Pollen-free gardening
Almost everyone enjoys sitting in the garden in the summer. But if you suffer from hay fever, it can really spoil your fun! In order to still be able to enjoy your garden, choose an alternative garden design.
As you have probably already noticed, not all plants will affect you equally from hay fever. With this knowledge of plants you avoid pollen and turn your garden into a sneeze-free oasis.
Avoid pollen
The more colorful the flower, the smaller the chance of hay fever. The pollen grains of colorful flowers hardly end up in the air. The pollen of flowers is spread by insects.
Flowers attract the attention of insects through bright colors. Insects take the pollen with them. You can therefore recognize plants and flowers that do not pollinate through the air.
Good flowers and shrubs
In the list below you will find some ‘good’ flowers and shrubs. You can inquire at a garden center whether certain plants are pollinated by wind or insects.
- azalea
- lily varieties
- flower bulbs
- broom
- jasmine
- hydrangea
- lavender
- marigold
- Lobelia Salvia
garden design
You can also take a number of things into account when designing your garden:
- A good alternative is a pond with aquatic plants. These plants almost never cause hay fever. If you have limited space, a water barrel with water plants is nice.
- It is better not to put trees that produce a lot of pollen in your garden. These include oak, alder, sea buckthorn, birch, ash, hazel, sweet chestnut, elder, yew and hornbeam.
- Privet hedges are best avoided as they bloom and require regular pruning. You can replace this hedge with a hawthorn or cherry laurel.
- Limit weed growth. Weeds, such as plantain and wild grasses, are an important source of pollen. To prevent weeds in your garden as much as possible, you can plant ground covers. These plants control weeds and prevent pollen from being blown up. Dead nettle, trout, periwinkle and deer hay are some ground covers.
- It is important to keep the grass short. Tall, flowering grass often causes problems. So mow it regularly. Even better is to let someone else mow.
- It is wise to put plants in your garden that do not bloom at the same time, but rather one after the other.
