Disinfecting your pruning shears is an easy step you can take to preserve the health of your plants. I know you already have your shears in your hand, and you’re ready to get to work, but let the Hippocratic Oath guide you here: don’t make a bad situation worse.

Sterilization does not have to be difficult. I like to use cheap drugstore rubbing alcohol. A little squirt on a rag is enough to wipe off your pruning blades. The wiping action will remove any built up debris or sap, because the alcohol not only sterilizes but it is also an effective solvent. There are cheaper ways to sterilize your tools, for example mixing a diluted solution of common bleach and water, but I find that bleach water will make your tools rust faster.

How often do you need to sterilize your shears? It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about a hand pruner or a pole pruner, it’s reasonable to sterilize your blades before you start each plant. That way–at the very least–you won’t move pathogens around your yard between multiple plants. This is why it’s so important to make sterilization easy. Put the alcohol in a small misting bottle, or in a dropper, or just squirt it right out of the bottle that it came in. You can use little packaged alcohol wipes, but that’s going to generate unnecessary trash. Ultimately, do whatever is easiest for you, or else you won’t do it. Keep a little squirt bottle in the pocket of your garden apron, apply a few drops, wipe quickly, and get right back to pruning.

In most cases, sterilizing once before each plant is probably plenty. But don’t be afraid to do a quick internet search if you think you have a sick plant. Some pathogens move slowly within the plant but move a lot faster if you spread it around with contaminated shears. I’m looking at you, Fire Blight!!

If I’m pruning a loquat here in the southeastern United States, then I sterilize my shears before every single cut, even within one plant. Is that branch brown because it cracked in last week’s wind storm, or is that the first unfortunate sign of Fire Blight? Don’t take chances. Fire Blight is a very contagious bacterial infection. Don’t let it hitchhike a ride from cut to cut as you prune, or you could lose your entire tree.