Easily Sharpen Your Garden Shears With The Help Of This Must-Have Tool

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Well-timed trimming will protect many plants from disease while promoting optimal growth. Deadheading rose bushes during the fall, for example, can help them withstand winter and pruning fruit trees' branches first thing in the spring can encourage a bountiful harvest. Keeping your garden shears in good shape is just as important as timing and technique. This includes sharpening them every few months. 

Sharpening your shears with an abrasive whetstone requires some skill and dexterity. You can easily hurt yourself if you struggle to steady your whetstone while grinding a blade against it. That's why diamond files are a must-have tool for gardeners. Some diamond files offer both coarse- and fine-grit surfaces for sharpening different kinds of tools. Unless your garden shears are extremely dull, a medium- or fine-grit surface should suffice. Some gardeners prefer mini-files for sharpening smaller shears. No matter which size you choose, a file lets you reshape blade edges fast and doesn't require oil like some whetstones do.

To get started, clean the tool you plan to sharpen with soapy water and dry it thoroughly. If necessary, dislodge rust with steel wool and a lubricant such as WD-40 non-aerosol spray. Then, find the shears' beveled edge (which is at an angle). This is the only part you need to sharpen. Put on safety gloves if desired, place the file against the beveled edge, and push it upward, applying constant, gentle pressure. Repeat this process (rather than moving the file back and forth like a saw) until your blade is sharp.

Pruning shears are a must-have tool for beginning gardeners as well as experienced ones. New gardeners are less likely to know when they need maintenance, however. Dull blades can cause a lot of trouble in your garden. That's because they often make jagged cuts. When this happens, pests and diseases are more likely to infiltrate a plant's inner layers. This issue is even more likely if you prune your garden plants right after a heavy rain. 

Telltale signs of a dull blade include nicks on its edges and tearing when you try to prune stems and branches. If you need to squeeze your shears harder than normal when trimming your plants, it's sharpening time. A diamond file makes it easy to complete this task promptly, helping you stay on schedule when trimming your plants. It's also one of the safest choices for sharpening cutting tools with warped or difficult-to-access edges.

Keeping your shears sharp also helps you prune more precisely. This is especially important for bonsai, topiaries, and other ornamental plants that should be shaped in a specific way. It also matters when removing branches from plants with dense foliage — hedges, for example. If you're unable to make clean cuts deep inside a hedge, parts of the plant may receive insufficient sunlight. The same is true of thick tree canopies. This problem can seriously compromise the plant's health. In addition to enabling precise pruning, file-sharpened shears make pruning packed-together branches quicker and easier. This means you can spend more time simply enjoying your garden.