Answers to Your Questions: Non-Allergenic Trees

Question

We live in an area with a lot of conifers. We had to clear and fill the land. Now we want to replant trees, preferably deciduous ones with a distinctive color. The problem is that our daughter is very, very allergic to birch pollen. What kind of non-allergenic trees, which produce little or no pollen, would be suitable?

Answer

To affect allergic people, the pollen must be dry and light, carried by the wind. However, some trees have a heavy, moist pollen that is not carried by the wind, but rather by bees and other insects. Insect-pollinated trees are easy to recognize: their flowers are always conspicuous. So the beautiful blossoming of some trees is not for the pleasure of our eyes, it’s a way of attracting pollinators. It goes without saying, then, that most trees with a beautiful bloom are of a species whose pollen will have no effect on your daughter: lilacs, crabapples, cherry trees and so on. Many of these species have colored foliage, such as crabapple or cherry trees with purple foliage, or sumac with yellow foliage, like the ‘Tiger Eyes’ sumac.

Female Trees: Another Solution

Another possibility is to look for female-only trees. In fact, in many species with troublesome pollen (ash, juniper, many maples, etc.), the two sexes are found on different trees. If you plant only females, there will be no allergy problems, as only male trees produce pollen. The problem is that this detail is rarely provided by the nurseryman.

However, you can at least avoid trees sold as “seedless”, such as ‘Marshall’s Seedless’ ash: they are always male plants! Another trick is to take a good look at the plant. A berry-bearing juniper, for example, is female and therefore won’t produce pollen. While this is the case for dioecious species such as ash and juniper, it is not so for maples. Most maples are monoecious, having both male and female flowers on the same tree, but there are some female cultivars.

For a more detailed list of allergenic trees and shrubs, read Don’t Grow Trees That Make You Sneeze.

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Larry Hodgson published thousands of articles and 65 books over the course of his career, in both French and English. His son, Mathieu, has made it his mission to make his father’s writings accessible to the public. This text was originally published on July 4, 2006 in Le Soleil newspaper.