Mapping the Sun

I know, your garden isn't the thing on your mind, right now, but I am anxious to get out in mine and it is just cold, so I thought I'd give a little tip on here!

I decided to be good and map out the sun in my front yard. I was really surprised at how little light it gets and how much it is shaded. I thought there was full sun out there, but it turns out that there are only a few hours of direct sunlight on most of it and there is even a small area that has no direct sunlight. My house shades it until around noon and then a few hours after that, the tree in the front starts to shade it as well.

My point in telling you this is to let you know that you should take an average day (or several if you want to know more) and look at the spot every hour so that you can tell what is really going on. I just got out my gardening journal (a spiral notebook) and drew a little map. I made a very rough sketch of the area and then drew where it was in direct light at which time and then when the light was gone. I added the times up and then I knew exactly what I was dealing with.

By the way, six hours of direct sunlight is considered full sun! If you live in a higher elevation place (like me--Utah) then you have to take that into account for some of the plants that may be more sensitive. Usually, a good greenhouse will help you out with that by putting those plants in the shade section.