet, stored dirty, and never sharpened are the ones that rust, chip, and break. The ones looked after properly outlast their owners.
Here's the routine.
After each use: the basics
Clean metal heads before you put anything away. Scrape soil off with a trowel or a stick, then wipe down with a damp cloth or a bundle of old hessian. Soil left on metal, especially in wet conditions, accelerates rusting and pitting. Two minutes of wiping will prevent years of damage.
If you have carbon steel tools (older tools, or cheaper modern ones), wipe the metal with a light coat of oil after cleaning. A cloth moistened with linseed oil works well. Stainless steel is more rust-resistant and less demanding, but still benefits from a wipe-down.
Don't leave tools lying on damp ground or leaning against outside walls. Hang them in the shed, or at least stand them upright on a dry surface with the heads off the ground.
Once a season: sharpening
A sharp spade and fork cut through soil significantly more easily than blunt ones. The difference is especially marked in heavy clay, a well-sharpened spade edge goes through it cleanly; a dull one bounces off.
Sharpening a spade or fork head is straightforward. You need a flat metal file (a bastard file is ideal) or a diamond sharpening stone. Hold the tool securely with the blade edge facing you, and draw the file along the inside edge of the blade in one direction, maintaining the existing bevel angle. Five to ten strokes per side is usually enough. The metal doesn't need to be razor-sharp, just no longer flat and dull.
Secateurs and loppers benefit from more frequent sharpening, and the technique is slightly different. A slipstone or specialist secateur sharpener, used on the flat face of the blade, keeps the edge clean. You can find sharpening supplies at Lawsons Group alongside replacement blades for the most popular brands.
Wooden handles: oiling and repair
Traditional ash or beech handles last decades if kept oiled. Raw linseed oil, applied with a cloth and worked into the grain, prevents the wood from drying out and cracking. Two or three applications in spring, left to absorb between each, will treat a handle that's been dry all winter. Do this annually as a minimum.
Inspect handles for cracks or splits at the start of each season. A small split caught early can often be stabilised with wood glue and a wrapped binding; a split left to grow will break the handle at the worst possible moment in the middle of a job.
End of season: the annual service
At the end of the growing season, typically late October or November, is the time for a proper tool service. Clean everything thoroughly, sharpen anything that needs it, oil handles and metal heads, and check for any repairs needed. Hang tools clean and dry for winter storage.
It's also the time to take stock of what's wearing out and what might need replacing. Replacement handles are widely available and usually straightforward to fit. A tool that needs a new handle is not a tool to replace, it's a tool to repair.
The people at Lawsons are always happy to advise on maintenance, repairs, and replacement parts. Looking after what you have is always better than replacing it.
