Life-giving sunlight changes over time and affects how our gardens grow.
If there’s one thing we can count on in life, it’s change. We live in a constantly changing world of seasons – spring, summer, autumn, winter – and each season has its own light.
As September approaches, the available sunlight in my foundation garden dramatically diminishes. The once partially shaded garden on one side now enjoys nearly full shade, while the sunny side of the garden receives a fraction of the sunlight that radiated down in May, June and July. The vegetable garden, sited for maximum sun exposure, manages to keep producing vegetables into fall.
In the spring, there’s an abundance of light everywhere as the days grow longer. Early bulbs quickly bloom and then fade, making way for spring perennials such as hardy geranium, Lamb’s Ears, allium, Lady’s Mantle and peonies. Later, sun-loving daylilies, “Moonbeam” coreopsis, “Rozanne” geranium and coneflowers take over the show, happily blooming through the long days of summer.
Of all the gardening seasons, it’s the fall that gives us the most challenges in terms of light. When planting fall blooming perennials it’s important to make sure that any sun lovers go into your sunniest spots. Otherwise you’ll be left with plants that live but don’t thrive, and after doing all the hard work of planting, you want the most blooms for your efforts. On the other hand, if you’re planting spring or summer perennials in the fall, you’ll have a lot more leeway as to where to place them, knowing that the spring and summer months provide the most abundant sunlight over a wider area.
Trees also change the light that reaches our gardens. A partially sunny area five years ago becomes more shaded over time as the trees in our yards grow ever larger, blocking valuable sunlight. An addition to the house or a new outbuilding can also affect the light in nearby gardens. When the light changes around our gardens, we have to change our gardens to accommodate the new growing conditions; otherwise, we are left with gardens that survive but don’t thrive!
The small garden below is a work in progress as the plants are still filling in. Many years ago I had sun-loving roses planted here, but over time a large evergreen to the left has almost completely shaded the area. Now, with only morning sun, this space is perfect for the ferns, hostas, brunnera and ajuga that appreciate the shady site.
Taking yearly photos of your garden is a great way to see how light changes over time. By planning ahead, and growing plants in places that have the best light conditions for them, we can make the difference between a garden that just hums along and one that sings out loud!
DISCLOSURE: From time to time I may use Affiliate Links such as the ones below. I use these only for companies I trust. When you click through on the link and make a purchase from the website, I may make a small commission (at no additional cost to you) which helps me to maintain my website.
