Safety in the Garden...

It seems that gardening has become one of those 'must have' hobbies as I recently discovered when visiting my parents at their own chocolate box lid house and garden at Easter.

My Dad was showing off the latest edition to his tool collection - a garden shredder, kindly donated by another villager who was 'upgrading'.

Now my Dad's a bit fanatical about garden safety - a lesson I've learnt well myself. Apart from all the opportunities to cut or stab one's self with any number of manual garden implements, there is, it seems, a wide variety of garden implements to electrocute one's self on as well.

The golden rule with any piece of equipment - electrical, petrol or otherwise is to read the instruction manual properly and follow the advice regarding suitable clothing, footwear and protective goggles and ear pads.

Where you use a piece of equipment is as important as how you use it. Don't fall foul of tight spaces or overhanging branches.

Finally, if you're using electrical equipment in the garden, then make sure you use correct power cables and outdoor extension leads. Always plug them in via a protective 'cut-off' switch which will cut off the electricity in the event of you cutting your own cable my mistake. Sounds utterly preposterous I know but you'd be amazed how many times it happens and that's not including all the near misses.

We're talking everything from the smallest electrical strimmer or lawn mower to the largest shredders and hedge cutters. Remember - safety first!

photo credit: akermark