Proper Storage of Garden Chemicals

Storing lawn pesticides and weed killers

Storing Lawn and Garden Chemicals

Household, lawn and garden chemicals can cause a high risk of injury to children pets and adults, and it's for these reasons that if we are going to buy and use lawn and garden chemicals - then it is our responsibility to ensure they are kept safely and in good condition at all times.

Ultimately, the very best place to store garden chemicals would be inside a locked cabinet in the garden shed, but this may not always be an option for many people.

The next best option would be to store these chemicals on shelving units which are out of reach of children inside the garden shed, and then to ensure to keep the shed under lock and key permanently.

Storing chemicals at height in shelving units also brings a few other considerations to keep our kids and pets safe, because we only need to forget once to lock the shed door and we could have problems.

• Ensure that no climbing apparatus is within the shed , these may include chairs or ladders
• Ensure that the lower shelves are filled with other product to prevent climbing.
• Ensure the storage unit or rack is securely attached to the side of the shed to prevent it falling if it were climbed.

Storing Different Chemicals Together

Properly storing lawn and garden chemicals

Many different chemical types can react with each other to create combustible or volatile substances.

As most homeowners are not chemical experts, it's always best to stay on the side of caution, and store all chemicals as safely as possible.

The safest way to store all chemicals for homeowners is to separate all of them into their usages groups. Meaning the garden and lawn chemicals are all stored together, and other chemicals such as Pool chemicals are stored apart from these in a different cabinet.

For safety's sake, do not store one chemical group on a shelf above another chemical group. Place different chemical groups into different shelving units.

Broken Chemical Bottles

In the case of broken chemical bottles, do not transfer these chemicals for storage into a new container unless under the strictest circumstances:

• the new container is the same type as the old - i.e. glass into glass
• the new container is capable of permanently holding new product details to identify the substance, safety instructions and the use by date.
• the original label can be permanently adhered to the new container, or new product information can be obtained online and printed and adhered to the bottle permanently.

Instead of trying to repackage and re-store these chemicals, it's better to try and use the chemicals immediately, by spraying lawns or gardens, or the lawns and gardens of neighbours and friends.