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| Full sun garden area |
Many people are unsure how to answer this question and ask me how they can figure it out.
An easy way to figure it out is to chart out the area on a sunny day.
This is definitely something you should do before you buy any new plants for a garden area.
If you haven't done this before, or you haven't done it in a while, it's a good exercise. You might be surprised to realize that your "full sun" garden isn't getting enough sun… or your "shade garden" gets more sun than you thought.
To chart out your garden area, start early in the morning after the sun comes up. Take note of whether your garden area is fully or partially in the sun or shade at this time. Then every hour, check the garden area again and write down the sun exposure. Keep tracking the sun exposure every hour until the sun goes down.
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| Chart for a few of my gardens (click to enlarge) |
If it's a large area, you might want to note the different sections of the garden as they come into the sun, or move into shade. You could even take this on a larger scale and do your entire backyard, front yard or the whole property in one chart.
Now you know how many hours of sunlight your garden gets, and at which hours during the day. You can take that information and buy plants accordingly...
- Full Sun: This is an area that gets at least 6 hours of direct sunlight.
- Partial Sun / Partial Shade: These terms are similar and generally mean an area that gets 3 to 6 hours of sun. Partial sun would be an area that gets closer to 6 hours of sun; and partial shade is an area that gets closer to 3 hours of sun that is also protected from the intense afternoon sun. Another term in this category is Dappled Sun, this means the sun is filtered through tree or bush branches, fences slats, pergolas… etc.
- Shade / Full Shade: Shade refers to an area that receives less than 3 hours of direct sunlight each day, with the bulk of the sun exposure occurring during either early morning, late afternoon or dappled throughout the day. Full shade is an area that doesn't get any direct sun exposure, but may receive bright, indirect light.
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| Plant labels show sun exposure |
Read the tag of every plant before you purchase it.
The tag should tell you the sun exposure requirements for the plant.
Remember that the sun changes position in the sky throughout the year, so an area that is mostly shade in spring and fall may get more intense sun during the summer.
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| Another sunny garden area |
You don't want that so be sure to take this into consideration when planning a garden area.
Also think about how any tree leaf out will affect your garden areas. A full sun area in the spring and fall could become pretty shady during the summer once the trees get their leaves.
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Good information! However, when I'm out in the yard, it feels hotter until about 6:30 pm in the summer, so does it not count towards full sun hours?
ReplyDeleteRandomGardener - That's a really good point, and my wording is poor on that statement. What I was trying to say is that full sun lovers should be in the sun during the peak hours of the day when the sun is at it's highest/hottest. Rather than being in full sun only during say 8am-10am and 4pm-8pm, with no full sun during the peak hours. I guess it's hard to explain. :-)
ReplyDeleteAmy
P.S. I reworded it so hopefully it makes more sense now. Let me know if it still sounds confusing, and thanks again for pointing that out!
ReplyDeleteI'm in South Dakota and am working with a garden plot new to me. It has partial tree branch coverage. What is the earliest month, in your opinion, that I could do this?
ReplyDeleteWait until the trees have fully leafed out before doing this in the spring. That will give you a pretty good feel for what the sun exposure will be through the summer. You could do it again at the peak of summer (June/July) to see how it differs, but I don't think you need to wait to plant stuff until then. Keep an eye on it through the summer and modify next year if necessary.
DeleteAmy