Stay Safe In Your Garden This Summer

Getting out in the garden in the Summer months can be a great way to unwind, enjoy some fresh air and time away from screens. And with all the time we’ve had stuck at home in the past 18 months, it’s not surprising to hear that gardening has become an increasingly popular hobby. It can be incredibly rewarding planting your own flowers, vegetables, fruits or herbs, and watching them grow. Not only does it give you a great sense of achievement, but it can also be strangely therapeutic caring and nurturing for another living thing.

However, working in the great outdoors does come with it’s own hazards, and whether you’re a green-fingered expert or are working on transforming your first garden, there are certain things you need to consider to stay safe when gardening. You may be wondering how much harm you could actually come to in your own garden, but any sort of manual labour comes with risks. When you combine that with spending hours outside in the hot Summer heat, you’re exposed to even more hazards. Which is why it’s so important to be prepared.

Let’s take a look at just a few of the things you should consider to help you stay safe in your garden this Summer:

1. Protect your hands
   Wearing protective gloves when gardening is essential. Not only can professional gardening or work gloves keep your hands clean from general dirt and grime, but they’ll protect you from sharp thorns and twigs too. They also provide support for the small, vulnerable bones and ligaments in your hands while you work, to prevent you from over-straining and causing injury to your hands. Gardening gloves can also be useful if you’re handling any tools or machinery, such as a heavy lawn mower or a pair of gardening shears, they’ll protect your hands from developing calluses and create a barrier from any friction which might otherwise occur.
2. Be mindful of how you move
   Gardening does unfortunately involve a lot of kneeling and bending and whilst this in itself isn’t necessarily harmful, over time you can cause injury if you’re not mindful of your posture. Try to avoid bending over where you can, instead why not try kneeling on a cushion or use a small stall to sit on when working at a lower level.
3. Don’t work on one task too long
   Another issue you can find when gardening, is that a lot of tasks involve repetitive movements. Whether this is mowing the lawn, pulling up weeds or trimming a tree. This is why it’s so important to switch up your tasks every so often. Try not to spend more than an hour working on one task, otherwise you may find your muscles seizing up and feeling sore, or even ending up with strains from repeating the same movements over and over again. The key is to not to spend too long in one position. Why not tend to your taller plants for a while before switching it up and mowing the lawn, then switching it up again to see to your flower beds and ground level plants.
4. Drink plenty of water
   On an average day it’s recommended that we should be drinking around 2 litres of water, after all, we’re made up of around 60% of water so our bodies require a lot of it to function correctly. However, it’s even more important to keep an eye on your hydration levels when you’re outside in the warmer Summer months. Our bodies use even more water to try to regulate our temperature and keep us cool. So make sure you’re regularly hydrating while you’re out in the garden, maybe even carry round a refillable bottle with you to encourage you to keep drinking throughout the day.
5. Seek shade
   When you’re really stuck into a job in your garden, it’s all too easy to get carried away and spend longer out in the sun than you realise. So try to remember to seek shade every hour or so, to help keep cool and avoid getting sunstroke. If half of your garden is in the shade at one time, then try alternating between the areas of your garden you work in.
6. Use the right tools
   Even if you’re by no means a professional gardener, it’s still important to use professional tools. Buying tools which are designed for the job in hand will make much lighter work of most of your gardening tasks. If you try to complete a job using the wrong tool, you can often turn an easy task into a much harder one. Not only will using the wrong tools make gardening far more time consuming and hard work, but it’ll also be less enjoyable. Our advice is to invest in the right tools from the get go!
7. Treat any cuts or scrapes
   The odd cut and scrape is unfortunately a hazard of the job when gardening, and while you might not think too much of it, it’s important to take even the smallest cut or scratch seriously. Due to the various bacteria which is present in our gardens, any small or minor injuries must be treated promptly to avoid infection. Simply clean up the wound and apply some antiseptic cream to the area as soon as possible. If you’re particularly concerned about a cut or scrape, then it might be a good idea to get it checked out by a doctor in case you require a tetanus injection.
8. Wear SPF
   When you’re working outside in the elements, SPF is an essential. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a sunny or cloudy day, there are still harmful UVA and UVB present which can cause serious, irreversible damage to your skin. So always remember to apply your sunscreen. It’s recommended to put it on around 30 minutes before you go outside.
9. Use PPE when you need it
   As well as your protective gardening gloves, there are many other PPE items which you may find beneficial to keep you safe when gardening. Safety glasses or goggles can be great when you’re cutting down tall tree and bushes, when you want to avoid any debris getting in your eyes. Safety boots or steel toe boots are also helpful to keep your feet safe while supporting your feet and ankles, which can help support your overall posture too.

Most of all – enjoy yourself and your new hobby! Gardening can be a great way to unwind and keep active at the end of a long day working.

At Pronto Direct we stock a wide range of PPE, safety footwear and protective clothing, all of which are ideal for professional and amateur gardeners alike. Discover just a few of the items in our range below. Click here to visit our main shop.