SEASONAL ALLERGIES GOT YOU DOWN?
It doesn’t matter if you live on or off-island, if you are an allergy sufferer then spring and summer, as wonderful and welcome as they can be, can also be a miserable time. For many in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges area, pollen can wreak havoc on their well-being and enjoyment of the seasons.
It’s good to know then that local towns in the region often employ measures to control noxious plants that can irritate and do harm to the populace. As a recent allergy sufferer with symptoms brought on by pollen, I’m appreciative of any effort to limit and eradicate when and wherever needed.
When the province chips in funds to assist programs for weed control, then all the better. Those who suffer know the symptoms all too well. Itchy nose and eyes, congestion and wheezing, tearing and running nose, repeated sneezing and coughing are just some examples.
It’s estimated that roughly 18 per cent of people have allergic reactions to one weed in particular that grows rampantly in these parts. Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) is known to be the primary cause of what’s commonly referred to as hay fever.
With a single ragweed plant producing some 3,000 seeds and capable of propagating 600 new additional plants, the best way to control its spread is by ripping it out or mowing it down before it has a chance to go to seed.
Applications of selective, ecological herbicides that are totally natural and have no adverse effects on health or the environment are being done in many municipalities as part of programs to control the weed.
Some towns go as far as to have local bylaws for ragweed control. In Vaudreuil-Dorion, under Bylaw 1566 on nuisances, it is a nuisance to let ragweed grow on your property to the extent that it is detrimental to the neighbourhood. Ragweed must be pulled out or cut down before it matures, so that it does not release allergens.
For allergy sufferers in Pincourt there might be relief on the horizon. The town recently
Quebec will finance a total of $241,200 to support eight initiatives in the fight against ragweed.
received a grant of $32,910 from the province for control of ragweed on its territory, a good thing under a provincial ragweed control program that will see other municipalities receive funds to do the same.
Soulanges MNA Lucie Charlebois, the minister responsible for the Montérégie Region, as well as Vaudreuil MNA Marie-Claude Nichols recently announced projects supported and amounts allocated for the elimination of ragweed to four municipalities in the region, for a total of $116,335. Quebec will finance a total of $241,200 to support eight initiatives in the fight against ragweed.
Meanwhile, if you spot ragweed on your own property, get rid of it. Consult the fact sheet (in French) produced by the Direction de la santé publique de la Montérégie.