Tools left leaning in a corner end up standing in whatever collects on a shed floor - rainwater tracked in, spilled compost, condensation off cold walls. Wooden handles swell and split where they sit in it, and steel heads stay damp long enough to rust. A length of batten with a line of hooks screwed to the wall gets everything up off the ground and spaced out enough to dry properly between uses. It's an hour's job with a drill and a level, and it's the kind of thing that's easy to keep putting off until the fork handle you're holding onto has already gone soft.

Build a Wall-Mounted Rack to Get Garden Tools Off the Shed Floor

What you need

1 length of 45x20mm timber batten, about 1.2m an offcut is fine
6 double-prong tool hooks or cup hooks for smaller tools
1 box 40mm wood screws
4 wall plugs only needed if fixing into brick or blockwork rather than timber
1 sheet medium-grit sandpaper to knock splinters off tool handles while you're at it

Step by step

Pick a stretch of wall and mark the rack height at about 1.5m from the floor - high enough that long handles clear the ground, low enough to reach without a stool.
10 min
Cut the batten to length if needed, and sand down any rough edges or splinters.
10 min
Mark hook positions on the batten evenly spaced, roughly 200mm apart with a margin at each end, and drill a clearance hole through the batten at each mark.
15 min
Hold the batten against the wall at your marked height, check it with a level, and mark the fixing points on the wall through the drilled holes.
10 min
Drill into the wall at each mark. Into brick or blockwork, use a masonry bit and insert a wall plug; into a timber shed wall, a pilot hole is enough.
15 min
Screw the batten firmly to the wall, checking it's still level as you tighten the final screw.
10 min
Screw a hook into each marked position along the batten.
10 min
Hang tools with blades turned to the wall and heavier tools nearest a wall stud, spacing handles so heads aren't pressed together.
10 min

Afterwards

Wipe soil or damp off tool heads before hanging them, and give blades a light rub of oil so they don't rust over winter. Check the screws are still tight after a few weeks once the timber has settled, and retighten any that have worked loose.

Questions

Do I need to drill into brick, or can I screw straight into a timber shed wall?

Most sheds are timber-clad, so a pilot hole and a wood screw hold well on their own; wall plugs are only needed when fixing into brick or blockwork.

How high should the rack go?

About 1.5m works for most tools - high enough that long handles clear the floor, low enough that you're not reaching above head height for a heavy spade.

What if a tool doesn't have a hole in the handle to hang from?

Forks, spades and rakes don't need one - rest the neck of the head over a double-prong hook. A drilled handle only matters for hanging something by a hole, like secateurs.