Allergy-free gardening

Posted on 7 May, 2007 0 comments

Hay fever season is with us again. Have you, like me, ever thought that more people seem to suffer from hay fever today than they used to do years ago? When I had that feeling I dismissed it until I came across some information on allergy-free gardening. It seems that some urban areas are deliberately planted with cloned male trees and shrubs that produce only pollen because the female trees produce flowers and fruits that make a mess when they fall. As a result there is a gross excess of pollen-bearing trees and hence the increased problem for people with allergies. If this is true, then something can be done to ensure that town planners take into account the pollen factor when choosing what species to plant. By extension it should be possible for individual gardeners to choose plants bearing in mind their potential to cause allergies. Thomas Leo Ogren has been researching this problem for twenty years and his site www.allergyfree-gardening.com makes an interesting initial read. It would be good to get ideas and information on this subject from some British gardenersâ€¦..any suggestions on What Not To Plant?