• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Texas A&M Forest Service
  • Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostics Laboratory
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Research
  • Texas A&M College of Agrculture and Life Sciences
Montgomery County Master Gardeners
Montgomery County Master GardenersTexas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Menu
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Demonstration Gardens
      • Adaptive Garden
      • Aquaponics
      • Bog Garden
      • Composting
      • Discovery Garden
      • Floral Gardens
      • Greenhouse
      • Herb Garden
        • Entry to Herb Garden
        • Herb Recipes
      • Orchard
      • Vegetable Garden
    • Educational Gardening Classes
      • Gardening Classes
        • 2022 November 12, The Living Layer of Earth
        • 2022 October 8 Gardening Class
        • 2022 August 25 Gardening Class – Growing Microgreens
        • 2022 August 13 Gardening Class – Turfgrass
        • 2022 July 21 Gardening Class – Orchids
        • 2022 July 9, Gardening Class
        • 2022 June 23, Gardening Class- Texas Superstars
    • MCMGA Privacy Statement
    • Speakers Bureau
  • Contact Us
    • Garden Helpdesk
    • How to Become a Master Gardener
    • Soil Testing
  • Members Only
    • VMS
    • Forms for MCMGA Members
    • Membership Directory
  • Publications
    • Articles
  • Blog Posts
    • Texas Kidneywood
    • Red Velvet Ant
    • Wildscapes
    • Walkingstick Insect
    • Texas Wild Orchids
    • Tea Roses
    • Japanese Maple ‘Baton Rouge’
    • Skinks of Texas
    • It’s time to think spring bulbs!
    • Spring Bulbs Planted in Fall – Part one
    • Canna Leafroller / Brazilian Skipper
    • Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha)
    • American Beautyberry Jelly Recipe
    • Dragonflies and Damselflies
    • Rattlesnake Master
    • Do Copperheads eat Cicadas?
    • Crinum
    • Texas Bluebell
    • The Red-cockaded Woodpecker
    • Indian Pink
    • 2022 September Gardening Tips
    • 2022 August Gardening Tips
    • 2022 July Gardening Tips
    • What to do in the garden in July
    • 2022 June Gardening Tips
    • 2022 March Gardening Chores
    • 2022 February Garden Chores
    • 2022 January Gardening Chores
    • 2021 December Gardening Tips
    • 2021 November Garden Chores
    • 2021 October Gardening Tips
    • 2021 September in the Garden
    • 2021 August in the Garden
    • 2021 June Gardening Tips
    • 2022 F&N Sale On-line Resources
    • 2021 Spring Sale starts on Tuesday April 27
    • On-Line Gardening Class – Free
    • A happy gardener’s view to a symbiotic relationship with deer
    • New Texas Superstars
    • Profile of a master gardener – Lynell Soltys
    • Profile of a master gardener – Michael Christensen
    • Profile of a master gardener – Teena Reese
    • Profile of a master gardener – Lloyd Schill
    • Profile of a master gardener – Cliff Blackerby
    • 2021 Herb, Vegetable and More Sale – Starts Tuesday, March 16 *** On-Line ***
    • 2021 Herb and Vegetable on-line sale has been rescheduled
    • 2021 Fruit and Nut Sale
    • 2020 Virtual Fall Plant Sale
    • 2020 Fall Plant Sale Pre-View and Plant List
    • MCMGA 2020 Fall Plant Sale – On-Line
    • 2020 Fall Plant Sale – On-Line Shop is open
    • Heat-loving plants for summer months
    • Why you should aerate your lawn
    • Planting for Pollinators and Other Wildlife
    • Monarchs and Milkweed
    • What the heck is pH and why is it important?
    • Tale of Woe by Bob Dailey
    • 2020 Upcoming Saturday Classes from MCMGA (Plant Sale is CANCELED)
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 11: Still LIfe Photography
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 10: Life Cycle
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 9: Abstract Photography
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 8: The Art of Exclusion
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 7: Find Something
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 6: Shallow Depth of Field
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 5: Black and White
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 4: Macros
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 3: Perspective
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 2: Composition
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 1: Light
    • Not Just Another Rose of Sharon
    • Must Have Abutilons
    • Fall 2019 Open Gardens Day
  • Events Calendar

2023 January Gardening Tips

January Garden Chores

By Bob Dailey

It’s time to look after your tools, folks. Spring is just a couple of months away, and you’re going to want your garden tools to be in good shape.

Here are some problems and solutions:

Rusty tools

Remember that tool you noticed was a little rusty before winter started and planned to get rid of the rust, but just forgot about it?

First, wash any dirt from the tool.

Next, soak the tool in regular household vinegar for about 12 hours. This can remove rust from almost every tool. If the tool has been sitting out somewhere and has a pretty thick layer of rust, soak it for up to 24 hours.

There will probably be some gunk on the tool once you remove it from the vinegar. Now take a steel brush, sanding block, or a Dremel brush – or if a large tool, a drill with a steel brush attachment and remove anything not metal.

Clean the tool with warm soapy water, dry it thoroughly, then coat with boiled linseed oil (available at most hardware and big box stores).

If your tool has a wooden handle, rub some linseed oil on the wood as well. It will extend the life of your handle and restore the color of the wood.

Sharpening tools

For small tools, like pruners, use a small, hardened steel diamond-coated sharpening stone to hone only one side of the cutting blade (the outer side) at a 45-degree angle to the blade. This same tool can be used to sharpen digging knives, pocketknives, and other small tools. Next, use the finer side of the file to remove any burs caused from sharpening.

For larger tools, use a regular 8-inch farmer’s file on the cutting edge. For instance, when sharpening a hoe, file the outside of the blade until it’s sharp, then the fine side to remove burs. After you remove the burs, run your thumb lightly along the back of the hoe – the side facing you when you use it – to see if it is smooth.

Sharpening Mower Blades

Dull mower blades can damage your lawn. Instead of cutting the blade cleanly, it will shred the tops of the blades and reduce the grass’s ability to grow back. There are several ways to do this.

Remove the blade from the mower. Set the blade into a vise. Use a hand file at a 45-degree angle to sharpen. You can also use a drill with a hardened steel stone to sharpen it too.

Another way to sharpen the blade is to use a bench grinder.  It doesn’t take long using any of these methods.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Texas A&M University System Member

Login/Logout Below

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Texas AgriLife Extension Office/MCMGA
9020 Airport Road
Conroe, Tx. 77303
(936)539-7824

  • Compact with Texans
  • Privacy and Security
  • Accessibility Policy
  • State Link Policy
  • Statewide Search
  • Veterans Benefits
  • Military Families
  • Risk, Fraud & Misconduct Hotline
  • Texas Homeland Security
  • Texas Veterans Portal
  • Equal Opportunity
  • Open Records/Public Information