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Allergy-Free Gardening: The Revolutionary Guide to Healthy Landscapingby Thomas Leo Ogren Hardcover: 288 pages Dimensions (in inches): 1.19 x 9.31 x 7.85 Publisher: Ten Speed Press; (September 2000) ISBN: 1580082009 Check price @ amazon.com , amazon.ca , amazon.co.uk Book Description This book presents a new idea and does so very well indeed. Ogren, a former landscape gardening instructor, proposes that in our private and public landscaping we need to reduce the use of plants that cause allergies. Until the publication of Allergy-Free Gardening: The Revolutionary Guide to Healthy Landscaping, the information needed to make allergy-free choices had not been compiled in one easily accessible source; nor had a scale been devised for rating plants that cause allergies. Here, Ogren accomplishes both these aims. His introductory material presents many plants and allergies new to this reviewer, and he shows how to apply his ideas. The main part of the book consists of plants listed in alphabetical order by their scientific names, with numerous cross references to their common names. Brief annotations provide descriptions and notes regarding allergies. The most important feature, however, is the rating of plants on a scale from one to ten (with ten causing the worst allergic reactions). As David Stadtner, a practicing allergist, writes in his foreword, "the book should be in the library of every nursery and municipal park department." It should be in public and academic libraries as well. - Carol Cubberley, Univ. of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg Customer Reviews Best Book on the Subject, December 21, 2001 Reviewer: Shelby Stover from Central Coast, California I have read all the books on this subject and this one is the best by far. None of the others have an allergy scale, and the scale makes finding the best plants much easier. This book is also interesting and is full of good tips about gardening in general. The author spent many years working on this book and it is indeed useful and easy to understand. I've had this book about a year now and have made many changes in my own landscapes, front and back yards both. Some of the shrubs we had were rated the very worst and getting them replaced was a big plus for me and my family, all of whom have allergies. The photos in the book are quite good, as are the many drawings. Everything in it is cross-referenced and this makes it quick to find what you're looking for. I got Allergy Free Gardening on the advice of my allergist and I have been recommending it to almost everyone I know. I wish I had had this book before we first landscaped, but still, better late than never. I've been giving copies of this book as presents to my relatives who have allergies and so far everyone has enjoyed it. I think it is probably one of the most useful books I own, and I own quite a few. Creative and Brilliant, Important and Useful., June 19, 2000 Reviewer: Thomas Leo Ogren from San Luis Obispo, CA United States Fourteen years ago, Tom Ogren, the author of Allergy-Free Gardening, from Ten Speed Press, decided to create an allergy-free garden at hisown house. His wife had severe asthma and hay fever and he was, as he writes, "a horticulturist after all." He soon found there was little written about the subject. Botany, horticulture, and landscape design professors he consulted knew almost nothing about it. Nurserymen also proved to be of little assistance. The only things he could find to read were books about pollen itself. In order to understand these heavy scientific treatises Ogren had to first learn an entirely new vocabulary. For years he read everything he could find on pollen and plant flowering systems. He started testing himself and others with thousands of different pollens. He began to measure the distance pollen moved from its source plant. Eventually his huge stacks of data and clipped articles became a book, aptly named Allergy-Free Gardening. Set up in encyclopedia form, thousands of common and not so common garden and landscape plants are alphabetically listed, discussed, and individually allergy-ranked on a scale of 1-10. With this scale, OPALSae, 1 is the best, the least allergenic; 10 represents those plants with the highest allergy causing potential. Allergy-Free Gardening has zone maps for both the United States and Europe and all plants are ranked for winter hardiness. Plants are listed by scientific name, but are completely cross-referenced by common name, making any listing easy to find. Years into his study Ogren discovered that within the species often described by allergists as "the worst," was a goldmine of allergy-free plants. Many of these species are separate-sexed, and one night he suddenly realized "that the female plants would shed no pollen at all," making them in effect, 100% pollen-free. Included in Allergy-Free Gardening are exact cultivar names of these long-neglected pollen-free female trees, shrubs, vines, annuals, perennials, and yes, even grasses. The book is also full of helpful tips of cultural things any gardener can do to limit pollen and spores in the garden. A major discovery of his research was that modern landscapes, unlike landscapes of old, are now loaded with heavy pollen-producing, "litter-free" male clones. These "clean" urban trees are literally killing us. Illustrated with hundreds of fine line drawings and 64 pages of color photographs, this valuable book seems a bargain.... The allergist who wrote the Foreword to Allergy-Free Gardening, Dr. David Stadtner, wrote, "This revolutionary book should be on the shelf of every serious gardener, not to mention every horticulture teacher, nurseryman, landscaper, urban planner, and allergist." I couldn't agree more. Great Book!, September 24, 2003 Reviewer: A reader from Chatham, New Jersey United States I have owned this book