No matter what plants you grow on your property, it is always important to understand the amount of sunlight that your growing location receives. Along with water, soil nutrients, and other requirements, sunlight is one of the most vital factors in the success of your plants. In this article, we’ll detail a few ways that you can tell how much sunlight your yard gets.
Observe Sun and Shade Patterns
The simplest way to learn how much sunlight your yard gets is to observe sun and shade patterns throughout the day. Throughout diligent observation, you can begin to understand which parts of your yard receive sunlight and for how long during each day.
Be sure to take note of any large structures, including your house, neighboring houses, sheds, and other garden features, that have the potential to cast shadows on your lawn. It is also important to observe sun and shade patterns throughout different times of the year. As you do, you’ll quickly learn that the amount of sunlight your yard receives can be dramatically different during winter, spring, summer, and fall.
Observing and noting the sun and shade in your yard throughout the year is an effective but tedious task. Fortunately, as the next section will show, there is a much more efficient way to get this job done.
Use the Sun Seeker App
The Sun Seeker app is a convenient tool for anyone who needs to understand how much sunlight their yard receives. This app includes many sunlight-related features, including a sunrise and sunset tracker, a compass, and a 3D augmented reality view to give you a clear understanding of your yard’s sun and shade.
Using the Sun Seeker app will also let you understand the differing levels of sunlight your yard receives at different times of the year. This feature alone saves you considerable amounts of time compared to the old-fashioned method we mentioned above.
The Sun Seeker app is useful to many different types of people, including photographers, surveyors, gardeners, and more. Fortunately, the Sun Seeker app is also available for both iPhone and Android operating systems.
Why is it Important to Analyze Sun and Shade?
Simply put, knowing how much sun your yard gets is necessary for raising healthy plants. After you know how much sun and shade is present in your yard, only then can you begin searching for plants that will thrive in that degree of sun exposure.
Failing to recognize and respect the amount of sunlight your yard gets will inevitably cause your plants to fail. By contrast, being able to anticipate sun and shade lets you pick out the perfect plants for your growing location.
For anyone who cares for a lawn, sun analysis is vital. Once you know the amount of sunlight each area of your yard gets, you can choose the grass species that will grow best in those areas. So, next time you are planning a lawn space, give it the greatest chance of success by figuring out how much sun your yard gets before you begin seeding.