Positioning of Plants

Lucid

Hi everyone,

I think I know roughly what I'm aiming for when plants require full sun or partial shade. My question is, if a later Summer plant likes full sun or partial shade, am I ok planting them in an area which in the Summer receives almost full Sun, by later Summer receives partial shade, but by September onwards it is more like full shade due to the fence casting a shadow?

As an example I've got a Phlox paniculata 'Kirchenfürst', which fits the category of full sun or partial shade, and supposedly flowers from July to October. So as most of its growing season will be spent in full sun, followed by partial shade, does it matter that by September the plant is mostly in shade - other than early morning?

Thanks for any help,

Lucid

Fairygirl

It's the amount of sun or shade a plant receives in an average day Lucid. Full sun would be something sited in a south facing position for instance (assuming there isn't anything blocking that sun!) and getting five or six hours worth. Partial shade would be an east or west facing location,  therefore getting sun for part of the day, or under a deciduous tree canopy where the strength of the sun is somewhat filtered by the overhead foliage. The time of year the plant flowers isn't really a major factor. 

You'll also find that many plants will cope with varying conditions in terms of the amount of light they get - they just might not perform so well in a less then perfect spot  

Lucid

Thanks Fairygirl. In my garden, the amount of full sun the area gets does change towards later summer. I've got a (pretty much) South facing fenceline which gets full sun right through to now. Then I've got the North facing fenceline which in early summer gets almost full sun, with some partial shade coming in later in the day. But at this time of year it's total shade. So I'm guessing with what you've suggested, I'd need to consider plants that suit full sun or partial shade to work best along the North facing line - and then by this time of year they should still be ok in the shade.

Do let me know if I've got that wrong though.

Thanks for your help,

Lucid

Lucid

Hi Verdun - just saw your reply.

I probably am - it's just where I'm a beginner I've seen it suggested a lot that it's really important to match up the plant to the conditions, so I guess I'm trying to make sure I don't make any silly mistakes.

I'm sure I will end up having to move things several times!

Lucid

Fairygirl

It's understandable Lucid. We can all overthink things, and plants are expensive so we don't want them to die!

The usual rule of planting is 'right plant, right place', which simply means pick something suitable for your site and conditions, but that can be hard to interpret until you have some experience of growing various different plants. Location in the country is also a big factor. My conditions are very different from Verdun's - he's in Cornwall and I'm in west central Scotland! 

As Verd says - if something isn't thriving, you can move it, and if there's a plant you really want to put in, and you aren't sure if you have the right site, you can ask on the forum as to whether or not it will suit you. There will always be someone with experience who can advise 

Lucid

Hi everyone,

I'm revisiting this idea of 'right plant, right place'. My (mostly) North facing fenceline is still in the shade at the moment. Here's a photo from today:

Where as in the Summer it is not in the shade and just has the shade of the fence (old photo from before the work was done but the relevant fence is to the left):

In this flowerbed I planted some plants that like part shade - including hellebores, phlox, geraniums, and bergenias. I know that the phlox and geraniums will take off later in the year so I'm not worried about those, but the hellebores and bergenias were supposed to have flowered by now and they hadn't. The soil in the bed is very bad at the moment so I actually transplanted some of the plants last week in to pots to help them get a bit bigger before returning them to the bed. All of the pots are in the sun, and I've just noticed that the hellebores are starting to flower. I know it's probably helped by the improvement of soil to grow in but I'm sure it must be because they're now getting some sunlight.

So my query is, should I write off attempting to grow Spring flowering plants in this bed, and concentrate on evergreens and Summer flowers? I've also got some climbers planted, but again I'm not too concerned about those as most of them are later flowers - except for a Clematis 'Freda' which is said to like North facing sites (although it seems a little slow to take off for the moment). 

Or should it not make a difference and it's perhaps the soil still not being that great? 

Lucid

 

 

Lucid

I've just found another photo of the fenceline around midday day at the end of September:

So apart from mid Summer, it's looking like this fence line is going to always cause a lot of shade. I'm now wondering if I need to rethink my whole plant design for that side. Would I be right in assuming that the late summer flowerers probably aren't going to like it either as they will end up in full shade for most of the day in later summer?

Lucid