7 Things That Can Kill You On Your Lawn

Last Updated on May 11, 2026 by Duncan

Your lawn is meant to be a sanctuary — somewhere to kick off your shoes, let the kids run free, and exhale after a long week.

But over 17 years of maintaining lawns and gardens, I’ve learned that a surprising number of serious hazards hide in plain sight out there.

Some almost got me. This article lays out the seven most dangerous things that can kill you on your lawn, what the risks actually are, and the practical steps that genuinely make a difference.

1. Lawn Mowing

Few household tasks look as routine as cutting the grass — yet lawn mowers send an estimated 35,000 people to the emergency room every year in the United States alone, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Children account for roughly 17,000 of those injuries annually.

My own near-miss: When I was 19 and still learning the hard way, I tried to unclog my discharge chute while the engine was still ticking over.

The blade wasn’t fully stopped. I lost the tip of a glove and gained a permanent respect for the dead-man’s switch. I’ve never rushed a shutdown since.

Risks include:

• Flying projectiles. A mower blade spinning at 200 mph can turn a pebble or stick into a ballistic. A well-documented 1979 NFL game injury involved a fan being struck by a ricocheting mower blade — a freak accident, but a real one.
• Foot amputations. Running the machine over feet, or reaching under a running deck, accounts for a large number of permanent injuries every year.
• Tip-overs on slopes. Ride-on mowers are especially prone to rolling on inclines steeper than 15 degrees.
• Unsupervised children. Children should never operate or play near a running mower — even “just sitting on it” while it’s on is dangerous.

How to protect yourself

• Clear the lawn of rocks, toys, and debris before every single cut — no exceptions.
• Always wear steel-toed boots. Never mow in flip-flops or bare feet.
• Wear ear and eye protection. Mowers exceed 85 dB — enough for hearing damage in under two hours.
• Move children and pets indoors before you start.
• Shut the machine off completely — wait for the blade to stop — before clearing clogs or removing the grass catcher.
• Choose mowers with an automatic blade-stop (dead man’s switch) that disengages the moment you release the handle.
• For hilly lawns, mow across the slope (not up and down) with a walk-behind; never use a ride-on on steep grades.
• If a mower fault is suspected, stop use immediately and have it inspected before operating again.

2. Dog Poop

Dogs are wonderful. Their waste is not. A single gram of dog feces contains an average of 23 million fecal coliform bacteria, and a medium-sized dog produces roughly 275 pounds of waste per year — most of it ending up in yards.

From experience: My neighbour’s dog used to treat my garden beds as a personal bathroom. After I noticed a sharp uptick in flies near my vegetable patch one summer, I started testing the soil.

It wasn’t pretty. I now keep compostable bags at every gate and clear the yard twice a week without fail.

Dog faeces spreads:

• Parvovirus — a highly contagious and potentially fatal viral illness.
• Canine coronavirus — distinct from SARS-CoV-2 but harmful in its own right.
• Intestinal parasites — whipworms, tapeworms, roundworms, and hookworms can transfer to humans, particularly children who play on contaminated grass.
• E. coli — strains from dog faeces can cause severe gastrointestinal illness in people.

Lawnmower blades dramatically worsen the risk: they aerosolise waste across the entire yard, contaminating surfaces, food gardens, and even the air you breathe during mowing.

How to protect yourself

• Scoop poop at least twice a week using a biodegradable bag, seal it, and bin it properly.
• Consider an in-ground pet waste digester if binning frequently isn’t practical.
• Teach children explicitly not to touch or play near animal droppings.
• Never compost pet waste in a standard compost heap — it requires specialised hot composting to neutralise pathogens.

3. Lawn Care Pesticides

Pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic fertilisers are the silent threat on most well-manicured lawns. They’re invisible, odourless in most cases, and their effects accumulate over years rather than appearing immediately.

What the science says: Long-term exposure to common lawn chemicals — including glyphosate-based herbicides and organophosphate insecticides — is associated with:

• Elevated risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other cancers
• Endocrine (hormone) disruption leading to thyroid disorders and reduced fertility
• Neurological effects with prolonged occupational exposure

Children and pets are especially vulnerable because they spend time directly on treated grass and ingest trace amounts through hand-to-mouth contact and grooming.

My approach: I stopped using broad-spectrum weed killers on my vegetable borders entirely about five years ago. I switched to compost topdressing, corn gluten meal as a pre-emergent, and targeted spot-treatment only where absolutely necessary.

My lawn isn’t showroom-perfect, but it’s safe for my dog and the neighbourhood kids who play on it.

