The balcony nobody uses
Not full sun or shade. How much usable light actually arrives across a day, when it arrives, and whether the spot ever dries.
About 29.5 moles of usable light a day with about 9 hours of direct sun in high summer. That is full sun, whatever the label on the plant says. Midwinter direct sun is about 7 hours, counted on its own day, not inferred from summer.
Of the groups in the reference set, seasonal container display is the one that actually belongs in conditions like these. Anything planted here sits wet for 6 months of the year, so drainage is the decision before the plant is.
Growing-season light
29.5
mol/m²/day
April to September, averaged
Midsummer direct sun
9
hours
On 15 July, traced against the plan
Freeze-thaw
0
cycles a year
What cracks pots, not what kills plants
| Month | Light | Direct sun | Dries in | Reads as |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 10.5 | 7 h | not that day | part shade |
| Feb | 14.2 | 7 h | not that day | part shade |
| Mar | 20.2 | 9 h | not that day | part sun |
| Apr | 27.7 | 9.5 h | 9.9 h | part sun |
| May | 30.4 | 9 h | 9.5 h | full sun |
| Jun | 30.7 | 9 h | 9.7 h | full sun |
| Jul | 32.5 | 9 h | 9 h | full sun |
| Aug | 29.7 | 9.5 h | 8.6 h | full sun |
| Sep | 26.5 | 9.5 h | 8.7 h | part sun |
| Oct | 19.4 | 7.5 h | not that day | part sun |
| Nov | 12.3 | 7 h | not that day | part shade |
| Dec | 9.4 | 7 h | not that day | shade |
The cheapest screening per metre and the best for everything that is not a person.
Watch for: Mixed hedges take four years to be a screen and want cutting once a year to stay one.
Examples, not recommendations: Regional native hedging mixes. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Salt air is a different problem from wind, and this is the group that solves both.
Watch for: Salt tolerance is specific. A plant that shrugs off wind inland can still burn in a coastal gale.
Examples, not recommendations: Escallonia; Griselinia; Elaeagnus. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Fast, tall, evergreen screening, and the one plant most likely to become somebody else's problem.
Watch for: Only clumping species, and only with a root barrier. Running bamboo in a small garden is a decade-long regret.
Examples, not recommendations: Clumping Fargesia. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Screens in summer, filters in winter, and holds brown leaves through the cold.
Watch for: Winter screening is partial. If the problem is a winter sightline, this is not the answer.
Examples, not recommendations: Beech; Hornbeam. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Summer shade that gives the winter sun back. The best shade device there is, and the slowest.
Watch for: Mature spread is the number that matters, and it is almost always larger than the space allowed.
Examples, not recommendations: Field maple; Serviceberry; Hop hornbeam. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Shade over a pergola in July and bare timber in January, which is usually exactly right.
Watch for: Wisteria in particular puts real load on a structure. Build for it before planting it.
Examples, not recommendations: Grape vine; Wisteria, given the structure for it; Virginia creeper. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Built for hard sun, sharp drainage and being ignored.
Watch for: Wet feet in winter kills these more reliably than cold does. Drainage, not hardiness, is the question.
Examples, not recommendations: Lavender; Rosemary; Cistus. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Wants a hot wall in summer and somewhere frost-free in winter, which makes it a decision about storage as much as position.
Watch for: It is the winter that costs. Somewhere bright, frost-free and unheated is a harder brief than the summer position.
Examples, not recommendations: Lemon; Calamondin; Kumquat. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Summer shade that gives the winter sun back. The best shade device there is, and the slowest.
Watch for: Mature spread is the number that matters, and it is almost always larger than the space allowed.
Examples, not recommendations: Field maple; Serviceberry; Hop hornbeam. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
The look people want from a courtyard, and the group most easily shredded by wind.
Watch for: Wind tolerance near zero is not a detail. A single exposed afternoon turns the leaves to ribbons for the season.
Examples, not recommendations: Banana in frost-free climates; Fatsia in shade; Canna as a summer plant. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
For roofs, gravel and anywhere the answer to drainage is 'very'.
Watch for: Winter wet is the killer, not winter cold. In a wet climate these need overhead cover as much as drainage.
Examples, not recommendations: Sedum; Sempervivum; Delosperma. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
The most common failed planting in any garden, usually because it was never a light problem people checked.
Watch for: Below about twelve moles a day, no grass mix holds. That is when a different ground cover is the answer, not more seed.
Examples, not recommendations: Fine fescue mixes; Clover and micro-clover blends; Moss, accepted rather than fought. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
For ground that floods and then dries hard, which is a different problem from ground that is simply wet.
Watch for: The cycle is the point. Anything that only tolerates constant wet dies in the August between floods.
Examples, not recommendations: Iris in damp ground; Switchgrass; Joe Pye weed in North America. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Planted as a community rather than as specimens, and it wants full sun and poor soil.
Watch for: Rich soil and shade both make it flop. It is a group that is ruined by kindness.
Examples, not recommendations: Echinacea; Little bluestem; Achillea. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Built for hard sun, sharp drainage and being ignored.
Watch for: Wet feet in winter kills these more reliably than cold does. Drainage, not hardiness, is the question.
Examples, not recommendations: Lavender; Rosemary; Cistus. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Wants a hot wall in summer and somewhere frost-free in winter, which makes it a decision about storage as much as position.
Watch for: It is the winter that costs. Somewhere bright, frost-free and unheated is a harder brief than the summer position.
Examples, not recommendations: Lemon; Calamondin; Kumquat. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Wants a hot wall, a lot of light and someone who waters it.
Watch for: A container against a sunlit wall can run twenty degrees above air temperature. That is a watering problem, not a light problem.
Examples, not recommendations: Basil; Thyme in a deep pot; Oregano. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
The most light-hungry thing most people try to grow, and the one most often put in the wrong place.
Watch for: Leaves grow at fifteen moles a day; fruit needs more than twenty. That gap is why people get plants and no crop.
Examples, not recommendations: Tomato; Pepper; Courgette. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Deliberately temporary, which makes it the right answer to an awkward spot.
Watch for: Daily watering in summer. If nobody will do that, this is a plan to buy plants and kill them.
Examples, not recommendations: Regional bedding for the season. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Built for hard sun, sharp drainage and being ignored.
Watch for: Wet feet in winter kills these more reliably than cold does. Drainage, not hardiness, is the question.
Examples, not recommendations: Lavender; Rosemary; Cistus. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Wants a hot wall in summer and somewhere frost-free in winter, which makes it a decision about storage as much as position.
Watch for: It is the winter that costs. Somewhere bright, frost-free and unheated is a harder brief than the summer position.
Examples, not recommendations: Lemon; Calamondin; Kumquat. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Wants a hot wall, a lot of light and someone who waters it.
Watch for: A container against a sunlit wall can run twenty degrees above air temperature. That is a watering problem, not a light problem.
Examples, not recommendations: Basil; Thyme in a deep pot; Oregano. What is right here is a question for a nursery that can see the site.
Other questions about this place