Asthma treatment

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A Dozen Tips for Producing Low Allergy Gardens

 


 

  Thomas Ogren

A Dozen Tips for Producing Low-Allergy Gardens

Ó Thomas Leo Ogren

What we plant often has a direct effect on our own health and the health
of those near us. A pollen-producing male tree in our own yard will
easily expose us to ten times more pollen than would a similar tree
growing just down the block. This can be compared to second-hand smoke.
It is possible to inhale some smoke from a person smoking a block or two
away from you, but it is hardly the same as someone smoking right next to
you. It is the same with plants. If your own yard is full of allergenic
plants, then you will be exposed most.
Elementary school landscapes are frequently highly allergenic because all
too often they have been landscaped with trees and shrubs that will not
produce any seeds, seedpods or fruit—which the children might want to
toss at each other. What is over-looked is that these tidy choices are
usually male cultivars (clones) and although they are “litter-free,” they
are prodigious producers of allergenic pollen. I am now involved with a
pollen-free landscape planting at a new elementary school in Tulare
County, California. This work is being sponsored by their local asthma
coalition and it is very encouraging to see preventative measures like
this being taken. Children suffer greatly from allergies and asthma, and
asthma is now the most common chronic childhood disease in the US.
Another fine example of low-pollen landscaping surrounds the new American
Lung Association Regional Headquarters in Richmond, Virginia. With
“green” construction principles a new ‘Breathe Easy’ allergy-free office
was constructed. The allergy-friendly landscape plant materials are
predominantly female, and compliment the clean air building. Other
Breathe EasyÔ offices are also now using pollen free landscapes, as are
numerous Heath Houses.
Twelve tips: Remember, the greater the exposure to pollen, the greater
the incidence of pollen-triggered allergy and asthma.

1.Don’t plant any male trees or shrubs. These are often sold as
“seedless” or “fruitless” varieties but they’re males and they all
produce large amounts of allergenic pollen.
2.Do plant female trees and shrubs. Even though these may be messier than
males, they produce no pollen, and they actually trap and remove pollen
from the air. There is also some very good all-female sod to use for
pollen-free lawns. As an added bonus, these female lawns stay low and
require less frequent mowing.
3.Plant disease-resistant varieties: mildew, rust, black spot and other
plant diseases all reproduce by spores and these spores cause allergies.
Disease resistant plants won’t get infected as much and the air around
them will be healthier.
4.Use only trees and shrubs well adapted for your own climate zone.
Plants grown in the wrong zone will often fail to thrive. Because they
are not healthy, they will be magnets for insects. Insect residue,
“honeydew,” is a prime host for molds and molds produce allergenic mold
spores. Often native plants will be the healthiest choices.
5.Be careful with the use of all insecticides, fungicides, and
herbicides. Accidental exposure to all of these chemical pesticides has
been shown to cause breakdowns in the immune system. Sometimes one single
heavy exposure to a pesticide will result in sudden hypersensitivity to
pollen, spores, and to other allergens. This is as true for pets as it is
for their owners. Go organic as much as possible. Make and use compost!
6.Diversity is good. Don’t plant too much of the same thing in your
landscapes. Use a wide selection of plants. Lack of diversity often
causes over-exposure. Use lots of variety in your gardens.
7.Wild birds are a big plus because they eat so many insects. Plant
fruiting trees and shrubs to encourage more birds. Suet also attracts
many insect-eating birds. Insect dander causes allergies and birds
consume an incredible amount of aphids, whiteflies, scale, and other
invertebrate pests.
8.Use pollen-free selections whenever possible. There are many hybrids
with highly doubled flowers and in many cases these flowers lack any
male, pollen parts. Formal double chrysanthemums, for example, usually
have no pollen. Another example would be almost all of the erect tuberous
begonias. These have complete female flowers, but their male flowers have
nothing but petals, making them pollen-free.
9.If you simply must have some high-allergy potential plants in your
yard, just because you love them, then watch where you plant them. Don’t
use any high-allergy plants near bedroom windows or next to patios,
well-used walkways, or by front or back doors. Place the highest allergy
plants as far away from the house as possible and downwind of the house
too. Remember: the closer you are to the high-allergy tree or shrub, the
greater is your exposure.
10.Know the exact cultivar name of a tree or shrub before you buy it.
Don’t buy any that are not clearly tagged with the correct cultivar
(variety) name and the Latin, scientific name. Compare the exact name of
the plant with its OPALS/TM allergy ranking. With this scale, 1 is least
allergenic, and 10 is the most allergenic. Try to achieve a landscape
that averages at OPALS #5, or below.
11.If you have a tree or hedge that has high allergy potential and don’t
want to remove it, consider keeping it heavily sheared so that it will
flower less. Boxwood, for example, has allergenic flowers but if pruned
hard each year, it will rarely bloom at all.
12.Get involved with your own city’s tree and parks departments, and
encourage them to stop planting any more wind-pollinated trees. There are
thousands of fine choices of street trees that do not cause any allergies
and we should be using these instead. Working together we can make a
healthy difference, and we’ll all breathe better for our efforts.

*Note, with the dioecious plants (separate-sexed) males cause
pollen-allergy, and females because they are pollen free, do not.
Examples of some of these dioecious plants are: red maple, silver maple,
box elder, holly, willow, aspen, cottonwood, poplar, fringe tree, pepper
tree, carob tree, Osage orange, mulberry, cedar, juniper, podocarpus,
yews, ash, date palms, and even asparagus.

About the Author

Thomas Ogren is the author of Allergy-Free Gardening, Ten Speed Press.
Tom does consulting work on landscape plants and allergies for the USDA,
county asthma coalitions, and the Canadian and American Lung
Associations. He has appeared on HGTV and The Discovery Channel. His
book, Safe Sex in the Garden, was published in 2003. In 2004 Time Warner
Books published: What the Experts May NOT Tell You About: Growing the
Perfect Lawn. His website: www.allergyfree-gardening

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A Dozen Tips for Producing Low Allergy Gardens