How to protect yourself

• Read every label in full before application and follow dosage directions exactly — more product does not mean better results.
• Use organic alternatives where possible: compost or bone meal in place of synthetic fertiliser; neem oil and insecticidal soap for pest control.
• Look for the EPA Safer Choice label when purchasing lawn products.
• If you hire a lawn care company, ask them specifically which products they use and request an MSDS sheet.
• Keep children and pets off treated areas for the full re-entry interval stated on the label (usually 24–72 hours).

4. Ticks

There are over 900 tick species worldwide, and several of the most dangerous ones thrive in exactly the kind of environment lawns provide: long grass, leaf litter, and warm-blooded hosts passing through regularly.

The two most serious tick-borne diseases in North America are:

• Lyme disease — caused by Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria and spread by the black-legged (deer) tick. Symptoms include joint pain, fatigue, brain inflammation, and cardiac complications. If untreated, it can become chronic and debilitating.
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever — spread by the Rocky Mountain wood tick; a severe bacterial infection that can be fatal within days if not treated promptly with antibiotics.

Tick risk peaks in late spring and early summer when nymphs (immature ticks no bigger than a poppy seed) are active. They’re nearly impossible to spot on skin, which is why they transmit disease so effectively.

Personal experience: I found a tick embedded behind my knee after clearing brush along my back fence. I had been in the garden for only 40 minutes.

The key was staying calm — I used fine-tipped tweezers, grasped as close to the skin as I could, and pulled upward steadily.

I sealed the tick in a zip-lock bag for identification and visited my GP that afternoon. No disease transmission, but it was a reminder of how quickly they find you.

How to protect yourself

• Wear closed-toed shoes, long socks, and long trousers when working in the garden — tuck trousers into socks.
• Apply an insect repellent with at least 20% DEET on exposed skin when spending extended time outdoors.
• Do a full-body tick check after every garden session, paying special attention to warm, hidden areas: behind knees, around the waistband, in the hairline, and behind ears.
• If you find an attached tick: use pointy tweezers, grasp close to the skin, pull upward firmly and steadily — do not twist or jerk.
• After removal, flush the tick or seal it in a bag. Clean the bite site with soap and water, followed by an alcohol wipe.
• See a doctor immediately if you develop a bullseye rash, fever, or flu-like symptoms within 3–30 days of a tick bite.
• Keep grass short, remove leaf litter, and create a gravel or mulch barrier between wooded areas and your lawn to reduce tick habitat.

5. Toxic Plants

Beautiful and deadly are not mutually exclusive in the plant kingdom. Many common garden and lawn plants contain compounds lethal to humans and pets, yet they’re sold freely at garden centres and are often unrecognised as dangerous.

According to the USDA, the water hemlock (Cicuta species) is among the most violently toxic plants native to North America. It contains cicutoxin, a powerful convulsant that overstimulates the central nervous system, causing seizures and death — sometimes within hours of ingestion.

It grows in moist, low-lying areas and is often mistaken for edible plants like wild parsnip.

Other lawn and garden plants that pose serious risk include:

From my garden: A neighbour once proudly showed me what she thought was a lovely wild herb growing along her fence. It was pokeweed — identifiable by its dark purple berries and thick, hollow stems.

I’d seen it before in old hedgerows and recognised it immediately. We removed it that afternoon. Her toddler had already been touching the berries.

How to protect yourself

• Audit your entire lawn and garden. Photograph any unknown plant and use a plant identification app (iNaturalist or PictureThis) or consult your local cooperative extension service.
• Remove toxic species, especially if you have young children or pets who explore unsupervised.
• When pulling toxic plants, wear gloves and long sleeves — skin contact alone can cause irritation with some species.
• Teach children the rule: never eat anything picked from the garden without checking with an adult first.

6. The Hot Tub

A backyard hot tub reads as pure luxury, but it carries a cluster of hazards that are genuinely dangerous — especially for children and those with underlying health conditions.

Key risks include:

• Entrapment and drowning in suction drains. Powerful suction drains can trap hair, limbs, or even the body against the drain cover, causing drowning in adults and children alike. This is the leading cause of hot tub fatalities.
• Slip-and-fall drowning. Wet surrounds combined with high water temperatures (which impair coordination) create serious fall risk.
• Chemical overexposure. Hot water opens pores, dramatically increasing the absorption rate of chlorine, bromine, and associated by-products through the skin. Chronically over-treated tubs can expose users to harmful levels of these compounds.
• Deliberate or accidental poisoning. Unsecured chemical storage near a tub poses risk, particularly to curious children.
• Heat-related illness. Water temperatures above 40°C (104°F) can cause rapid dehydration, dizziness, and heat stroke, particularly in users who stay in too long.

