811 Day is our favorite day of the year. Why? Because we get to share a little more about safe digging! Safe digging does more than save money and avoid damages, it saves lives. Check out some of our favorite safe digging tips and tricks!
8 things you can do to dig safely.
- Make a plan. Don’t start any digging project blindly, have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish. Create a mood board, Pinterest board, or dog-ear a home or garden magazine to visualize your project.
- Premark the area where you intend to dig. Place white flags or use white paint in the areas which you intend to dig. This ensures that the locator doesn’t miss where you are digging when they perform the locate.
- Know your dirt. And by that we mean make sure you know what kind of soil you have in your dig site. The soil type can be a huge factor in determining what to plant and where. Check out our blog to learn more about soil types.
- Plan ahead. Make sure you have enough time between planning and digging. Remember, a public locate takes three business days to complete! Another important thing to note is that depending on where you dig, you might run into some private utilities that you will need to hire a private locate company to mark these utilities on your property. You can learn more about Private Utilities by checking out this blog post.
- Contact 811. Now for the facts. Contacting 811 reduces your risk of damaging an underground utility. Now for our biased opinion. Contacting 811 makes your projects turn out better, your plants grow stronger, and your yard look better!
- Check the marks. After your locates are performed, make sure that the area that you are digging is marked by all utility companies or that you have received positive response confirming that you are safe to dig. If so, you’re ready to start digging!
- Only hand dig near marked utilities. It’s ok to dig near your marked utilities as long as you’re being careful and hand digging! But keep in mind that root systems can damage underground utilities over time so be conscious of what’s below and how deep the roots for your plant are going to be when the plant is matured.
- Enjoy the fruits of your labor! This is the most important part! Sit back and enjoy your finished product!