Yard tools have their purpose and their place. Chances are if you have a large yard or you are meticulous about the appearance of your yard, then you probably have a lot of them. As the seasons change, your arsenal likely needs to change with it.
Snow and ice removal equipment can sometimes rub shoulders with rakes, pruning shears, and lawnmowers to create a tangled mess that cannot be described by our modern understanding of physics. All of this has the net effect of robbing you of precious weekend hours that would be better spent doing something other than organizing yard tools.
It seems clear that if you want to enjoy a full Saturday, that you need to implement some thoughtful storage solution to get your yard tools organized and keep them organized.
Getting Clutter Out Of The Way
One of the biggest challenges in garage organization is dealing with things that don’t necessarily belong in the garage. A lot of families end up using the garage as a sort of dumping grounds for things like seasonal decorations and unused sporting goods.
To make the most out of the space you have available, you need to first find a proper home for other storage items. This might mean storing the artificial Christmas tree and boxes of decorations in the rafters above the garage or installing pull-down attic shelves to maximize the overhead storage space.
Creating Space For Out Of Season Storage
Once you’ve gotten the soccer balls and Christmas trees away from the rakes and shovels, you can then turn your attention toward finding a proper place for out-of-season lawn gear. You don’t need the snow shovels getting in the way of the lawn mower in July, and you don’t want the string trimmer tangling with the snowblower in January.
These are pretty simple revelations that don’t take a lot of forethought. Storage sheds and heavy-duty free-standing shelves can hold larger pieces of lawn equipment like snow blowers and push mowers. A lightweight corded electric lawn mower might even be hung on a wall by a heavy-duty hook, or lifted onto the top of a free-standing garage shelf.
The bigger challenge with seasonal yard tools comes in the fall, and especially in the spring transition seasons when it might be nice and warm one day and snowing the next. Do your best to keep what you might need to use in an easy location, and move specialized tools like pruning shears and weed whips to the back of storage areas to save functional space.
Peg Boards & Hook Systems
Pegboards have been used in workshops and basements to hold hand tools for decades. In recent years they have become recognized for their versatile ability to hold a wide range of accessories. This includes things like clips for push brooms, floor squeegees, and rakes, as well as bin systems to hold small, lighter items such as trimmer string and battery clips.
There are even some pegboard systems that are designed to work with heavy-duty hooks. This gives you the ability to hang heavier items like corded electric lawn mowers, string trimmers, and snow shovels.
Get Extension Cords Organized
Look in most garages or storage sheds and you are bound to find more than one extension cord. Just like Christmas lights, these wires are prone to tangling in frustrating rat nests that can waste your precious time and conjure up swear words the kids won’t soon forget!
Fortunately, the frustration of extension cords is well-known and a lot of companies now offer their own take on how to spool them up neatly. Find the system that works best for you, and then make a point to stick to it diligently. This might be a pair of peg hooks, a repurposed garden hose reel or simply a coil kept in a shallow drawer.
Labeled Tote Bins
Heavy-duty tote bins are a very convenient way to store away out of season, or lesser-used items in the garage or tool shed. Some of the best have reinforced corners and either hinged lids or stackable lids that let you make the most out of your vertical storage space, without having to eat up a lot of square inches on the garage floor. Labeling them with a black permanent marker lets you spot what you want when you want it, without having to sort through a lot of other totes.
Ceiling Hooks For Hangable Items
There are a lot of things that you can hang from the ceiling with a robust hook or two. This includes power cords, hand tools, or even to store bicycles in the winter. Driving them into the overhead ceiling stringers of your garage is preferable to installing them via drywall anchors.
Heavy-Duty Adjustable Shelves
Shelves are a great place to store in-season and out-of-season yard tools. Setting up adjustable shelves on heavy-duty track systems lets you customize what things are stored were throughout the season. This is a great way to optimize your vertical storage space. It can also be very handy for the transition seasons of spring and fall when you might need to pull something out of storage prematurely when the weather suddenly changes.
Lockers & Cubbies
If you have an eye for repurposed materials, you might be able to get your hands on some old lockers or cubbies. With a fresh coat of paint, they can be transformed into convenient storage compartments for long-handled tools like shovels, rakes, and pruning shears.
Create A Battery Charging Station
The evolution of battery technology and electric motors means that more and more yard tools are not battery-powered in some way. All these different cords and chargers can quickly turn into a tangled mess that wastes your time.
Creating a battery charging station on a workbench or a shelf gives you a dedicated place to keep all your chargers and tidy up all the power cords. Zip ties and cord sleeves can help reduce tangles. A surge protector helps prevent against accidental overloads, while also helping increase the number of available outlets at your charging station.