How to protect yourself

• Install anti-entrapment drain covers that comply with the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act standards.
• Place slip-resistant surfacing on all surrounding surfaces.
• Limit soaks to 15–20 minutes at a time, especially at temperatures above 38°C.
• Use a lockable, insulated cover when the tub is not in active use — essential if children are in the household.
• Test water chemistry regularly and follow safe chemical dosing guidelines; never over-treat.
• Never allow children in a hot tub unsupervised, and limit their exposure to shorter durations and lower temperatures.

7. Backyard Fireplace

Few things beat a fire pit on a cool evening. But a backyard fireplace is also an open flame in a domestic setting — and open flames in the wrong conditions are dangerous quickly.

The main risks are:

• Lawn fires from embers. In summer, dry grass can ignite from a single spark. A contained fire pit fire can become a lawn fire, and a lawn fire near a fence or structure can become a house fire, in minutes.
• Toxic smoke from waste burning. Burning treated wood, plastics, or household waste produces fumes containing dioxins, furans, and heavy metals. Sustained inhalation is linked to liver failure, kidney damage, developmental disorders, and exacerbated asthma.
• Unattended fire. A fire left unwatched can spread, or a falling ember can ignite nearby furniture or structures.
• Ash re-ignition. Seemingly dead ash can retain live embers for up to 72 hours and can reignite if disturbed or if wind picks up.

Lesson learned: I once left a fire pit “completely out” overnight and woke to the smell of smouldering mulch two metres away. The ember had rolled out.

Now I douse every fire with water — not just sand — and wait until I can hold my hand over the pit and feel no residual heat before I go inside.

How to protect yourself

• Never leave a backyard fire unattended — not even briefly.
• Keep a bucket of water or an extinguisher within arm’s reach whenever the fire is lit.
• Only burn dry, untreated natural wood. Never burn plastics, painted wood, particleboard, or household rubbish.
• Set up your fire pit on a non-combustible surface, at least 3 metres from structures, fences, trees, and dry grass.
• Before disposing of ash, wait 72 hours, then douse with water, stir, and douse again before placing in a metal container — not a plastic or paper bag.
• Check your local municipality’s open-fire bylaws; many areas have seasonal burn bans during high fire-risk periods.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most dangerous thing on a residential lawn?

Statistically, lawn mowers cause the highest number of documented injuries and deaths on residential properties each year — over 35,000 emergency visits annually in the United States.

However, hot tub suction drains, tick-borne illness, and toxic plants pose underappreciated risks that are often underreported.

Can dog poop on a lawn make you sick?

Yes. Dog faeces contains bacteria, viruses, and parasites — including E. coli, parvovirus, and intestinal worms — that can infect humans through skin contact, inhalation of aerosolised waste (during mowing), or indirect contact via insects and contaminated surfaces. Children and immunocompromised individuals are at highest risk.

Which plants commonly found in lawns and gardens are toxic to humans?

Water hemlock, oleander, rosary pea, deadly nightshade, white snakeroot, American pokeweed, and rhubarb leaves are among the most dangerous.

Several can cause death from a small ingested amount. If you cannot positively identify a plant in your garden, consult a local extension service or botanist before assuming it is safe.

How do you safely remove a tick?

Use fine-tipped tweezers, grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible, and pull upward with steady, even pressure — do not twist. Clean the bite area with soap and water and an alcohol wipe.

Seal the tick in a bag for identification, and see a doctor if flu-like symptoms, joint pain, or a bullseye rash develop within 30 days.

How long should you stay off lawn after pesticide application?

Follow the specific re-entry interval (REI) on the product label — this is a legal requirement, not a suggestion.

Most residential lawn pesticides carry a 24–72 hour re-entry interval. Granular products may require watering in and drying before re-entry. Children and pets should be kept off the lawn for the full interval stated.

Final Word

Your lawn should be a place of genuine enjoyment — but respect for the hazards it contains is what keeps it that way. The risks covered here are not rare or exotic.

They happen every summer, in ordinary neighbourhoods, to people who simply weren’t aware. Most of them are entirely preventable with basic precautions and a small investment of attention.

After 17 years in gardens and on lawns, the pattern I keep seeing is this: the injuries and illnesses that result from lawns rarely happen to people who are careless.

They happen to people who are routine — who have done something a hundred times safely and stop thinking about it on the hundred-and-first. Don’t stop thinking about it.

Stay safe out there.