How to Protect Your Skin While Gardening 

Many people find gardening to be a fulfilling and relaxing hobby, but knowing how to protect your skin while gardening is a vital part of enjoying the many pleasures that come with gardening. Although many find gardening to be fun and relaxing, they also find it to be harmful in many ways.

For example, depending on the person most plants could cause skin irritation, and on sunny days we could experience sun burns, and don’t forget those pesky bugs, they can spread harmful bacteria to our skin which can cause skin irritation and itching.

Because we are determined gardeners and love what we do there are things we can do when we are gardening to protect ourselves from these hazards.

For one thing, wearing protective clothing and gloves, putting on sunscreen, and applying bug repellent can all help you stay safe while you’re outside!

Protect Skin from Cuts and Irritation

One of the main tools we use when working in a garden is our hands, so it is very important that we have ways to protect our skin from cuts and irritation.

One sure way we can protect our hands from injuries is to invest in a pair of gardening gloves. There are different types of gloves to choose from. Some of the best places to find gloves would be a hardware store or even better Amazon. Amazon has a great selection. You can view a good selection of whatever you want without leaving your home.

I purchased a pair of Acdyion Gardening Gloves from Amazon. I like them because they cover not only my hands but part of my forearm which protects me when I’m in the garden.

They are made to prevent any thorns or sharp objects from cutting through them and stabbing my hands or cutting me on the forearm.

I worked for a manufacturing company for over ten years and one of their PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) was gloves. So, when we were being fitted for a pair of gloves, they gave us tips on what to look for.  Some of these tips can be applied to wearing gloves in a garden.

• Make sure the gloves fit your fingertips exactly and that they aren’t too tight when you clench your fist.
• Never handle any of your plants without gardening gloves. They could cut you and the chemicals could irritate your skin.
• If you are working in the sun, put on sunscreen lotion.
• For a little more protection use petroleum jelly on your hands and put on some latex or nitrile gloves, to keep gardening gloves clean from the jell.
• Here is a good recommendation when you buy gardening gloves, buy a couple pairs for accidents that might happen. Keep them in your home for spares.

One more thing about gloves: when I worked in that manufacturing plant, we used different gloves for different jobs we did.  Same rule applies for gardening, there are different types of plants you might be working with, and all gloves don’t serve the same purpose, some plants are more delicate or have harsh hazard characteristics, than other so when you are handling these special plants make sure you have on the right gloves.

There are many advantages to choosing the right type of gloves for all of your gardening tasks, if you are picking flowers with thorns, then you don’t want to use thin cotton gloves because the thorns will stick you, so using a much durable or cut resistance glove would be best.

Also, when looking for the right gloves, think about the characteristics, such as breathability and comfort, durability and reliability, protection from punctures and chemicals, extreme comfort even during hot weather, these are just a few things to consider, and they help make a great overall gardening glove.

Protect Skin from The Sun Naturally

Being in the sun can be fun. Most of us love summertime, except when we spend too much time in the sun and get our skin damage from it. There are ways to protect skin from the sun naturally.

My brother worked in construction. Most of their jobs were in hot climates and in the summertime, it was even hotter. When I was younger my mom and I would go out and take him lunch sometimes.

One thing I couldn’t understand as a child was why they are fully covered with clothes. I had on shorts and a tank top shirt, and I was still hot.

What I learned later in life was that they wore full clothes to cover up their body because it is one of the essential things to help prevent sunburn.

They also wore clothing that was usually made of cotton; that was tightly woven. It is said that cotton is the best fabric for when the sun is out because unlike light fabrics, it makes it harder for the rays to pierce through to your skin. Also, it is known that dark, especially black colored clothing absorbs sunlight and rays.

That takes care of the skin portion for additional protection from the sun’s harmful UV rays. Wear sunglasses to protect the eyes and if possible, wearing a hat give the eyes and head extra protection from the sun.

Lastly, make sure that you get the right UV sunglasses protection and block the sun rays. I asked my ophthalmologist about what lenses are best while in the sun and I was told that Polycarbonate lenses provide the best protection while in the sun.

How to Keep Bugs Out of Your Vegetable Garden- (While Gardening)

Bugs don’t really like the hot sun; this is probably the best time to be in the garden. Now it probably won’t be bug free, but you will have less mosquitoes or ticks hanging around doing those times.

Most of these bugs come out doing dusk until dawn during the cool part of the day. While there still may be insects, like bees or spiders, during the day, they’re less likely to bite or sting you unless they’re provoked.

Here’s a few good tips to help deter insects:

• Avoid wearing strong-scented perfumes or colognes since they may attract the bugs as well.
• The smell of some herbs and flowers, can help to ward off bugs. For example, garlic works as a pest repellant, it repels insects in as much the same way as the smell repel people.
• Promote natural protection from birds lure a wide variety of birds to your yard by providing food, water, and shelter.
• There is a thing called companion planting, you can plant certain plants together and together they help control pest and allows your garden the best possible growth.
  

There are many other ways to keep insect and pest out of your garden, I hope these few tips I mention helps start the “Wheel a Turning” in your head for more Ideas to protect your garden against pest and bugs.

Happy Gardening 

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