Stay Safe in Your Yard This Summer 🔑

~ Who does not love being outdoors in the Summer? Sometimes it might be a little too warm, but even when it’s hot, you can still find ways to enjoy yourself. Sunny Summer months allow you to spend more time outside, whether you want to do some gardening or just sit back and relax in your favorite lounger. However, Summer can also come with various hidden dangers to your health and your home. It’s important to stay safe, so you should check that you’re not doing anything dangerous or neglecting your safety.  Before you enjoy your yard this Summer, consider the following options.

Create Some Shade

Enjoying the sunshine is half the fun of Summer. Some people get to enjoy plenty of sunshine all year, but not everyone is so lucky. If you can’t wait to soak up the rays, just remember that you can have too much of a good thing. You might want to enjoy the sun sometimes, but you should seek cover from the potent sun rays hiding in the shade. If your yard doesn’t have any shaded areas for you to sit in, you can easily create such areas around the property. Use an awning, an umbrella or even a gazebo so that you have somewhere to hide from the sun and still enjoy your yard.

Hide or Secure Your Valuables

One of the problems with Summer is that you might start to keep more things outdoors. While that’s fine when there’s someone there to watch over your stuff, but if not, you don’t want to leave anything valuable unsupervised. If someone spots your bicycle, your outdoor speakers or even your trampoline in your yard, there’s a risk that they could take it. Or they might read it as an indication that you have more valuables inside. When you’re not in your yard, especially at night, make sure you put away anything that could be easily stolen. Some larger items might also benefit from being fixed in place. Just yesterday, a local gardening member posted a picture of his two blue flower planters that were stolen at night. So sad, thus, luck your possessions, please.

Get Rid of Mosquitos

Bugs are one of the worst things about Summer. From those that bite or sting to the ones that just annoy you by buzzing around, you don’t want to put up with them. Mosquitos are one of the worst culprits because they can carry diseases. If you’re worried about mosquitos, head to this link to find out how to treat your yard and keep them away. You might also want to think about other bugs, such as borrowing beetles, or flies, that could be a health hazard or might affect your plants. Ticks can carry diseases that might get passed to you or your pets too, and you can treat your garden to get rid of them. Only wish I was aware of how to protect the yard before being tick bitten in Maryland. It’s not worth the aggravation, health side effects and continuous antibiotics doze for the duration of many weeks…Ugh.

Cover Bodies of Water

Having a pool or pond in your yard is great during the Summer. However, it can also be dangerous, especially for children and some animals, too. In some places, you might be required to cover your pool or have a fence around it to keep people out (such as we do). Legally, it might be considered as an “attractive nuisance,” which means you could be blamed if any young children are hurt by accessing your pool. Even small ponds can be dangerous, particularly for toddlers and small children. Covering your pool or pond with mesh wire or something similar helps to keep it safe but still allows you to admire it.

Install and Check a Fence

A fence around your yard keeps the intruders out and limits access to strangers. If you have children or pets who play outside your home, you want to be able to keep them safe without necessarily having to watch them all the time. If you have a fence already, check that it’s in good condition. If there is a gate, make sure it’s functional and secure. A new fence could be a good idea if you don’t already have one or if the one you have is no longer adequate.

Watch Out for Poisonous Plants

As much as I love nature, some plants are not ideal to have in your garden. They might look good, but that doesn’t mean that you want them around. Some might be bad for cats or dogs to ingest, while others could irritate your skin or exacerbate your hayfever. You might not even have intended to plant anything that could be dangerous, but it’s found its way into your garden anyway. It’s worth checking to see if anything unexpected has sprung up, just to make sure there’s nothing hiding anywhere. If you find the vegetative growth that could be dangerous, remove it safely wearing garden gloves, throw it in the trash bag and tie it tightly.

Put Away Chemicals

If you have gardening products that could be dangerous, make sure that they’re out of the reach of children and pets. You don’t want anyone getting into substances that could harm them if they consume them or even touch them. Put everything away somewhere safe, from weed killers, oils to plant food. Use a shed or greenhouse that you can lock up, or perhaps an outdoor storage box.

Be Grill and Fire Safe

Lighting a fire in the cooler evenings or cooking on the grill is great to do in the Summer. But there’s also a lot of potential for injury if you’re not careful. As well as keeping children and pets safe, make sure that all adults are sensible around grills and fire pits. Keep flammables away and keep an eye on your grill or fire pit. Make sure you fully extinguish a fire before retiring for the evening. Teach your children how to be safe around the grill or fire, and use barriers to keep them from getting too close.

Check for Trip Hazards

Finally, check to see if anything hidden in your yard might trip someone or make them fall down. A loose slab in your patio, extended tree roots, wet leaves or an uneven bit of ground might not seem like a big deal. Although, if someone trips and falls over, it could result in some unwanted hurts and negative memories, to say the least.

Stay safe this Summer, my friends, by checking your yard for any potential hazards. Spending some time making sure your yard is safe will help you enjoy the upcoming warm season months.

Luda@PlantsandBeyond🌿

Photographs listed here do not belong to Luda @PlantsandBeyond.com

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