Potential Dangers in Your Garden (And What to Do About Them)

Many new parents are a bag of nerves and with good reason. If you are having your first child then you might well consider yourself wholly unprepared for them and for the changes they are going to require to your lifestyle. This often results in them sensibly running around the home fixing everything they can to make sure that there are no potential dangers and nothing that could cause an accident – cutlery is in locked draws, medication is out of reach, sharp edges are eliminated and trip hazards are removed from the floor.

But what about the garden? As your child gets older they will begin to want to play in the garden and this then brings with it a whole host of other potential dangers. As a new parent then you need to ensure that your garden is as safe as possible before you let your children play out there, and you need to regularly check that it is as safe as it can be. Here are a few things that you should take into account to this end.

Trees

Trees can look great if your garden is large enough, but they can also present some potential dangers if they become overgrown. For instance you might find that your trees present too much of a temptation for a child with ideas about climbing and getting to the top, which of course creates the very real risk that they could fall and injure themselves – especially if the branches have grown beyond reason to become long and brittle.

You also need to make sure that your trees aren't damaging the fence to create gaps where kids can get out or where trespassers can get in, and you need to make sure that they aren't creating areas in your garden where you can't see where kids can get up to mischief under your nose.

Lastly of course with a very large and heavy tree there is a slight risk that it could fall and cause injury that way so it's important to prevent it getting too unruly for that reason too.

Fences

The most important thing to bear in mind as far as your fences go of course is that you need to keep your kids in and your trespassers out. This means making sure that you have no gaping holes in your fences and making sure that it is tall enough to provide suitable security.

Hazards

There are various hazards in the garden that we tend to leave lying around. If you have tools for instance like sheers or rakes then these of course can present a very real danger to kids and likewise so can things like outdoor sockets – if you have them then make sure they are covered up and hidden somewhere in the garden where kids won't want to put their fingers in them.

Plants

When you have kids you need to think hard about the plants and trees you want to grow. Stinging nettles for instance are not a good idea as they can cause discomfort, but more serious still is anything that is toxic when eaten (kids can and will eat everything) and even things like trees with acorns which can be a choke hazard.

The experts in tree pruning. Visit The Tree Company website today for more information on our arborist.