for several years now and couldn't do without it. I do a good deal of gardening and before I buy any new plants at the nursery, I consult Allergy Free Grdening. My allergist suggested I buy this book, and I am very glad that I did. AFG helps me pick out trees, shrubs, vines, & flowers that will not cause allergies. It is very easy to use, interesting, useful, and surprisingly, kind of fun to read. There is also a good deal of solid advice on how to grow different kinds of plants. Several of my friends also own this book and we all find it terribly useful. If you have allergies or asthma, or if you have a husband, daughter, son, or good friend who does, this is the book to own. It would also make a wonderful present for your favorite doctor, especially so if he/she is an allergist. I highly recommend Allergy-Free Gardening. Changed the way I look at plants., May 5, 2003 Reviewer: Sarah from Culver City, CA United States Allergy-Free Gardening really did change the way I look at plants. I have a background in both horticulture and botany and yet there was so much new material that I learned from this book that I was frankly, amazed. I knew a bit about plant sex, but in retrospect, very little. In Thomas Ogren's eyes all plants are not created equally or at least they certainly are not equally of value to us. In the past I planted and never gave much thought to whether or not something would be causing me rashes, allergies or other plant-triggered illnesses. I look at trees, shrubs, vines, flowers, lawns different now though. I use this book to find the best plants, the ones that will be attractive and useful in my garden and that will be healthy choices for me and my family. I like the way Allergy-Free Gardening is set up. Everything is easy to find, easy to understand, easy to use. This author has a real talent for taking the very complicated and putting it all into easily understood layperson terms. His writing is fluent, personal, interesting. You have the feeling he cares deeply about what he does. I haven't read his newest book yet, Safe Sex in the Garden, but I have two friends who have and they thought it was excellent. I've ordered a copy of it also. But, if you garden or you are concerned about your health, I expect you will enjoy this book. I also find that I use it over and over as a general gardening reference book, since it is full of good, solid, down to earth horticultural advice. This is one of the best gardening books I own, and certainly the best thing written on allergies, asthma, and avoiding pollen. Wow! This is an incredible book!!, April 12, 2003 Reviewer: Isaac Victor from Los Angeles, Californa I just finished reading and reviewing Safe Sex in the Garden, the newest book by Thomas Leo Ogren. I had already bought and read (several times) Allergy-Free Gardening. I am becomming a real fan of this author, who I would say knows more about health and horticulture than any other writer I've ever read. Seriously, Ogren is that rare find, an original thinker who can write well. In both of his books the text moves right along. It is almost like reading a good novel, except that as you read it, you are learning so many remarkable, often quite incredible new things. I have a friend who heard this author speak, at the Huntington Museum and arboretum, and she told me that he is a fantastic speaker too. But that doesn't surprise me at all. In Allergy-Free Gardening you will see what has happened in modern landscapng, where tidy plants (male) are so much favored over pollen-free plants (female). There is a huge section in the book where many thousands of garden and landscape plants are discussed, and each one is given an easy to understand allergy (1-10) ranking. Everyone I know who owns this book has put it to use, making their own yards allergy-free. I count this book as probably the most useful gardening book I own, and find that I refer to it over and over, and not just on health matters either. The culture of plants, how to grow them best, all this is well covered. I just can't recommend this book too highly. I wish that every single gardener, landscaper, allergist, doctor, and horticulture teacher owned a copy. The city arborists need to read this book too, since so often they are the ones who are planting all those allegenic, male, pollen producing street trees. This is a good one (as is the super intersting Safe Sex in the Garden) and if you have a garden and care about your own health, you'll simply love reading it. Wait Till You Read His New One!, January 12, 2003 Reviewer: queenilene from West Chester, PA USA People who appreciated the style of, and all the unique, valuable information and careful research that went into Allergy-Free Gardening will certainly be interested in reading Ogren's next book, due out this March (2003), called "Safe Sex in the Garden," in which the author discusses how landscaping affects health. It has the largest section yet written on plants that cause skin rashes, a section on how to tell "boy plants" from "girl plants", a huge chapter on poisonous plants and poisonous pollen, an extensive chapter on allergies that animals get, and also one on reducing stress. And just in time for gardening season! This Is A Must Have!, February 19, 2002 Reviewer: Sheri Ann Richerson from Marion, IN United States Tom Ogren's book is a must have for anyone with allergies or for anyone who entertains people with allergies. It is simply put, the best book on the subject. This is also the only book which has an allergy scale. Tom writes this book from personal experience which is also helps to set it apart from many others on the subject. The book has a great cross-reference section making it a breeze to find exactly what you are looking for in the blink of an eye. It is also full of great gardening tips. This is one book you simply must have on your gardening book shelf. It also makes a great