5 Steps to stay healthy while gardening in extreme heat
August 2024. By JT Wilkinson: This summer is hot! As we protect our clients’ garden from extreme heat, we’re grateful for queries about our team health. We think about yours too!
Whether you are a fellow landscaper or enjoy tending to your own outdoor spaces, the heat healthy behaviors in our Heat Illness Prevention Plan can help keep you in great shape as you attend to the gardens’. Here are our go-to strategies:
Travel Cool:
We travel with ice chests, Gatorade and water. Even when AC is relatively near, having ice nearer provides an important nudge toward proactive cooling. When in doubt, take the break. Cool down.
Hydrate Like an Athlete:
While gardening may look (and feel) like fun and games, it can also be an athletic event. Particularly if you are reaching, squatting, lifting and moving quickly between spaces, drink before there is thirst. If you are thirsty, take a proactive break to cool down as you hydrate.
Make a Plan, Take It EZ:
A garden’s beauty can call you to work spontaneously – yet, it’s wise to have a plan. We note temperatures, air movement, and humidity before we head out and prepare our wardrobe and flow of work. Where possible, we plan to follow the shade. In areas that simply don’t see much, we create it! EZ-ups provide wonderful support for focused work in sunny areas, like weeding meadows.
Get Free:
Heat will amplify the impact of gas-powered mowers, blowers and trimmers as well as chemical pesticides and fertilizers on health. We don’t use any of these items, and we and our gardens are healthier for it. Use of these tools in extreme heat creates higher risk for cardiac and lung-related events as well as heat illness. If you are not yet free of them, the other steps noted here become even more important.
Phone a Friend:
One of the first signs of heat illness is confusion, so it’s hard to spot it in yourself. We usually work in teams. When we don’t, we plan check-ins with one another. As you head out into the garden, it can be wise to phone a friend or ask a family member to check on you from time to time.
We love you, LA. Stay cool, safe, healthy and beautiful!
More Information:
CA Department of Industrial Relations: Cal/OSHA Heat Illness Prevention Guidance and Resources
LA Times: Extreme Heat Deaths