Here at Gardzen we love Halloween, and we love decorating our spaces to celebrate this spooky season. We also love gardening (obviously!) and nature, so we want our Halloween décor to be both seasonal and safe for plants, animals and people. Over the years we’ve accumulated some environmentally-friendly Halloween decoration ideas and some “Dos and Don’ts” for seasonal decorating. We’d like to share those with you here in the hopes that it helps you keep Halloween safe, healthy, and above all spooky for your garden!
· Pumpkins as decorations are a seasonal tradition across the Americas and a wonderful way to celebrate autumn. Like all things, however, there are better ways of doing it. If you’ll be carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns, make sure that you’re using a sharp, strong knife for the cutting and a sturdy metal spoon or spatula to remove the innards of the pumpkin. If you’ll be illuminating your jack-o-lantern, we recommend a flashlight, battery-powered candle or lantern, or glow stick instead of a traditional flame candle. In any event, make sure that your jack-o-lantern is on a sturdy, flat surface where it won’t be accidentally stepped on or knocked over.
· String lights and other outdoor lighting are a wonderful way to set a supernatural mood when decorating for Halloween, but they come with some safety tips too. Make sure that any lights used outdoors are rated for outdoor use so that they don’t short-circuit or otherwise malfunction in damp weather. With safety in mind, it’s best to plug outdoor lights into GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) outlets. Light cords and extension cords should be kept away from water, damp, water sources, or walkways to avoid damage to the cords or creating a trip hazard for people. And don’t overload outlets, power strips, or extension cords—that’s a fast way to create a fire hazard!
· Use compostable decorations whenever possible. We’re big fans of both composting and Halloween, so bringing them together gives us at special kind of joy. Pumpkins and other gourds are compostable unless treated with spray paint, synthetic glue or glitter, or other man-made cosmetics. We think that autumn leaves make a great seasonal decoration, and we’ve discussed garden uses for fall leaves elsewhere.
· Keep your pets safe when putting out Halloween decorations. Most traditional Halloween décor—pumpkins for example—is pretty pet safe. But smaller items may present a choking hazard to animals and small children. Halloween candy is a fun seasonal tradition, but most human candy isn’t good for animals. Likewise some costume makeup may not be animal-safe. Err on the side of caution and keep potential hazards away from pets and wild animals.
· Speaking of wild animals, please use animal-safe decorations both inside and outdoors. Artificial spider webs are a fun outdoor decorations as they’re both affordable and easy to put up. However, they’re also a real hazard for birds and small animals who often get tangled in them resulting in either injury or death. It’s more human to use those indoors, assuming you don’t have small pets yourself. If you’ve already put out artificial spider web decorations, please consider relocating them to a safe location indoors. Take a moment as well to think over your outside decorations and see if any of them are potential hazards to people or animals—it’s easy to make a mistake and we’ve all done it in the past.
We hope this list helps you keep Halloween safe and spooky for all living things involved. This is a fun time of the year, and following some basic safety rules helps us enjoy it even more. We’re basing this list on our own experiences with fall decorating, so if you have anything you’d like to add please reach out!
Until then—Happy Halloween!
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