Gardening can be a great and relaxing pastime but it can also be a dangerous one if you are not careful and can cause many aches and pains. As many of us are making the most of our gardens we thought we would share some tips to keep you safe in your garden.
- Protect yourself
Wear garden gloves to protect your hands from thorns, stings, sharp tools, blistering and when handling fertilisers or pesticides. Also, consider whether you need a knee rest if you are going to be doing a lot of work on your knees to protect them.
- Taking care with power tools
Gardens often need some more heavy-duty work such as hedge trimming or tree cutting and if you do the work yourself you will be using powerful tools that are electrical or diesel-powered that need to be handled carefully. This includes being aware of wires as trip hazards and what is around you such as children and animals so that accidents don’t happen. If you need to work at height on a ladder ensure that you have an even surface and someone holding the ladder for you or that it is anchored securely.
- Warm-up your muscles
Many gardeners suffer from aches and pains afterwards as they don’t consider gardening as a form of exercise when often you are working muscles that you don’t use too much. Repetitive motions such as digging, raking, sweeping, trimming and pruning can be hard on your muscles. So, it is worth treating it as an exercise class and doing some warm-up and cool-down stretches to help ease any muscular pains. It is also worth switching tasks or taking breaks when doing repetitive tasks to ease muscular aches and skin irritations.
- Beware of your back
Many gardeners can suffer from bad backs due to the amount of bending and lifting involved. To avoid this, try to kneel rather than bend as it puts less strain on your back. When you need to do any lifting check your lifting technique and bend from your knees and not with your back and hold heavy objects closer to the body to prevent straining.
- Watch out for insects
Be mindful of insects and any potential hazards such as bees or wasp nests that might be disturbed if you are cutting back a lot of your garden. If you are stung clean the area, apply a cold pack and take anti-inflammatory medication or antihistamine if needed. Monitor the person that has been stung and if their breathing becomes laboured called an ambulance.
- Protect yourself from the sun
If you are going to be out in the garden for long periods gardening ensure that you are protected from the sun with a good SPF and ensure you apply cream everywhere especially if you remove layers. Consider wearing a hat or sunglasses to protect your eyes.