ATLANTA — The million-dollar question is: Is tree pollen season done? Can you uncover the patio furniture, hose off the back deck, and enjoy some time outdoors without yellow pollen and sneezing every five minutes?!
The short answer: Not quite.
Dr. Mary Georgy with Atlanta Allergy & Asthma says if you wait until the end of the month or the start of May before uncovering the patio furniture and pressure washing, you won’t end up with an additional buildup of pine pollen, so you won’t have to clean things twice.
"Every year is different. Historically, we're still at the peak of it. Trees can go into May (high pollen counts). And even last year, we had high pollen counts of trees going into May. And then the grasses start. So you get this collision of the trees and grasses going at the same time," Gregory explained.
Tree pollen counts have been over 1,000 in the last few days. But at least we no longer have pollen counts over 5,000. That seems to be done. The varieties of tree pollens at their peak have also been changing.
"Pine is decreasing, but it's still there," Gregory explained. "It can't tell you exactly when it'll disappear altogether, but it's definitely getting lower."
Mulberry, Oak, Sycamore, and Hickory were today's top pollen contributors. Pine came in at #5.
Bottom line: Tree Pollen numbers should come down significantly by the 1st of May. However, yellow residue may continue to show up even if you wash it away now.
Jonathan Whitaker, owner of Alpha Pressure Washing, says that when you decide to wash the pollen away, water may often do the trick. But with how the winter has been, there's also a big buildup of mold and mildew on houses that his company cleans off.
"When we wash a house, we use a bleach detergent mixture. But honestly, that has nothing to do with pollen. Water can wash that away easily," he explained.
Although water can do the trick to wash the pollen away, Whitaker cautions against using a big pressure washing machine on your house if you've never done that before.
"If you don't know what you're doing, you can really easily damage your house. The rental pressure washers you can pick up at the local hardware store can have settings way too high," he added.