Anti-pollen ordinances being considered around the country targeting
wind-pollinated trees that create "pollen pollution" may bring a new foraging
bonanza for honeybees and other pollen and nectar-loving insects.
   One model law being looked at is in Albuquerque, NM, where the city
enacted an ordinance in 1997 banning elm, cypress and mulberry trees, and
many varieties of juniper, cottonwood and poplar trees and bushes. The city
was attempting to address an alarming rise in cases of asthma. Rowland
Nursery owner Quentin Doherty says when customers ask for a mulberry or an
elm, he lets them know about the ban and suggests an alternative, like a plum
tree. "The showier the tree's flower, the less likely it is to produce a lot
of windborne pollen—it relies on the bees instead."
   How much forage and how many trees are we talking about? Tom Ogren, author
of Allergy-Free Gardening, says, "In the U.S., there are more than 150
million street trees planted every single year. There's a high turnover of
city trees, because they live in tough conditions with smog and kids banging
on them and cars driving over them and so forth."
  Increasing pollen loads go hand-in-hand with the rise in cases of asthma,
Ogren says. Many factors may contribute to or aggravate asthma, among them
pollution, dust and pesticides, but pollen is one of the worst, he says.
   Just today, U.S. Health and Human Services director Donna Shalala called
asthma an epidemic. "Each year, asthma kills 5,000 Americans, and the disease
is estimated to cost the U.S. economy $11 billion in health care costs and
lost productivity," Shalala says.
   The number of people with asthma has doubled worldwide in the last 15
years. More than 10 percent of children worldwide have asthma symptoms, and
in some countries, as many as 30 percent are affected. In the U.S.,
low-income and minority populations in the city are the hardest hit. New
subdivisions in the suburbs have also been hard-hit—areas with a great number
of new city-planted trees.
   Ogren says pollen loads have increased hugely due to city tree-planting
practices that use male-only trees, or male-only clones. Female trees create
"litter" because they set and drop seeds and pods. Male-only trees that only
create pollen may help keep the streets clean, but steadily raise the pollen
count.
   Honeybees could benefit from new efforts to correct existing practices,
but there are still some barriers to planting insect-pollinated trees.
Another nursery owner in Albuquerque said that flowering trees generally
don't make good shade trees, "and in Albuquerque, we need shade." Mary, the
owner of Bell's Greenhouse, said Bradford pears can reach sizes that creat
adequate shade, but they take a long time.
   Can anyone on the list recommend tall, fast-growing trees with
insect-pollinated flowers that provide good bee forage and sufficient shade,
while being tough enough to survive the travails of city and suburban life?
   For a copy of Albuquerque's anti-pollen ordinance, call Kay Lang in the
city's environmental health department, 505.768.2600 Ext. 2607.
   For more about the topic, read Tom Ogren's "Allergy-Free Gardening," new
this spring.
   To read a story about Albuquerque's ban, go to :
   http://www.cultivatedgardener.com/features/000330_F1.html