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A Hypoallergenic Garden: Allergenic Plants to Avoid

Written by Peter Horn on .

A Hypoallergenic Garden: Allergenic Plants to Avoid Allergy sufferers know that spring is usually a nightmare for them. Rhinitis, conjunctivitis, and other problems occur when certain plants release pollen into the air, using the wind as a vector to ensure pollination. The type of garden you have at home is sometimes not the most recommended. When choosing trees or shrubs, you should look at the beauty they have or the colour they give to the area, because if you only focus on that, they may cause some other problem in the long run. To avoid this, choose species that do not shed pollen. You can start by not growing male trees since these are often sold as seedless or fruitless species, but in reality, they are direct sources of pollen for your garden. Plant females if you have the possibility, since, although they are dirtier varieties in principle, they do not produce as many grasses. In addition, they have the characteristic that they trap and eliminate pollen that is in the air. Another aspect to consider when choosing the type of shrub is selecting those that are not prone to diseases. Some resist mould, rust, and black spot attacks better than others. These pests are produced by spores, which are what cause allergies. Therefore, if your trees reject them better, the environment of your garden will be healthier. As for the area from which they come, it is also essential. If the species you select are well adapted to the climate you live in, you will have no problems. But if this does not happen, they will attract insects and, consequently, epidemics by not growing in healthy conditions. The use of insecticides, fungicides and herbicides can cause damage to the immune system of the plants and shrubs that you have on the plot. This will be a magnet for pollen and spores. Use organic products like compost, if possible. Plants to avoid in case of respiratory allergies: Anemogamic pollen plants (the wind spreads pollen plants) are numerous and known to cause allergies. Large amounts of pollen spread by the wind infiltrate the respiratory tract. Many trees, including cypress, sycamore, hazelnut, willow (willow and others), birch, mimosa, ash, hornbeam, oak, olive or alder, among these plants have a medium to high allergenic potential. Be aware that some anemogamous trees, such as pines, release many pollen but are not allergenic. Some wild plants often present in the garden also have strong allergenic power; this is the case of Parietaria, horsetail, ragweed, mugwort and plantain. You will have to learn to recognize them and eliminate them from your garden. As for grasses, it is also better to disappear if you suffer from allergies. Plants with allergenic sap:   Avoid also, if you or a member of the family has an allergic plant, sumac, poinsettias (indoor) and all the plants of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge) family that it belongs, but angelica, the fig tree or the street whose sap causes more or less pronounced skin reactions. How to build a hypoallergenic garden? To create a hypoallergenic garden, avoid planting the plants mentioned above at all costs. Favour plants pollinated by insects rather than being spread by the wind will be much less allergenic. Other tips allow you to have a beautiful garden despite allergies:
  • Populate your garden with heather plants such as camellias, rhododendrons or azaleas if the pH of your soil allows it. Avoid heather whose pollen spreads en masse at the slightest gust of wind.
  • If you want to own a lawn despite your allergies, think about mowing as often as possible to prevent the herbs that make it up from blooming.
  • Feel free to arrange hostas, ferns, mosses, and arums; these plants are very low allergenic and have a specific ornamental power.
  • Always highly ornamental, a mineral garden will limit allergy damage. The Zen garden, which evokes a landscape of mountains and rivers represented by minerals such as large vertical rocks and beds of crushed gravel or slate to give relief, will be a good choice. Populated with plants cut in clouds and chosen for its low allergenic power, it will be more ornamental.
  • If you are lovers of cacti and other succulents and if your region’s climate allows it, do not hesitate to embark on the development of a rock formation formed by large rocks that wedge the slope. Avoid, of course, introducing Euphorbia, whose sap is allergenic. All other plants will be planted: Ferocactus, Echinocereus, Cereus, the sedum Crassulaceae all kinds, kalanchoes, Haworthias or Echeverias (in winter in shelter from the cold) will be welcome.
  • If you are allergic, you don’t need to give up a vegetable garden! You can quietly make an aromatic square with mint, lemon balm, thyme, rosemary, parsley or coriander. The other vegetables will not do you much harm either: salads, spinach, leeks, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, beets, turnips and watermelon find their way home.
Indoor hypoallergenic plants : The best Indoor hypoallergenic plants include :
  • Golden Pothos
  • Philodendron
  • Areca Palm
  • Kentia Palm
  • Lady Palm
  • Bamboo Palm
  • Dracaena
  • Peace lily
  • Marginata
  • Chinese ever green tree
  • Cactus
  • Rubber tree
  • Trunk of brazil
  • Swedish ivy
Outdoor hypoallergenic Plants: The best Indoor hypoallergenic plants have:
  • Dusty miller.
If you have an allergenic tree in your garden, you do not need to remove it; prune it a lot to prevent it from giving too many flowers. If you have plants, avoid placing them near bedroom windows; the further away from the house, the better. Finally, when you go to the store to buy a species, look at the full name and the number that appears next to it. The allergy scale goes from 1 to 10.  1 is the one that produces the slightest reaction, with 10 being the most.