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Where in the garden is full sun?

TheRainyGardenTheRainyGarden Posts: 51
edited March 2021 in Problem solving
I know full sun is >6 (or some say 8) hours of direct sun, but my problem is that I never I understand the concept. Because the sun is always moving, I cant think of any spot that actually gets ‘direct’ shine over it longer than 4-5 hours. Even my south facing wall (facing straight south at no angle) doesn’t have direct sun all day. In the morning it only gets direct sun until 1 pm on the right hand side and the left (west) side is much shadier. In the afternoon the wall only gets direct sun on the left hand side and the east side is again considerably darker. Given that the south is the sunniest side, I don’t understand where I can find a full sun spot in the garden.
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  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    What is blocking the sun? Our gently sloping, south facing garden gets about 14 hours of sunlight in June. 
    Rutland, England
  • @TheRainyGarden -- apologies if you already realise this , but those sunlight hours are for summer , not year round, so if something gets sun 1 till sunset that is more than 6-8 hours in the UK in summer? 
    Kindness is always the right choice.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I agree that phrases like "full sun and "partial shade" are not terribly helpful.  A field with nothing blocking the sun would get sun all day. The end of my north facing garden gets all day sun over the summer from equinox to equinox - about 14 hours. It does depend what is blocking your light (the house, trees etc). Your particular garden may not have much full sun. I think of "full sun" as suggesting a Mediterrean type baking area where sun loving plants will be happy. 
  • TheRainyGardenTheRainyGarden Posts: 51
    edited March 2021
    Hi @BenCotto, this is what confuses me, there’s nothing that blocks the sun. In the morning when the sun is on the left/east  the sunshine goes to the right, hence the east half of the south wall is sunnier than the west half. If it makes any sense. Then throughout the day when the sun moves to the right/ west, the left half of the wall gets sunnier. So there’s no spot I found that stay sunny all the time through the day. It’s probably less obvious during mid summer as the whole day is much brighter, but the rest of seasons it’s quite obvious and has been confusing me
  • @Desi_in_London thanks. I didn’t actually realize that. It make sense then. I can see in the mid summer those spots all get longer sun hours
  • I struggle with the full sun/partial shade concept. And how long through the year this applies. Areas which are clearly full sun are mostly shade in the winter.
    And why do plants need to face south/west/east/north? A north facing wall can get almost all day sun in the summer?
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
     A north facing wall can get almost all day sun in the summer?

    I don't see that. My north facing wall at summer solstice gets some sun in the early morning and some from late afternoon. The sun swings behind the house for the hours around midday.

  • Fire said:
     A north facing wall can get almost all day sun in the summer?

    I don't see that. My north facing wall at summer solstice gets some sun in the early morning and some from late afternoon. The sun swings behind the house for the hours around midday.

    @Fire
    Exactly (I did say almost). So does a couple of hours of shade around midday but full sun the rest of the time count as full sun or partial shade?
  • K67K67 Posts: 2,506
    One garden we had was north facing but was in sun virtually all day due to being on a hill, the back of the garden was higher than the house. Great for plants not so great for knees!
    Latest garden is more South West but no part gets sun for more than a few hours due to other houses and garages, drawbacks of a new build estate.
    It's just a matter of finding the right plants for your garden and even those that say they require full sun will often be fine. 

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I see 'full sun' as roughly meaning "continuous sun through out the summer from equinox to equinox". Some hours here and there is not "full sun". A north facing wall is the opposite of full sun. A south facing spot that bakes all day in the summer is full sun, I would say.
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