Rating: 
Summary: Great Book!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: The Bible for allergy sufferers
Review: As someone who has a history of allergies to almost everything, this book truly has become the Bible of allergies for me. In my opinion, this really is the best book ever written in regards to allergies. Tom Ogren outlines the allergy potential for every plant you've ever heard of, and a few you probably haven't heard of. When we moved into our new Southern California home a couple of years ago, we used this as a bible for landscaping -- if the book gave it a good pollen rating, we planted it. If it was a high pollen rating, we didn't plant it. The result? My allergies are better now than they have been at any time in my life, and this book has played a huge part in that! Even if you're not allergic to plants, get this book if you do any landscaping -- if everyone would follow his suggestions, there's no question we'd reduce the amount of allergic reactions by a huge amount. I can't say enough good about this book!!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book on the Subject
Review: 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.
Shelby Stover
Rating:
Summary: Best Book on the Subject
Review: 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.
Shelby Stover
Rating:
Summary: You can throw out your medication if you follow this advice!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! This is an incredible book!!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: I really love this book!!!
Review: 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!!
Rating:
Summary: An Encyclopedia of 1000's of plants and their pollen rating
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Wait Till You Read His New One!
Review: 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!
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