gift for family and friends. An Encyclopedia of 1000's of plants and their pollen rating, February 19, 2002 Reviewer: V.J. Billings from Mountain Valley Growers Squaw Valley, CA USA In our quest for a tidier landscape, it would seem we have been creating an allergy laden nightmare. Many thanks to Tom Ogren, an agricultural scientist, for pointing out that in plants that have separate sexes, the female is always the one without the pollen. Unfortunately, she also has the flowers that can drop and litter the yard or sidewalk. This has led to the growing trend of planting male only trees in landscapes. But, if you have an allergy or asthma, these male only trees can be hazardous to your health because they produce the pollen. The good news is Mr. Ogren explains how to top graft your trees so you might be able to save them! Mr. Ogren has created an extremely useful tool to rate the allergen causing potential for thousands of trees, shrubs, perennials and herbs. In encyclopedic fashion, he lays out these plants under their scientific name and adds helpful insights about many of them. His allergen rating scale is so thoroughly researched that it has been adopted by the USDA to rank entire cities. There is so much more to this book than a discussion of pollen though. The opening chapters of this book have many useful ideas on how to lead a healthier life and in the process reduce your allergic reactions. For instance, flowers rated on the low pollen side of 2 to 4 in this book, are usually safe to have around unless you directly inhale their fragrance. Allergy-Free Gardening is bound to become a most valuable reference for all those who have allergies or who have loved ones that suffer from allergies. I really love this book!!!, December 9, 2001 Reviewer: Sterling Rachael from Lompoc, CA I've read this book over and over again, and every time I find something new. I have bad allergies and serious asthma and I need to have all the facts. Allergy-Free Gardening by Thomas Ogren is full of facts, full of important material you really can't find anywhere else. I read everything I can get my hands on about allergies and I like to garden too, so this book is perfect for me. I like the way everything is arranged in the book, very easy to use. The plants are all allergy ranked on a one to ten scale (where one is best and ten is worst) and this makes plant selection clear and simple. Ogren's writing is excellent, always interesting and cleanly expressed. Many years of research went into the writing of this fine reference book, and it shows. The book covers a very wide range of landscape and garden plants, and includes plants from the tropics to Alaska. All the plants are climate zone ranked, cultural garden tips are given freely, and there is much advice on how to find actual allergy-free plants. These allergy-free plants, it turns out, are usually female plants, since they don't produce pollen. There are pollen-free trees, bushes, vines, flowers, and even lawns. The exact names of the best plants are all in this neat book and when I go to the nursery I always take my copy with me. One of the best books I own!! You can throw out your medication if you follow this advice!, June 4, 2001 Reviewer: melious from San Diego, CA United States I have researched allergies for almost ten years now. In less than an hour with this book, my knowledge of allergies and pollen surpassed all of my prior research. In a world so technologically advanced, I can't believe we have missed the boat when it comes to allergies and asthma. I can't thank Mr. Ogren enough for this book. It has changed my life, in more ways than one. I am a biochemistry student, gardener and allergic person. Mr. Ogren's theory that the overuse of male plants (abundant pollen producers) in the landscape have contributed to the increase in allergy and asthma seemed far too simple to have been overlooked for so many years. So I conducted some research of my own. Much to my surprise, I found that the use of male plants is indeed dominant in the neighborhoods of San Diego. Far more common than I ever realized or thought possible. Male plant use is the rule, rather than the exception, along roadways and is all too frequent (with no, or very few, females) in school yards, shopping centers, parks, office buildings and home gardens. The book is a real eye opener, and if you follow its advice, a lung opener too. Landscapers using the advice this book offers can create much healthier environments for us all and can actually do more to improve our health than our doctors. Allergists have always said "avoidance is the key" but have never really been able to offer us much advice beyond that. This book does! It is for everyone with allergies and asthma, not just gardeners. It is an encyclopedia of allergenic and non allergenic plants that should be mandatory for every landscaper, allergist and any person with allergies or asthma. If you or a family member suffer from allergies or asthma you will find help in this book. Check it out of the library, if you can. That's how I found it, loved it and purchased it. It will help you, even if you are not a gardener. It rates plants on a scale of 1 to 10, making a plant's allergy potential very easy to understand. It describes how one allergenic plant, in the wrong location, can cause months of misery. This book is worth every penny and every moment you spend reading it! If you are unable to identify the plants in your yard, or your neighboring yards, after reading the book, you can find free help with identification through your local nursery, county agriculture extension or garden clubs. Take a cutting to them and ask them what it is. I am almost certain that you will find the exact plant(s) in your yard, maybe a neighbor's, that cause your allergies. This book can truly change your life and your health. 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