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Allergy Free Gardening

Allergy Free Gardening
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If you are suffering from allergies, tree and plant pollen may be the reason.

 

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"It makes no sense to plant highly allergenic trees or shrubs close to where we live." Dr. Walter H. Lewis, senior botanist Missouri Botanical Gardens, author of Medical Botany

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Allergy-Free Parks

From coast to coast, all across Canada, new parks are now being developed and planted as Allergy-free Parks. The person most responsible for driving this wonderful work is Canadian horticulturist and award-winning educator, Peter Prakke. Peter has also been instrumental in getting allergy-free landscapes installed at all the new "Bravery Parks," across Canada, each park named after a Canadian soldier who was killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

In addition, Peter has been instrumental in getting school boards to start implementing allergy-free gardening practices in landscaping in Ontario, Canada's elementary and secondary schools.

If you'd like help on similar projects in your own area, contact Mr. Prakke, at cprakke@cogeco.ca

Click to view the July Newsletter - Marydale Park


Allergy-Free School Yards

At the present time school yards are often the most allergenic landscapes in a typical American or Canadian city. Trees and shrubs were originally selected to never produce any fruit, seeds, or seedpods, with the idea that kids might play with these or throw them at each other. The end result of these school landscapes is that school children are suffering more than ever before from both allergies and asthma. Please read this new article.


Allergy-Free Urban Green Zones

The authors, professors and department heads from the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Madrid, are botanists and pollen experts, and at least four years of extensive research went into the writing of this fine article. This paper, first published in the highly respected journal, Landscape and Urban Planning, is re-printed here, with the permission of the authors. Please do not re-print any of it without their express permission, or that of Landscape and Urban Planning.

Click to view the Urban Green Zones Publication


Ketzel Levine on NPR

Some years ago an NPR listener to Ketzel Levine’s great on the air garden show, wrote her a note, asking about allergies and what could she do about them. Ketzel mentioned my book, Allergy-Free Gardening, but implied that all it really covered were the worst plants, the ones to avoid. She also seemed to imply that there wasn’t a damn thing you could do about pollen allergies.

Continue Reading Full Story


Proximity allergy, hay fever and asthma caused by landscape trees and shrubs

How far does pollen actually travel? How much allergy is homegrown? Alarming, record pollen counts coming from elementary schools. New research from other countries. Please read this important new research paper:

Proximity allergy, hay fever and asthma caused by landscape trees and shrubs


Measures to reduce the urban pollen count

A new article from Science for Environmental Policy:
Measures to Reduce the Urban Pollen Count

New DevelopmentsTom & Peter Prakke
 
 
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