Asthma Friendly Gardens

Tom Ogren Recent studies have shown that babies born to mothers

who were exposed to high levels of pollen in their last

trimester of pregnancy have a much greater chance of developing

asthma. One of the main keys with asthma prevention is

avoidance. When you have asthma the typical garden is not a very

friendly place at all. There are mold spores to contend with and

worst of all is the pollen. Typical gardens have pollen

producing male trees and male shrubs and other plants that can

provoke asthma attacks. Almost anyone with asthma will tell you

that their asthma can be triggered by a good number of things,

but pollen is often number one for causing an attack. Garden

allergies are common, but they need not be. Allergies from

gardening could be largely a thing of the past. if we're willing

to make some simple changes. In fall of 1999 in Richmond,

Virginia the American Lung Association of Virginia (ALAV) built

a new Breathe EasyO office and headquarters. They had this

entire large building constructed with the latest innovations in

green construction and sustainable design. No construction

materials were used that would off gas any harmful or toxic

chemicals, no materials were used that would trigger asthma or

allergies. Every attempt was made to build something that would

be pleasant and healthy to work in. The people who work in this

office now will tell you too, that they all notice what a great

improvement it is. Their office is a healthy building. The ALA

decided it would make perfect sense to landscape their new

healthy building (in some states these are now called Health

Houses) with an allergy free landscape. OPALSO (the

plant/allergy 1-10 numerical ranking system) was used to select

only those plant materials that were either very low pollen, low

allergy, or that were totally pollen free, allergy free. In

effect they created the first true asthma friendly garden in the

US. Health Houses in other states are now also adding pollen

free landscapes to their green construction, green buildings. A

new Health House is about to be built in Pennsylvania, and the

PA Association of Landscapers and Nurserymen are helping to

surround it with an asthma friendly landscape. Schools too are

getting into the clean air act, and in the city of Visalia,

California, the Tulare County Asthma Coalition recently directed

the asthma friendly landscaping of a newly built elementary

school. Twelve keys to building your own asthma friendly garden:

1.Plant lots of female trees and female shrubs. Not only will

these not shed any pollen, they will also trap a good deal of

pollen that may stay in from somewhere else. Think of these

female plants as nature's air cleaners. 2.Use only low pollen or

no pollen lawns. There are types of lawns now that are pretty

well pollen free and these are a big improvement over some of

the older lawn varieties. In southern states, if you have a

common Bermuda grass lawn, consider replacing it with a newer,

more asthma friendly hybrid Bermuda grass. `Princess 77' is a

new Bermuda grass hybrid that can be planted from seed. It is

next to pollen free, grows very low and tight, and is especially

good looking. 3.With OPALSO 1 is best, 10 is worst. Use only

plants with rankings of 1-5. The more plants in your gardens

that have rankings ranging from 1-3, the friendlier your place

will be for anyone with allergies or asthma. 4.Remove any trees

or shrubs with rankings over OPALSO #7. The woody landscape

plants with rankings of 8-10 are all sure-fire allergy

triggering plants and you can live without them. 5.Replace any

removed high pollen, asthma triggering plants with their

opposite, female trees or female shrubs. Also good as

replacements are perfect flowered plants that are known to be

very low pollen producers. These will all have good (low) OPALSO

rankings. 6.Use only plants that are well adapted to your own

area. If you can find natives that have low allergy rankings,

consider using them. Look around your own neighborhood, and see

for yourself, which kinds of plants seem to be flourishing there

already. For almost every kind of plant used in landscaping,

there is now a no or low pollen version of it, if you know what

to look for. 7.Use a wide variety of plant materials; diversity

is good. Biodiversity always makes sense. The more diverse our

gardens are the fewer problems we'll have with insects and

molds. 8.Avoid plants with strong fragrances or odors, as they

can cause asthma. Don't plant jasmines or similar vines next to

entrances or exits and certainly don't use them underneath

bedroom windows. 9.For mulch, use rock or gravel instead of bark

to cut down on toxic mold spores in the garden. Flat stones or

pavers also make good, mold free mulching materials. 10.To

further eliminate mold spores, encourage wild birds in your

garden. Virtually all wild birds eat insects, and insect damage

triggers outbreaks of mold. Even the tiny hummingbirds actually

eat a large number of insects. Put up a hummingbird feeder!

11.Keep your plants healthy. This too will cut down on both

pollen and mold. When it is hot and windy, do some irrigating.

Fertilize everything in the garden spring and fall. If plants

are crowding each other too much, thin them out. If tree

branches overhead are putting your whole yard in deep shade,

consider having the tree thinned to let in more light. Fresh air

and light are the enemies of molds. 12.If a tree, shrub, vine or

any other plant always looks sickly, looks dirty, or always

attracts bugs, then shovel prune it. Dig it up and get rid of

it. Replace it with something easier to grow. Don't get caught

up in having to spray insecticides all the time, as they too can

easily cause asthma and allergies.

Make your garden a fun, stress free zone. Be sure to have a few

comfortable garden chairs to sit in, and a little table of some

sort is always good too. Wind chimes, bird feeders, and

birdbaths can add greatly to your enjoyment and cost little. A

beautiful, pollen free, allergy free, asthma friendly garden can

be just the place for healthy children, and a great place for

anyone to relax and enjoy the great outdoors. For more advice on

low allergen gardening, look up allergy free gardening on the

Internet, or go to your local library and read some books on

this new important subject.

Tom Ogren is the author of five published books, including:

Allergy-free Gardening, Safe Sex in the Garden (Ten Speed

Press), and What the Experts May NOT Tell You About: Growing the

Perfect Lawn (AOL Time Warner Books). Tom has an MS degree in

Agriculture-Horticulture, taught landscape gardening for twenty

years, owned and operated two wholesale-retail nurseries, and in

northern Minnesota was host of the popular Public Radio call-in

gardening show, "Tom Ogren's Wild World of Plants!" Tom (Thomas

Leo Ogren) has published hundreds of articles on health and

gardening. His work has appeared in diverse publications such as

South Africa's Veldt and Field, in Women's Day, Alternative

Medicine, the Burpee Seed Catalog, Sunset Magazine, Landscape

Architecture, Der Spiegel, The London Times, The Seattle Times,

The Washington Post, and even the Jerusalem Post. He has also

made numerous appearances on HGTV and his work was the focus of

two made for TV documentaries, one by the Canadian Discovery

Channel. Tom has been interviewed on National Public Radio's

Weekend Edition and his groundbreaking research was featured on

The CBS Evening News. He is a frequent lecturer for garden

clubs, arboretums, civic groups, hospitals, medical groups,

Master Gardeners, and professional associations of landscapers,

landscape designers, writers, nursery people, arborists, and

urban foresters. He has become well known for his fun, high

energy, highly informative, unusual and provocative talks. Tom

is a member of the Professional Landscape Designers Association,

and the GWA, the Garden Writers of America. Unlike many

well-published authors, he still tries to answer all of his own

email. You can contact Tom through his website, at:

www.allergyfree-gardening.com

Notice of Copyright: Copyright Thomas Leo OgrenO

About the author:

Thomas Ogren is the author of Allergy-Free Gardening, Ten Speed

Press. Tom does consulting work on for the USDA, county asthma

coalitions, and the American Lung Associations. He has appeared

on CBS, HGTV and The Discovery Channel. His book, Safe Sex in

the Garden, was published 2003. In 2004 Time Warner Books

published his latest: What the Experts May NOT Tell You About:

Growing the Perfect Lawn. His website:

www.allergyfree-gardening.com

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Asthma Friendly Gardens

Article : Asthma Friendly Gardens