Tools for tending roses last foryears if you clean them aftereach use and sharpen themregularly.

1. Stock your garden shed with a long-handled spade, a garden fork, and a cultivator. Keep plant markers, a dethorner, and a sprayer handy, too. Have buckets for carrying fertilizer as well as cut flowers. Wear boots, gloves, and a hat to protect yourself as you work in the garden.

continue reading below Wear gloves to protect your hands from thorns.

2. Protect your skin by wearing a pair of heavy-duty gloves. Gauntlet-style gloves extend past the wrist and cover part of your arm. Those made from leather or another impenetrable material allow you to dethorn the roses you cut for arrangements by sliding your gloved fingers down the stems.

Twine is versatile, but it does deteriorate and will need to be replaced.

3. Use twine to tie rose canes as you train them to grow on fences, arbors, and obelisks. In late fall, wrap twine around long canes to keep them from blowing and breaking in winter winds. Also use it to secure burlap wraps on tree roses. Twine deteriorates eventually and needs to be replaced.