The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
How gardeners can alleviate hay fever symptoms
Choosing your plants, tasks and gardening times carefully can make a big difference, garden designer Jackie Herald tells Hannah Stephenson
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“pew oaregong oenoy em. She offers the following tips to help gardeners alleviate their hay fever symptoms.
Understand your triggers
“It’s really important to understand what triggers your hay fever. As a broad generalisation, if you are suffering from hay fever, reacting to pollen in late winter and spring, that suggests you are allergic to tree pollen. Come the summer, when the grasses come into flower, that suggests your hay fever is triggered by grass pollen.” Some 85% of people with hay fever are allergic to grass pollen, she notes.
Wear a hat
“Wear a hat with a brim, which canprotectyoufrompollenfalling around your nose.”
Choose your gardening time carefully
“Avoid times of day when the pollen is likely to rise, such as the beginning of the day when the day l . enera s ea - ea
,pr or se insect-pollinatedplantsrather than wind-pollinated ones.
A typical windpollinated plant to avoid would be silver birch, with its catkins.” Hay fever sufferers should avoid highly scented plants which can trigger symptoms, she adds.
“Certain lilies and the bottlebrush plant can be ones to avoid. Some plants have both male and female flowers on the one plant. Other species have separate male and female flowers. Prioritise the female plants because they’re not generating the pollen. If you were planting hollies, plant more females than males, otherwise go for a self-pollinating hermaphrodite.”
Other plants to place away y , . house, you may brush against, say,anolivetree which is allergenic, then your pollen comes indoors.
“If you have pollen in your hair or on your clothes or your carpet,itsticksaroundforagesand accentuates the impact you’ve experienced of being with pollen outside.”
Hay fever is worse in urban environments, says Herald, where pollen becomes more allergenic when combined with pollutants and is kept in the air by hard surfaces. So, in urban spaces, use soft landscaping such as tightly clipped lawns and swales (a shady spot, or a sunken or marshy place) and position your plants away from doors, pathways and patios. in l fl w r h will be
Avoid certain activities
our
biodiversity. Personally, I would avoid a totally sterile garden but I might include some sterile plants.”
“One job you might want to give someone else to do is mowing the lawn. But if someone else mows the lawn regularly, that takes the grass flowers off it which is helpful for anyone who suffers from grass-triggered allergies.
“Some people are allergic to various moulds. Some of the moulds which exist in compost might be a problem, so turning a compost heap or mulching might be an activity to avoid.
“The bottom line is that you need to know what you are allergic to. The best way to manage what you do and where and when you spend the time, is to avoid the trigger.”