Q: “How do I tell whether my yard is full sun, part shade, or “adaptable” sun exposure? It’s tough to tell what it’ll be this summer right now.”
A: Determining the sun exposure of your yard is an important first step in choosing your Garden In A Box. Ensuring your plants receive the right amount of light will set them up for success. When troubleshooting plants that aren’t growing as expected, determining how much light they’re receiving is the first question we’ll ask! Continue reading for our tips on figuring out your yard’s sun exposure.
Site Selection:
First up, where do you want your new garden to be? You may have an empty garden plot without any grass or other plants that’s ready to be planted, which is great! But, more likely than not, some site preparation is needed before planting this spring. When choosing a spot, don’t limit yourself to only existing garden beds. In fact, we recommend choosing a spot that currently has water-thirsty grass growing, removing the grass and opening the area up for a new low-water Garden In A Box! A few pros of this are:
- This will result in the most gallons of water saved AND the most money saved on your water bill
- If an area had healthy grass growing last summer, there’s a good chance it receives around 6 or more hours of sun each day, making this spot a great candidate for one of our full sun gardens!
If you need help with removing your existing grass this spring, check out Resource Central’s Lawn Replacement Program to see if you qualify for discounts on our Lawn Removal Service. Removing healthy grass can be hard work, so let us do the heavy lifting!
Sun Exposure Definitions:
Once you’ve selected where you want to plant, it’s time to determine the sun exposure. Here’s a breakdown of what each sun exposure category of our gardens means:
- Full sun: requires a minimum of 6 hours of direct sun per day
- Adaptable: requires a minimum of 4 hours of direct or indirect sun per day
- Part shade: requires no more than 4 hours of direct or indirect sun per day
Steps to Determine Sun Exposure:
By direct sun, we mean totally unblocked sunlight on the garden. Indirect sun is sunlight that is in some way obstructed before hitting the plants, through tree leaves for example.
To determine your yard’s sun exposure:
- Observe the planting area throughout the day. Make note of the times that receive direct sunlight, indirect sunlight, and full shade.
- Keep in mind any trees that will leaf out during the warmer seasons and cast shade.
- Note that there will naturally be more sunlight during the planting and growing season, when the days are longer, than in the winter and early spring. So the later into the year you can determine you area’s sunlight, the better.
Also note that the intensity of afternoon sun can significantly differ from that of morning or evening sun. When planning your garden, the timing of sunlight is equally important to the duration of sunlight it will receive. Colorado’s afternoon sun, especially during the summer, can be intense. Full sun plants thrive in strong afternoon sun, so ensure they receive this direct sunlight, especially between the hours of noon and 4 pm. On the flip side, part-shade plants may find the afternoon sun too intense and will prefer the more tepid morning or evening sunlight.
Planning Next Steps:
We hope this helps get you started on choosing the Garden In A Box that will work best for your space! If you have further questions, consider checking out our Waterwise Yard Webinars this upcoming March and April to learn from experts on all things waterwise landscaping.
Looking for more information now? Browse our Garden Resources page for more tips and tricks related to low-water landscaping.
Still unsure how to plan for a new Garden In A Box? Visit WaterwiseYards.org to browse completed water-saving projects and stories uploaded by neighbors across the Front Range so see how others incorporated these gardens into their own landscapes.
FAQs
To determine your yard's sun exposure: Observe the planting area throughout the day. Make note of the times that receive direct sunlight, indirect sunlight, and full shade. Keep in mind any trees that will leaf out during the warmer seasons and cast shade.
How to determine how much sun your yard gets? ›
Study Your Yard's Sunlight
To start, spend some time creating a garden journal, where you can record how much sunlight your yard receives over time. Assess light patterns every hour or two throughout the course of a day, noting where shadows fall and for how long.
How do you check sun exposure? ›
How Do You Determine Sun Exposure? While there are tools you can buy to measure light levels, the simplest, tried-and-true way of determining the sun exposure in your yard is observation. Starting at sunrise, head out back every hour and take note of the levels of light and shade (and the different kinds of shade).
