The Low-Allergen Garden: Designing with Plants for Pollen-Sensitive Individuals

If you’re a landscape designer with a client who is sensitive to allergens such as pollen or sap, you may be looking into low-allergen gardens. Or, maybe you’re a landscape architect working in the public space, in which case you’re looking for palettes that do not exclude sensitive individuals.

Importance of Low-Allergen Gardens

Can you guess the percentage of Australians with hayfever? According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, data shows it’s 24% of us.

Around a quarter of the people using your landscape are going to be sensitive to at least the pollen of certain varieties of plants. If you’d like for your design to be accessible to as many people as possible, considering a low-allergen garden is a good idea.

Problematic Plant Parts for Allergy Sufferers

When designing gardens for those with sensitivities, it’s helpful to know which plant parts might cause a problem. Pollen, sap, and spores are usually the main troublemakers. Pollen from plants like lilies and ryegrass can drift about and cause sneezes and sniffles.

Wind-pollinated plants such as conifers and true grasses are often the worst offenders, as they naturally rely on the wind to carry their pollen. Meanwhile, plants that attract pollinators tend to hold their pollen more tightly so that there’s more for pollinators to access. This is a generalisation, and many people are sensitive to plants that are not wind pollinated.

The sap from certain plants, such as Trachelospermum, can be a nuisance for sensitive skin, particularly when exposed to freshly trimmed stems. And let’s not forget spores from ferns (and fungi), which can be bothersome for those with hayfever and respiratory sensitivities.

Identifying these sources of irritation is the first step towards crafting a more welcoming garden space.

While sap and spores are an issue in landscapes, this article focuses on creating gardens for pollen-sensitive individuals. Let’s go over some of the worst offenders for pollen sensitivity and hayfever.

Plants to Avoid: Problematic Pollen Plants

• Ryegrass
• Carex
• Birch
• Oak
• Cypress
• Maple
• Willow
• Fraxinus
• Nettle
• Lilies
• Acacia
• Privet
• Pine
• Casuarina & Allocasuarina
• Plane
• Olive
• Callistemon (Allergenic status is debated)
• Mugwort
• Canary Island date palm
• Asteraceae members, such as daisies

Selecting Low-Allergen Plants

Choosing plants that won’t upset the sensitive folks involves considering their specific features. Some might react to one plant but not another,

Some advocate for plants with bright, insect-pollinated flowers is a safe bet as they say they’re less likely to send pollen flying. There might be an element of truth to this, but in fact it’s only a half truth. Many dull flowers are safe, and we can see a number of plants that have colourful flowers in the list of plants to avoid above.

Your local nursery can be a source of information on low-pollen plants that thrive in your area. Alternatively, seek the help of a horticulturist; by giving a dedicated plant person a seat at the design table, your landscapes are much more likely to perform well long-term.

Here’s a list of some options to look into when sourcing plants for pollen-safe gardens.

Safer Plant Choices

Start off with any sterile varieties that don’t produce pollen in the first place, such as:

Safe Haven™ Fraxinus griffithii ‘FRAX01’ PBR Intended

Double Gold™ Gazania hybrid  ‘GT20’ PBR

Lady Tanika®  Lomandra ‘LM360’ PBR

These species may also be unlikely to cause respiratory and hayfever problems:

• Kangaroo Paw
• Grevillea
• Banksia
• Correa
• Liriope
• Lomandra
• Phormium
• Waratah
• Dianella
• Hibiscus
• Lobelia
• Azaleas
• Liriope
• Hardenbergia
• Eremophila

Practical Design Strategies for Low-Allergen Gardens

To keep pollen from becoming a pest, think about where you place your plants. Keep those high-pollen ones away from areas where people spend most of their time. Using barriers and windbreaks can also help keep pollen contained.

Keeping your garden tidy by regularly picking up leaves and debris can really cut down on mould and spores, which are often overlooked but beneficial for keeping the air clear for extremely sensitive individuals.

Daniel’s Wrap

Low-allergen gardens are key to ensuring everyone can enjoy the outdoors comfortably. As landscape designers and architects, making your designs inclusive by thinking about allergens is a way to improve accessibility.

By staying informed and spreading the word about allergen-aware gardening, we can make these spaces a vital part of both urban and private areas, enhancing the lives of many.