The short version: Most hay fever pollen comes from plants that use the wind: lawn and pasture grasses, weeds such as plantain and pellitory, and in the vegetable patch, sweet corn, plus beetroot, silverbeet and spinach once they flower. Tomatoes, beans, zucchini, most herbs and most showy flowers move their pollen by insect or within the flower, so they put far less into the air. Garden on calm, low count days, let someone else mow, pull weeds before they flower, and keep your asthma action plan close.
Spring asks the most of a vegetable garden, which is awkward when it also brings streaming eyes and a box of tissues on the potting bench. The National Asthma Council puts hay fever at about one in five Australians and New Zealanders.
Most of what a kitchen garden grows is not the culprit. The trouble comes from plants that throw their pollen to the wind, much of it from over the fence, so the useful choices are what you grow and when you go out.
Which garden plants put pollen into the air
The National Asthma Council says hay fever pollen usually comes from imported grasses, weeds and trees that use the wind, while highly flowered plants rarely trigger it because birds or insects carry their pollen. Around the vegetable patch, that means:
- Sweet corn (Zea mays) is a grass whose tassels shed pollen on the breeze. The Office of the Gene Technology Regulator says maize is not considered highly allergenic but its pollen can cause hay fever; the heavy grains mostly settle within about 60 metres and are shed mainly in mid-morning over about two weeks. Plant it away from the house and leave the tassel tapping and picking to someone else while it sheds.
- Beetroot and silverbeet (both Beta vulgaris) and spinach (Spinacia oleracea) are wind pollinated, but their pollen comes with the flowers. Keep picking, and pull them once a flower stalk starts to rise.
- Amaranth, grown for its leaves and grain, deserves a plain word. Its weedy relative redroot (Amaranthus retroflexus) makes pollen that researchers call an important trigger of respiratory allergy in several countries, Australia among them. The garden species are not as well studied, so if weed pollen sets you off, keep amaranth well away from the house or give it a miss.
- Lawn and weeds: ryegrass (Lolium perenne), couch (Cynodon dactylon) and plantain (Plantago lanceolata) are on ASCIA's guide to allergenic pollen.
The crops and flowers that keep their pollen close
Oregon State University Extension lists tomatoes, capsicum, eggplant, beans, peas and lettuce as self-pollinating crops. Pumpkin, zucchini and cucumber need insects, and Plant Health Australia's BeeAware programme describes pumpkin and zucchini pollen as large and sticky, moved by insects rather than wind. ABC Organic Gardener counts most herbs as low-allergy plants, with pansies, salvias and begonias, and warns that strong scent can irritate on its own: keep perfumed plants away from doors and windows.
One family earns a footnote. Zinnias, marigolds, chamomile and sunflowers belong to the daisy family, Asteraceae. Organic Gardener warns their pollen can cause severe allergic responses in some people, and ASCIA notes sunflower pollen affects some heavily exposed people, such as flower growers. If one of them sets off your symptoms, the Better Health Channel says to remove the plant.
Pollen-free sunflowers, and what the label means
Sunflowers such as Classic Gold, Compact Sonnet, Garnet and Tall Timber F1 (all Helianthus annuus) are sold as pollen-free hybrids: cut flowers that drop no pollen to stain a tablecloth. North Dakota State University Extension agrees: pollenless blooms last longer in a vase, leave no pollen dust on the furniture, and still make plenty of nectar for bees.
Pollen-free is not the same as allergy-proof. ASCIA links sunflowers with contact allergy in gardeners and florists. For bee pollen and seed to harvest, grow a seed sunflower such as Sunbird as well: its pollen also sets seed on the pollen-free heads.
How to garden through grass pollen season
- Check the count first. Asthma Australia lists daily counts through the AirRater app for Victoria, Sydney, Canberra, Hobart, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide and the Northern Territory.
- Pick your days. Stay in on high count days, windy days and after thunderstorms.
- Hand over the mower. The National Asthma Council advises staying inside while someone else mows, and a mask if you must mow. Lawn grasses still flower when kept short, Organic Gardener notes, so a troublesome lawn may be better as ground cover or paving.
- Weed early. Asthma Australia says the flowers and seeds of weeds can cause flare-ups, so pull them while they are small.
- Dress for it. Sunglasses, and a mask while gardening. If mould is a trigger, the Better Health Channel lists garden compost and mulch among the things to avoid.
- Leave the pollen at the door. Change, shower and rinse your eyes when you come in. On high count days, dry the washing indoors: a sheet on the line collects pollen as well as sunshine.