Is there an app to tell how much sun an area gets? ›
SunCalc. Track trajectory of the sun from sunrise to sunset with the SunCalc App. It is a user-friendly garden app that helps gardeners and farmers find viable sites to plant their crops based on the hours of sun that are needed for them to grow to their best potential.
Is there a device that measures sunlight? ›
To measure solar radiation or sunlight a pyranometer, albedometer and pyrheliometer can be used. Each sensor measures a different part of the spectrum and has different directional properties (field of view).
How to check sunlight on property? ›
Check the shadow map for your location. A shadow map is a tool that shows you how shadows will be cast by buildings and trees on your property. This can help you to determine which areas of your home will be shaded at different times of the day.
How to sun map your yard? ›
To map, simply go outside throughout the day and note where the sun hits your garden directly. You can do this with a different colored pen or a highlighter if that's easiest! Next, sketch any places in your garden that have shade on your piece of paper with a gray colored pencil.
Are there apps to measure sun exposure? ›
SunSmart Global UV App is a free application for mobile devices that describes the level of solar UV radiation at a specific location. It also provides time slots when to apply sun protection measures, in an effort to reduce the global burden of skin cancer and UV-related eye damage.
How do I know where the sun will be in my garden? ›
How to Determine Sun Exposure Using Cardinal Directions
- South-facing gardens get the most sun exposure. From sunrise to sunset, the garden is lit up (as long as it isn't shaded by trees). ...
- North-facing gardens get the least amount of sun exposure. If they're close to your home, they might be entirely shaded all day.
The sun spends roughly 30 days in each sign, so if you are born within that month-long time frame, that is your sun sign. For example if you are a Virgo, it means your sun is in Virgo, and if you are a Sagittarius you can know that your sun is in Sagittarius.”
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S = ST - LONG + 1.0027379 * (LST + ZONE - C). Given the local sidereal time, the right ascension and declination of the sun, and the local latitude, then the local azimuth and elevation of the sun can be determined from spherical trigonometry.
How do I measure the amount of sunlight in my yard? ›
To determine your yard's sun exposure: Observe the planting area throughout the day. Make note of the times that receive direct sunlight, indirect sunlight, and full shade. Keep in mind any trees that will leaf out during the warmer seasons and cast shade.
How to find the sunniest spot in your yard? ›
A Rewarding, Simple Way: Taking Time
Observe and record the time the sun's direct rays first hit all of your space after it rises in the east in the morning. Hang out there throughout the day watching your place and record the time the sun's direct light leaves your spot sometime before it sets in the west.
Is there a meter to check sunlight? ›
Introducing the SunCalc®! This clever meter measures the amount of accumulated sunlight that falls on a specific garden location. The patented electronic process provides the ability to match a plant's light requrements (full, partial sun, partial shade, or shade) with the actual sunlight conditions.
How do I find the sunniest spot in my yard? ›
A Rewarding, Simple Way: Taking Time
Observe and record the time the sun's direct rays first hit all of your space after it rises in the east in the morning. Hang out there throughout the day watching your place and record the time the sun's direct light leaves your spot sometime before it sets in the west.
How do you estimate the size of the sun? ›
Just project the light of the sun from a small mirror onto a darkened wall. Then measure the diameter of the projected image (d) and the distance between the wall in the mirror (l). These are in the same ratio as the actual diameter of the sun (D) to the true distance to the sun (L).
How much sun is considered full sun in landscaping? ›
“Full sun” definitely means at least six hours per day, but some plants such as vegetables really need eight to ten hours per day. “Partial sun” or “partial shade” means that the plant needs 3-6 hours of direct sun per day.
How do you calculate sunshine? ›
Sunshine is measured using either Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorders or modern sunshine sensors. A pyranometer is used for measuring global radiation.
