Asthma Plants
Updated September 17, 2013.
If you love gardening, picking certain asthma friendly plants may benefit your asthma. For many people with asthma and allergies, choosing the right asthma plants can have a significant impact. There are a number of decisions you can make to decrease the risk of your asthma plants causing you any problems.
You do not want your love for gardening to turn into a miserable experience that leads to:
With a little forethought and few simple precautions, your asthma plants and your asthma can coexist:
Certain types of flowers, grasses, and trees make better asthma plants. The following asthma plants are less likely to have a tremendous impact on your asthma:
In general, highly-allergenic asthma plants include include:
If you are not sure exactly which asthma plants are causing you symptoms it is possible for an allergist to do allergy testing and even treat you with allergy shots or immunotherapy.
Sources:
Thomas Leo Ogren. Safe Sex in the Garden. Ten Speed Press. Berkeley, CA. 2003
If you love gardening, picking certain asthma friendly plants may benefit your asthma. For many people with asthma and allergies, choosing the right asthma plants can have a significant impact. There are a number of decisions you can make to decrease the risk of your asthma plants causing you any problems.
Asthma Plants- What You Plant Matters
You do not want your love for gardening to turn into a miserable experience that leads to:
With a little forethought and few simple precautions, your asthma plants and your asthma can coexist:
- Sex matters. Male asthma plants produce more pollen, while female asthma plants will help remove pollen from in and around your garden. This goes for not only for trees and shrubs, but also for grasses that you can use for your lawn. As an additional perk, female grasses make an excellent asthma plant if you do not like to mow your lawn. Female grasses do not grow as tall as male grasses and do not require as frequent mowing.
- Know what grows best in your area. Plants that are not suited for your climate become a magnent for insects. Insects leave residue that can promote mold and spore growth that can trigger your asthma. Likewise, some plants are disease resistant and will be less likely to promote spore and mold growth.
- Avoid chemicals and insecticides. Both insecticides and chemicals such as herbicides or fungicides can be inhaled and irritate your lungs resulting in inflammation and bronchospasm. If you must use these on your asthma plants it is probably best for you to not handle them and not garden for some time after they have been used.
- Plant flowering trees. In addition to the beautiful colors of flowering plants in your garden, the flowers attract insect eating birds. The birds decrease dander that can trigger your asthma.
- Strategically place more allergy prone asthma plants. Sometimes you just need an oak, juniper or other allergenic asthma plant. By placing such asthma plants as far away from your house, windows or walkways, you can decrease your risk of exposure. Additionally, if you have a prevailing wind at your house plant more allergenic asthma plant downwind of your house. Additionally, if you find that hedges or certain trees trigger your asthma, cutting them back more frequently will decrease flowering and possibly improve your asthma symptoms.
Certain types of flowers, grasses, and trees make better asthma plants. The following asthma plants are less likely to have a tremendous impact on your asthma:
- Amaranthus
- Azalea
- Begonia
- Bougainvillea
- Cactus
- Cherry tree
- Daffodil
- Dahlia
- Daisy
- Geranium
- Gladiola
- Hibiscus
- Iris
- Irish moss
- Magnolia
- Marigold
- Narcissus
- Orchid
- Pansy
- Petunia
- Roses
- Snapdragon
- Tulip
- Violet
- Zinnias
In general, highly-allergenic asthma plants include include:
Treatments If You Are Going To Be Exposed To Asthma Plants
If you are not sure exactly which asthma plants are causing you symptoms it is possible for an allergist to do allergy testing and even treat you with allergy shots or immunotherapy.
Sources:
Thomas Leo Ogren. Safe Sex in the Garden. Ten Speed Press. Berkeley, CA. 2003
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