Shade is important in the garden both for plants and people. Even the family pets need and appreciate a little shade in the hot Australian summer. With the prevalence of skin cancer in Australia, shade is particularly important, not only to keep us cool in hot weather, but also to provide protection from this serious disease.

 

Shade protects plants from both extreme temperature and excessive light. Some plants love shade, however many don't. Careful plant selection is important to make the most of your shady areas.

 

 

WHAT TO USE SHADE FOR

*Protection

In cold climates, shade may be used to keep the winter frost off plants, particularly half hardy indoor plants or tender young seedlings. In hot climates, shade can be used to protect plants from burning sunlight or extreme heat in the middle of summer. Some plants simply grow best with less light and for those, shade may be used to keep light intensities lower.

 

*Houseplant Hospital

Foliage plants (eg. Ferns, palms, philodendrons), that are to be grown indoors, are generally best kept in shade outside to help them acclimatize to the lower light they will most probably encounter when grown inside.

 

*Propagation and Hardening off

Some people use a shade house to propagate plants in. In hot climates, or at warmer times of the year, the shadehouse can be used to provide protection for seedling trays or pots of cuttings. For most annual flowers and vegetables, the little bit of protection from drying sun or wind is all that is needed to get seeds to germinate and get a start in life.

 

*Housing Shade Loving Plants

Some plants are naturals for a shade house, both growing and looking best in a shady environment. Ferns are everyone's first choice, but while the lushness of soft green foliage has a character all of it's own, many of us look for a little colour in a shadehouse also.

If you're an avid plant collector, you may choose to fill your shadehouse with a great variety of different plant types. If you want the best affect though, try to keep to no more than three or four different types of plants.

 

 

WAYS TO PROVIDE SHADE

You may be lucky enough to have all of the shade you want, provided by walls, fences and existing trees. On the other hand, you may need to create artificial shade by installing a shadehouse or covering existing structures with some shade material.

 

Working with Existing structures.

1. Shading a large window or a greenhouse.

- Exterior Blinds, curtains...bamboo blinds are cheap, but string holding them together will

  rot and they will fall apart after a few years. Canvas blinds are expensive, but quality

  types will last. Metal awnings are another alternative

- Paint over windows or other glazed areas during summer ...lime and water, or diluted

  water soluable paints will do the job. The disadvantage is there is a lack of control over

  the amount of shading, and once on, the paint will remain and gradually weather off.

  Theoretically, put it on in late spring and it has washed off by around autumn, but in

  practice, this is difficult to achieve unless you are very experienced and the rainfall

  relatively predictable.

- Cover with shadecloth. This can be simply draped over and anchored down or it may be

  a more elaborate set up, perhaps being unrolled off a storage drum then being rewound

  once the hot period is over.

 

2. Making an open pergola more shady

- Grow a climber (eg. grape vine) over the pergola.

- Use shadecloth, woven bamboo, lath (timber strips), fibreglass (some colours are more

  shady than others...though light is cut down though, heat might not), or canvas

  as a covering, either temporarily during hot weather, or permanently.

 

3. Attaching to an existing structure.

If you build a new shade structure, there are distinct advantages in attaching it to an existing structure such as a fence or the wall of a house. By doing this, you already have support on one side for the new structure, and that can help reduce construction costs. More importantly, if attached to a house, a shade structure will help keep the house cooler by replacing a formerly exposed area beside the wall of the house, with a protected area.

 

 

Building a New Structure

The best way to provide the shade you want, and where you want, is to build or install a new structure. This way you get to chose what you want, and as long as you think things through properly, you can be in total control of what you shade, and what you leave in full sun.

- Think about where the sun will be at different times of the day. Think about both where

  shadows will be cast, and the intensity of those shadows before determining what type

  of shade structure you wish to build.

 

Possible shade structures:

1. Gazebo or belvedere

 

2. Pergola or arbor

 

3. Garden room or summer house

 

4. Ramada - As in south pacific areas...four poles, supporting a roof frame, covered with

   large leaves (eg. palms or bananas). This might be temporary.

 

5. Shadehouse (also called Lath house)

 

6. Beach umbrella

 

 

CHECKLIST FOR CHOOSING A SHADE STRUCTURE:

The following checklist will help you to decide what sort of shade structure to build or install:

 

1. What is the structure primarily for?

a/ Growing plants

b/ Keeping the house cool

c/ Providing a protected outdoor living area

d/ Reducing overall heat in the garden

e/ As an architectural feature

 

2. How will you create the shade?

a/ Building a new structure yourself using materials you have or can buy cheaply.

b/ Building a new structure yourself using whatever you need to buy, irrespective of cost.

c/ Paying a contractor to build or install a structure.

d/ Buying a prefabricated structure

e/ Renovating or altering an existing or partly built structure.

f/ Planting trees and waiting for them to grow.

 

3. What are you most concerned about?

a/ Cost

b/ Quick affect

c/ Minimum disturbance to the garden

d/ Appearance

e/ Being cooler

f/ Being protected from rain or sun (or both)

 

 

MAKING FULL USE OF A SHADEHOUSE

A shadehouse can be just that (ie. a shady place), or it can be much more. The choice is yours. People use shadehouses for all sorts of things including:

*Somewhere to hang the washing on a wet day.

*Somewhere to entertain guests in hot weather

*Cover from the rain.

*Cover from hot sun

*Play area for children

*Protection for a car from the weather

*Privacy from neighbours

*An area to enclose birds or other pets.

*An undercover storage area

 

SHADE DENSITY

Shade can be light or heavy. If you choose to use shade cloth, it's easy to control the degree of shade, because such products usually come with the amount of shade stated. 50% or 70% shade cloths are common.

 

 

WHAT TO GROW IN SHADE

Types of plants suited to a shadehouse.

 

Most Climates                      

Ferns                                                  

Some Palms                                      

Impatiens                                           

Begonias                                            

Dendrobium orchids                          

Cymbidium orchid                              

Hostas                                    

Polygonum                                         

Ivy (Hedera sp.)                                  

Viola                                                   

Cordyline stricta                                 

Fuchsia varieties

Diffenbachia

Dracaena varieties

Nandina domestica 'Nana'

Syngonium

 

Temperate Climates

Abutilon striatum

Lupins

Philadelphus

Tradescantia

 

Hot Climates

Caladium

Most palms

Philodendrons

Paphiopedilum orchid

 Phalaenopsis orchid

Cattleya orchid

Cissus antartica

Caladium

Fittona

Calathea

 

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER

*Plants growing in shaded areas need less watering than those exposed to the sun. The plant uses less water in the shade. The ground remains cooler in shaded areas.

*In cool climates over watering can cause problems. Some problems are slime/algae growth on the pathways and on pot surfaces, fungal diseases spread, especially damping off and root rot.

 

 

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