Although the bulk of what is written about gardening concentrates on plants getting enough sun, there is a need for shade in the garden. So how can you create shade for your summer garden?
Some plants prefer dappled light, not full sun, and other plants thrive in shade. There are also times when there is an unexpected heat wave, and even your sun-loving plants are suffering.
People and other animals also need shade when it’s hot or when the sun is too bright. The type of shade and the amount of shade needed will vary from garden to garden, but there are some fairly universal guidelines that have proven to be useful.
This article will focus on creating shade with plants, rather than human-made structures.
Design the garden ahead of time
The most logical way to ensure the right amount of shade in the garden is to plan for it ahead of time.
Study your garden space, and take note of its daily sun exposure.
Is the west side of your garden where the sun is most intense? Then that will be where you’ll want to focus your shade creating efforts.
Then you’ll need to decide what sort of shade you’re after.
For example, if you want constant shade in a particular spot, then an evergreen tree would be your best bet. Why? this is because evergreens keep their leaves year round.
However, if you want that spot to provide shade in the summer, but let the sun in once the weather is cooler, a deciduous tree – which loses its leaves in the fall – will be the correct choice.
Shadow creating plants
If your garden is too small for a tree, you just need shade in a limited space, or need something that can grow faster. There are some shrubs that will do the trick.
For example, clumping bamboo varieties can give you the quick-growing exuberance of traditional bamboo. They are without the tendency to take over the rest of your garden and any other garden in the vicinity.
Lilac and forsythia are two kinds of deciduous shrub that grow quickly, and will provide spring flowers in addition to summer shade.
Evergreen shrubs such as Emerald Green Arborvitae grow to a respectable twelve feet (3.5m) in height, and provide solid shade.
Or you can opt for Green Giant Arborvitae, which can get to sixty feet (18m) in height.
Climbing roses trained onto a trellis make a lovely sunscreen.
One interesting approach would be the use of tall grass plants, such as Pampas Grass, as specimen plants to create spots of shade.
Consider the amount of sunlight required
Sometimes, the need for shade is only temporary.
In the vegetable patch, certain savvy gardeners plant radish seeds, which grow quickly, along with their slower growing seeds.
The radishes provide just the right amount of shade and keep the soil most for the other emerging seedlings.
Lettuce is less likely to bolt in the summer when it has some shading from taller plants like tomatoes or beans.
You may also be interested in my other article, “What are 5 easy to grow spring vegetables?“.
Potable shadow option
In some situations, the “hot spots” in a garden change over the course of the spring and summer.
In such a case clumping bamboo, or a variety of dwarf evergreen, grown in a container that can be wheeled around would be an effective solution.
There are, in fact, container versions of almost very kind of commonly available tree. So, you could even use fruit trees like dwarf apple, fig, or citrus trees as your traveling shade.
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