After toiling over your lawn and beautifying your garden for months, there finally comes the time to retire your tools for the colder seasons ahead. It always helps to have a few tricks up your sleeve when storing your gardening tools, so we thought we would share five clever ways to organize and protect your garden storage.
1. Get a Handle on Your Long-Handled Tools.
Long-handled tools are naturally awkward to store. They somehow always fall down and knock everything else down with them. Try hanging your more cumbersome tools along a wall using heavy-duty hooks or PVC pipes. If you usually keep them in a garbage can or bin, add some sand to the bottom of it. The sand not only weighs the can down, making those unfortunate spills less likely, but it keeps your tools sharp and protects them from rust. Mix some oil in the sand and it works even better!
2. Store and Sit.
A storage bench doubles as—storage and a bench! If you are in need of a little more storage space for smaller items you want to keep around the yard, add a storage bench to your garden, backyard or lawn. It’s an inconspicuous way of storing your tools while adding value to your outdoor space.
3. Dry and Drain to Prevent Rust.
Make sure your tools are clean and dry when you store them to prevent rusting over time. You might want to condition them with a rust protectant for extra help. To prevent your lawnmower from rusting in storage, add some fuel stabilizer to a full tank of new fuel. Run the lawnmower for a couple of minutes to make sure it circulates and the job gets done!
4. Properly Store Your Hose.
Storing your hose can be an unruly process. Luckily, we have some tips to store your hose properly! First, it’s best to keep your hose off the floor, so use hooks or brackets to hang it. Next, make sure the hose is free of kinks. Lastly, leftover water in the hose can freeze in the wintertime, damaging it, so be sure to drain the hose thoroughly before packing it away.
5. Create a Hanging Garden Tool Organizer.
You can buy a premade hanging garden tool organizer or create your own! Repurpose a wooden pallet or a pegboard to hang your smaller tools on the wall. It’s a great way to keep your tools organized and within reach.
Follow these steps and you’ll be able to easily pick up where you left off once warmer weather rolls back around! If you need a safe place to store your gardening tools during the long winter months or more storage space, contact the storage professionals at Secure Self Storage!