Allergies can take all the fun out of gardening. Here are some tips so you can enjoy gardening without sneezing or wheezing:

– Be sure to take your allergy medicines before going out in the garden. All allergy medicines work best preventively instead of after symptoms start.
– Wear a pollen mask and gloves while gardening and try not to touch your face or eyes.
– Pay attention to the pollen counts and try to garden on days that the pollen count is lower or on days that are cooler, cloudy and less windy or after a good rain.
– When finished in the garden, wash well (including your hair) and change clothes.

When it comes to what to plant here are a few tips:

Bright and colorful plants are usually insect-pollinated, not wind pollinated. Their pollen is larger and Wind-pollinated plants including trees, grasses and weeds have lighter pollen released in large quantities, therefore more likely to cause allergies. These plants often have smaller blooms with little or no color.
When buying trees for your yard try to buy types that don’t tend to cause allergies such as: crape myrtle, dogwood, fig, fir, palm, pear, plum, redbud and redwood. Additionally, the following female cultivars do not produce pollen; ash. box elder, cottonwood, maple, poplar and willow.
We hope this information is helpful and thank you for your referrals. We will continue to treat your family, friends and neighbors in a caring manner.