Got allergies? Here are some tips for Tucson gardeners

This time of year is always challenging for me. Starting in the spring, I get allergy symptoms — the usual suspects of runny nose, itchy eyes, and nasal congestion. When I worked as a physician, the period from March through summer was the worst time for my patients who suffered from allergies. So how can gardeners with allergies minimize their suffering?

First of all, be aware that (for the most part) the plants that cause your nasal symptoms are the ones which are wind pollinated. Most plants that are pollinated by insects or other animals do not produce enough pollen to affect us, or their pollen is too large to be suspended in the air easily. For this reason, there are plenty of plants that gardeners with allergies can still enjoy. Here’s a brief list of tips:

• Plants with large, bright flowers are almost always pollinated by animals. These will not produce large quantities of pollen, and the pollen tends to be larger and less prone to spreading via wind. A great example of this is desert willow, which is not a true willow and is pollinated by insects and hummingbirds.
• Native plants are usually better than nonnatives because stressed plants tend to produce more pollen. Also, some nonnatives like Chilean mesquites are both wind and insect pollinated. If you want a mesquite in your yard, you would be better off with a native mesquite tree like the velvet mesquite, which is pollinated primarily by insects.
• In dioecious species, choose the female plants, which will not produce pollen. This is a good strategy for trees like ash or cottonwood, which are wind-pollinated. If you avoid the male plants, you won’t have pollen.
• Get rid of your lawn. By far the most common causes of allergies are lawn grasses, which are very allergenic. If you plant native plants instead, you will have fewer allergies, a much lower water bill, and cool wildlife in your yard.
• Don’t have too many plants of the same variety in your space, if you can avoid it. For example, palo verde trees are insect-pollinated and are unlikely to cause allergies for this reason. However, when you have a whole bunch of them in one area and they all bloom at the same time, some of their pollen will accumulate and will blow around in our windy spring climate.
• If you have a landscaping service, ask them not to use blowers. These will blow pollen all around your yard. Raking and sweeping is better, particularly if things are wetted down first. However, consider leaving organic matter on your soil. It will act as a natural mulch and add organic matter to your garden.

Besides lawn grass, other wind pollinated allergenic landscape plants include conifers (like pine trees), fountain grass, olives trees, and salt cedar. Many of these plants are non-native. For a full list of allergenic plants in Pima County, check out this site.

The wind-pollinated plants tend to produce their pollen in the spring in most climates. Since we have a year-round growing season, and plenty of non-native plants, we tend to have pollen year-round. An additional challenge in our desert is the dry, windy conditions we enjoy in the spring and early summer, which make it easier for pollen to spread. In addition, the dry conditions and dust dry out our mucous membranes and can cause additional nasal irritation and itching — even nosebleeds.

Besides choosing the appropriate plants for your yard, you can also limit your exposure to allergens by taking some basic precautions when you garden during allergy season. WebMD suggests the following:

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• Check your local allergen forecast before heading outside. The American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology has a National Allergy Bureau which has stations that measure pollen count, but unfortunately the closest one to Tucson is in Phoenix. The Weather Channel also has a pollen forecast. As mentioned, windy dry days tend to be worse for allergens.
• Wear glasses, long sleeves, gloves and long pants to protect your eyes and skin from plant material. This has the added benefit of protecting you from the sun and from spiky plant bits, so all gardeners in Tucson should do this as a matter of course. I usually wear a hat or bandanna also, since my hair seems to attract leaves and other plant material like a magnet.
• When heading indoors again, leave your tools, gloves and shoes outside to avoid tracking in allergens. Remove your gardening clothes as soon as possible, and take a shower to remove allergens.
• Avoid doing gardening activities that can kick up dust, like mulching or raking. If you must do these, sprinkle the area with water first to limit the dust. I’ve found that if I do these activities, it helps to wear an N95 mask (something which presumably everyone has in their household nowadays.)
• Absolutely avoid mowing grass, which kicks up lots of seeds, pollen, and tiny grass particles. Ideally, an allergy sufferer will not have a lawn in the first place.

Finally, keep in mind that your garden (or your neighbor’s) may not be the only source of your allergies. Dust mites inside the home, pet dander, mold and other factors (even foods you eat) can cause allergies, too. The best thing to do is to see an allergy specialist to figure out what your allergies are and the best treatments for you.

Allergy testing involves injecting a small amount of the allergen under your skin to test for a reaction. However, these tests have to be interpreted correctly. You may be allergic to a particular plant component in the allergy test, but if that species of plant in your yard doesn't produce pollen (or very little of it) then your nasal allergy symptoms are probably due to another cause. Your doctor may not necessarily know whether a given plant is a major pollen producer. In addition, many plants produce various chemicals that can cause skin allergies or reactions, but you have to actually have skin contact to experience any symptoms.

Treatments can include allergy shots, nasal steroid sprays, sinus rinses, eye drops and antihistamine medications like cetirizine, loratadine, fexofenadine, and others.

You can also have a humidifier in your bedroom at night to help keep your nasal mucous membranes from getting too dry and irritated, and use moistening eye drops during the driest part of our spring and summer.