Planning a hypoallergenic garden
21.08.2023 - 12:02
/ theunconventionalgardener.com
/ Emma Doughty
Without pollen, the world would be a pretty drab place. Pollen is the male part of the reproductive system for flowering plants, as well as a source of food for bees and other beneficial insects. And yet, as soon as the sun comes out and the plants start flowering, it causes millions of people in the UK to stay indoors to minimise their hayfever symptoms.
Ryan suffers from hayfever, and as we’re planning a new garden it seems an appropriate time to think about whether we can design it in such a way as to lessen his suffering. I have been doing some research about which plants cause hayfever, to see whether they can be avoided.
It seems that wind-pollinated plants are the worst culprits, with grasses accounting for 95% of cases in the UK – their pollen is tiny and easily inhaled. It’s easy enough to avoid having a lawn in your garden, or to keep it mown short so that it doesn’t flower. Other suggestions include swinging in a hammock rather than sitting on a lawn, which sounds like a good idea to me!
Ryan’s hayfever is caused by trees, and many of our common trees are wind-pollinated. You can avoid planting birch, hazel, horse chestnut, mulberry and many other trees in your garden, but it’s impossible to stop their pollen blowing in from outside. Urban planting tends to plant male trees in preference to female trees – to avoid all that messy fruiting business – and so makes like worse for hayfever suffers.
Whilst many trees aren’t suitable for a small garden anyway, if you’re a fan of forest gardening then there are some species there that you’d really want to include. Fortunately for kitchen gardeners, fruiting trees tend to be better as their flowers are designed to be pollinated by insects, and the pollen is less likely to
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