Shade and Sun
It's May and the Gardens at Walking Rain Ranch are finally getting planted. The challenge I have here is that there is too much shade. I know, go figure.
When I lived in wooded New England my gardens were too sunny out in the middle of an open, bare builder's lot. Here in New Mexico, where the sun shines ferociously almost all year, I have too much shade.
We have a city lot, and my gardens are closely surrounded by buildings -- not just our house, but the neighbors' houses and garages that are angled differently and abut our lot. And we have a six foot courtyard fence all around the back, with shady aspens in the corner and by the dining room windows. And mature pines in the front. My gardens here get too much shade.
The offset is that plants that need full sun can actually take some shade here. Because of our elevation, the UV rays from the sun are 30% stronger. The gardener needs sunblock and the plants can use some shade. So I'm working with that.
Because of all the buildings and angles and fence corners, the light is highly variable throughout the day. Until the sun rises over angles and rooflines, some plants are in shade for a few morning hours, then full sun, and then shade again later as the sun moves behind some trees.
Others get morning sun for only as long as the coffee holds out, then sit in shade all day, only to get early evening sun again as the sun goes down between the walls of two houses, shining straight onto a patch of garden.
The plants I got that like shade do get high, direct sun for some periods in the day and it's strong. The sun loving plants I got are shaded for a lot of the day, although the tree canopies are high and the ambient light nearby is always bright.
I've been trying to buy southwest adapted native plants, but those all want full sun all the time and that's not what I have. There is nothing really adapted to high desert shade.
So I'm experimenting with some sun loving natives, some shade tolerant plants I used to grow back east, and some classic xeric plants. All of them have the word "tough" in their descriptions. We'll see what can thrive in confused light conditions.
When I lived in wooded New England my gardens were too sunny out in the middle of an open, bare builder's lot. Here in New Mexico, where the sun shines ferociously almost all year, I have too much shade.
The offset is that plants that need full sun can actually take some shade here. Because of our elevation, the UV rays from the sun are 30% stronger. The gardener needs sunblock and the plants can use some shade. So I'm working with that.
Others get morning sun for only as long as the coffee holds out, then sit in shade all day, only to get early evening sun again as the sun goes down between the walls of two houses, shining straight onto a patch of garden.
The plants I got that like shade do get high, direct sun for some periods in the day and it's strong. The sun loving plants I got are shaded for a lot of the day, although the tree canopies are high and the ambient light nearby is always bright.
I've been trying to buy southwest adapted native plants, but those all want full sun all the time and that's not what I have. There is nothing really adapted to high desert shade.
So I'm experimenting with some sun loving natives, some shade tolerant plants I used to grow back east, and some classic xeric plants. All of them have the word "tough" in their descriptions. We'll see what can thrive in confused light conditions.
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