Grow an Allergy-Friendly Garden This Spring!

They say you reap what you sow—and when it comes to gardening with allergies, that old saw couldn’t be more true. If you’re one of the estimated 40 million Americans with hay fever, the grasses, trees and weeds in your yard can aggravate symptoms. But planting the right seeds, shrubs and saplings this spring can help you have fewer symptoms all season long.

Uproot These Grasses and Trees

Seasonal allergies occur when your body treats pollen in the air as an unwelcome invader. This overreaction can cause congestion, sneezing, a red nose, a scratchy throat and itchy, watery eyes.

Some greenery can make allergy symptoms sprout more than others. Aim to keep these irritating offenders off your property:

• Grasses: Johnson, rye, Timothy, Bermuda, orchard, sweet vernal grasses, bluegrass, fescue
• Allergy-triggering trees: maple, oak, ash, birch, hickory, juniper, cedar, cottonwood

Raise These Fruits and Flowers Instead

Having allergies doesn’t mean you’re stuck landscaping with gravel and concrete. These buds and blooms will beautify your yard with less chance of giving you the sniffles.

• Flowers: lilac, daisy, geranium, dahlia, hibiscus, iris, roses, snapdragon, tulips
• Low-allergen trees: cherry, crepe myrtle, redwood, apple, dogwood, pear, plum

Hedge Your Bets with These Habits

Gardening is good exercise, produces nutritious fruits and vegetables and helps beautify your community. In short, it’s worth the effort, even with allergies. To increase your comfort, follow these tips when tending to your plot:

• Check pollen counts in your area at www.aaaai.org/global/nab-pollen-counts.aspx. Skip gardening on days when they’re high.
• Take your allergy medications before you head outside. And if you have asthma, keep your quick-relief drugs on hand.
• No matter what type of grass you have, keep it short. If you can, ask someone else to mow.
• Don’t touch your eyes or face while you’re working. Wear a mask and gloves if they help.
• Wash your hands often and rinse your eyes when you come back inside. Shower before you go to sleep to avoid getting pollen on your sheets.