Gardening Safely

Children have enquiring minds and are always exploring and investigating everything around them. Risk potential in relation to hazards change with the age and experience of the child and from child to child.

Whether child or adult, it’s impossible to avoid all potential hazards, so it’s important to learn as much as you can about your garden environment and take a commonsense approach.

Using garden tools

You don’t need many tools to start gardening, or have to spend much money. Just buy good quality tools starting with those most often used. Cheap tools tend to bend and break but good quality, well designed ones are a joy to use and will give years of faithful service. The following shows how to use the main tools and what to look for when buying.

The basic line-up
Spades are used for digging (especially sandy and loam soils), moving small amounts of loose materials (eg compost), and stripping off turf. A shovel with upturned blade edges is more useful when moving larger quantities of material.

Forks are used for digging (especially stony and sticky clay soils), breaking up the soil and lifting bulky organic materials (eg leafmould). Also useful for harvesting larger plants (eg leeks) and removing bigger weeds

Digging techniques
When moving materials, push the spade or fork into the heap, pressing down on the shoulder of the blade with your foot for added pressure. Hold the handle firmly with two hands, one hand nearer the blade. Only lift a comfortable weight and minimise twisting when moving loads.

Buy tools with long or short handles appropriate for the user. The depth of the blade is called a ‘spit’ and is available in larger or (more useful) smaller ‘border’ sizes. Lightweight models are available. Flat edges at the top of the blade are easier to push down on.