14 - Friday, November 8, 1991- North Shore News

HOME & GARDEN

Follow these tips to ‘baby proof’? your home

THE FIRST 12 months of a
baby’s life is an exciting time for
parents who will witness their
baby’s first smile, first laugh and
even its first steps. The next 12
months can be equally exciting
but also dangerous if safety is not
foremost in the parents’ minds.
The district of North Vancouver
Fire Department offers the follow-
ing checklist to help ‘‘babyproof”’
your home.
@ Are matches and cigarette
lighters kept out of children’s
reach or in a childproof con-
tainer?
@ Do family members have 2 rule
never to hold a small child while

handling hot liquids, such as a
sup of coffee or a pot of hot
water?

@ Are hot liquids placed out of a
child’s reach? Remember, young
children will pull a tablecloth off
a tabie.

@ Are small children not allowed
to play in the kitchen? Not only
could they burn themselves on a
hot stove, but an adult could fall
over them while removing a pan,
and carrying a heated substance
from the stove.

@ Are electric outlet covers on all
unused outleis?

@ Are electric cords in good con-
dition and out of reach of

HOT TIPS

North Vancouver
District Fire Department

children, especially in the teething

stage?

@ Do family members know
never to leave a small child unat-
tended in the bathtub? This could
lead to not oniy drowning, but a
potential! scald burn also.

@ Have you installed door stops
and safety knobs to prevent
children from opening forbidden
doors? Remember also to use
adaptable latches and locks for
medicine cabinets and cabinets

Go for aura of the coconut palm

THE SIGHT of a hammock
strung from a battered coconut
palm tree seems to go back as far
as the story of Robinson Crusoe.
And since then it seems to have
symbolized the relaxed lifestyle of
the Caribbean, and indeed other
parts of the tropics, including
Hawaii where they like to tell
mainianders to ‘Hang loose!’’

Now, the aura that surrounds
the coconuz palm can be yours in
your Canadian home. A Miami
nursery specializing in newer trop-
icals recently introduced sprouted
coconut palms. They are relatively
easy to grow provided they receive
bright light, some humidity, and
are kept in temperatures between
17 and 27°C (slightly cooler at
night is fine). At least one major
garden centre operator in British
Columbia has. offered this plant
for sale in the past year.

Still another newer indoor
foliage plant from the same
Florida grower is @ variation on
the ever-so-common weeping fig

(Ficus benjemina).. This one: is’.

Ficus foliole which exhibits a

- slightly more weeping habit, but -

its most significant feature is its
foliage. Rather than the broad!y
oval leaves of the common variety
F. foliole, it has much narrower,
pointed leaves which give it a con-
siderably different appearance.
Like the benjamina, foliole has
glossy foliage which can be kept
that way easily by semi-annual
cleaning with either milk or a
commercial leaf polish. .

Ako as with the benjamina, the
newer foliole has a trait that may
concern recent purchasers. All
ficvs have a habit of dropping a
considerable number of leaves
when moved from one environ-
ment to another. When this hap-
pens to the new purchaser, often
he or she reacts by thinking the
plant is not getting enough water,
and applying more —- much more
than the plant really needs. The
dropping of leaves is quite natu-
ral, and the plant only needs
watering when the upper two cen-

_timetres of the potting medium
. Goil) is dry to the touch. Then

and ‘only then should it be
watered. This applies generally to
most foliage plants with some

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specific exceptions, such as the
tree fern.

If the plant sellers in your
community do not have these
newer plants, simply tell them to
order them from their wholesale
supplier who can obtain them
from the grower, or your plant
seller may wish to obtain them di-
rectly from that grower.

containing cleaners or other
poisonous substances.
Additionally, consider the fol-
lowing:
@ Every baby should be strapped
in an approved infant seat when
being transported in a vehicle.
@in hot weather, check metal
clasps on car seats and seatbelts
prior to securing your child. They
can act like a hot iron against
your child’s skin.
@ Children should also be strap-
ped in when riding in a stroller.
@ Dangerous tools should be kept
out of children’s reach.
@ Wells, pools and cisterns
should be well protected.

alll!
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@ Plastic bags should be discard-
ed or inaccessible to smail
children. .
@ Firearms should be locked up,
and ammunition should be locked
away in a different location.
@ More than 700 varieties of
household plants and flowers are
poisonous when eaten. Keep
plants out of children’s reach.
Your local poison contro! centre
can tell you whether a plant in
your house is poisonous if eaten.
For further information on
babyproofing your home, contact
the District of North Vancouver
Fire Department non-emergency
number, 980-7575.

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