Weeds to pull out first
Pellitory (Parietaria judaica), also called asthma weed, is the one to know by sight. NSW WeedWise describes a sticky, hairy plant of cracks and walls that sheds pollen all year, most heavily in spring, and can cause asthma, hay fever and severe skin irritation. ASCIA says it is mainly a Sydney weed, also reported in Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle.
WeedWise advises protective clothing so you neither touch nor breathe it in, pulling or digging it out, roots and all, before it flowers, and careful disposal of seeding plants; your council can advise. Better still, hand the job to someone who does not react.
Thunderstorm asthma: the warning to take seriously
The Victorian Department of Health says the state's grass pollen season brings the chance of thunderstorm asthma. The National Asthma Council explains that rain breaks airborne pollen into particles that reach deeper into the lungs, and that people with springtime hay fever can be at risk even without an asthma diagnosis.
- In Victoria, check the epidemic thunderstorm asthma forecast on the VicEmergency app or website through the season. Elsewhere, follow your state health advice and the storm warnings: NSW Health says an event can happen wherever high pollen meets a thunderstorm.
- Stay inside before and during storms with wind gusts, windows shut and the air conditioner on recirculate. If a storm front arrives while you are weeding, go inside straight away.
- Follow your asthma action plan and your doctor's advice, and keep your reliever with you in the garden.
- In an emergency, call triple zero (000).
The National Asthma Council's pollen and hay fever fact sheet sets out the full advice for home, car and garden.
Pollen seasons across Australia's climate zones
A six-city study found grass pollen seasons vary strikingly between places and years, so treat these lines as a guide. The zones are broad groupings: between two of them, go by local cues such as your frosts, your nearest count and your own symptoms.
- Tropical (Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory, plus Cairns and Townsville up the north Queensland coast): Darwin's limited records put the grass pollen peak in April and May, at the start of the dry season, months later than most southern cities. AirRater lists a Northern Territory count; in north Queensland, your symptoms are the guide.
- Subtropical (Brisbane and south-east Queensland, northern New South Wales): Bahia grass and couch dominate Brisbane's air; Brisbane's season has started anywhere from mid-September to late November, and ASCIA puts the main northern coastal flowering in January to March. Brisbane has a daily count.
- Arid and semi-arid (Alice Springs and central Australia, Broken Hill in far western New South Wales, Mildura in north-west Victoria, Kalgoorlie and the Western Australian goldfields, inland Queensland): no daily count covers most of this zone. White cypress pine, the one Australian tree ASCIA rates as highly allergenic, grows on the inland slopes and plains south of the Tropic of Capricorn and flowers from late July to the end of August.
- Temperate (Sydney and coastal New South Wales, Melbourne in Victoria): ryegrass leads. Sydney's season has started anywhere from late July to early October, while Victoria's runs from 1 October to 31 December with the thunderstorm asthma forecast. Both cities have daily counts.
- Mediterranean (Perth and the south-west of Western Australia, Adelaide in South Australia): southern grasses flower mainly from October to December, and in these two states the count rises and falls with the wind, ASCIA says. Olive trees, a leading cause of hay fever in parts of southern Europe, are spreading here. Perth and Adelaide have daily counts.
- Cool and alpine (Hobart and the rest of Tasmania, the ACT around Canberra, Ballarat in central Victoria, the Orange and Armidale tablelands of New South Wales, Stanthorpe on Queensland's Granite Belt): ryegrass dominates Canberra's and Hobart's grass pollen, with the main flowering from October to December. Canberra and Hobart have daily counts, and Ballarat falls within Victoria's forecast.
Frequently asked questions
Will pollen-free sunflowers stop my hay fever?
No plant can promise that. They drop no pollen in the vase or on your hands, which helps, but sunflowers have also been linked with contact allergy.
Do native plants cause hay fever?
Less often than introduced ones. The National Asthma Council says Australian natives are typically low allergen, with exceptions such as cypress pine, and ASCIA notes wattle is often blamed but tests rarely confirm it.
Should I stop growing sweet corn?
Not necessarily. Maize is not considered highly allergenic and its heavy pollen mostly settles near the block. Plant it away from the house and let someone else work it while it sheds.
Can I keep gardening in spring if I have asthma?
Many people do. Take your prescribed medicines, carry your reliever and action plan, and skip windy, stormy and high count days. If spring still leaves you wheezing, see your doctor.
Plant for the bees, watch the count, and on the bad days let the garden wait for a calmer one.
Related growing guides
- Growing sunflowers from seed, giants to dwarfs
- Flowers to sow among the vegetables for bees
- Mulch, hoeing and other organic ways to keep weeds down
- Garden safety: sun, potting mix, snakes and sprays
Browse our sunflower seeds, or our flower seeds for a patch that feeds the bees.