Shade for the Summer Garden

Enhance your gardening skills with these expert tips for planting, support, fertilization, and harvesting from Guest Contributor and CSU Horticulture Agent Cassey Anderson!

Top 4 ways to beat the heat in the garden

There are a lot of benefits to summer gardens, but sometimes the heat gets too much for many of our garden staples. Tomatoes, for example, will abort their flowers when temperatures are regularly over 90 degrees during the day and 75 degrees at night. What are some ways to beat the heat? Lets explore a few!

1: Trellis with a heat loving plant to shade out one that wants cooler weather, you could construct a trellis to encourage a vining plant (peas, beans, cucumber, pumpkins, melons etc.) to grow up and plant cool-loving crops in the shade underneath the trellis. One way I have seen this done is with cattle panel fencing, if you buy it in a 16 foot length that is close to perfect to sink two sides into the ground and create a shady glen in the middle to encourage crops to grow without intense sunlight.

2: Tall plants: grow sunflowers, corn, ornamental grasses, or vines on the western side of the garden to provide afternoon shade for your vegetable garden. This can allow you to grow cool-loving plants a little longer, or practice succession sowing a little more readily.

3: Garden planning for afternoon shade? If you are expanding your garden, or starting a new garden, consider if there is a place in your yard where you may see some afternoon shade, either from a building, trees or some other structure. Generally if your space is on a south or west facing part of your yard you may want to consider supplementing shade for some of your vegetables.

4: Shade cloth – If possible, set up shade cloth as temperatures reliably climb above 90 degrees. This can extend your season for cool season crops such as kale, carrots, beets, peas, leafy greens and more, or provide cooling for more finicky crops such as tomato blooms or developing peppers. When planning a shade cloth for your garden it is good if you can provide shade when the sun is at its highest point. You can find a wide variety of colors and shade reduction percentages to meet your needs. Let’s look at some of the options:

White will reflect heat and can encourage blooms in plants.

Black absorbs heat and blocks light, may be better if you’re shading for sun reduction but heat isn’t as much of a concern.

Green may absorb a little less heat than black but could be an aesthetic choice for some gardens, could be an in-between choice if you like the qualities of both white cloth and black cloth.

Reflective will reflect light and can protect plants from temperature variability.

What do the percentages mean?: Most shade cloth will reduce light by 30-70%. If you live in northern states you may not want more than about 30% shade reduction, if you live in the southern states a 50% reduction can keep plants cool during intense heat. If you have special crops or needs you can go up to 70% shade reduction, but be sure to keep an eye on the plants to make sure they’re getting enough light.

PRO TIP: When designing your shade cloth structure, be sure to place them at least 4 feet above the plant to allow for good air circulation. If you have a garden that changes a lot during the season you could put the cloth on wires that can be moved and adjusted, or clip them onto tall poles, allowing for removal at the end of the season.

Bonus: Shade cloth can act as protection against hail if you live in an area that is prone to hailstorms.

As always, if you have any questions reach out to your local Extension office. 

Gardening in Colorado? Check out Grow & Give www.growandgivecolorado.org and in particular our Colorado Vegetable Guide https://growgive.extension.colostate.edu/colorado-vegetable-guide/ for more crop information on all of the above plants.

What if every gardener planted just one extra plant to share?

One small donation can have a tremendous impact. Just imagine, if every gardener planted one extra plant to share, collectively, we would have an abundant source of fresh, healthy produce available to be distributed to families experiencing food insecurity in our own communities! The free Fresh Food Connect mobile app connects you to a local hunger relief program, then manages and tracks your donations of homegrown produce throughout the season.  Download the app today!