If you grow plants shade is an issue that you have to contend with when you grow plants. However, you can easily solve problems shade causes by planting trees in your garden. Trees give protection to your plants from stronger extremes of sun and rain. Strong sun can damage fragile plants; for example, the leaves of the aloe vera plant burn very easily if exposed to very strong sun. You shade plants by planting them in the proper place.
Many plants have to play the roles of two roles – be one thing and also provide shade. Zeperon, artemisia and phlox are examples of plants that must play the role of both host and shade plants.
Host plants are the plants that are meant to be planted underneath the shade. Host plants bring about protection to the plants that are grown under them. The problem shade causes is that host plants must be large enough to shade the growing area sufficiently.
Some examples of Host plants are aloe, bearded iris, cacti, ferns, grasses, nemesia, nephthytis and salvias.
Shading is also a problem for those plants that have wide leaves. Examples of shade plants are begonia, coleus and impatiens. Though these plants do not require much shade, if the shade is too severe they will wilt and eventually die.
Covers plants either with a plastic material like shade cloth or a tent is a good option for plant shade. You can purchase a shade cloth with handles to hold the plants a little above the ground. When you want to relocate the shade cloth, unhitch it from its base and lay it in a new location. Another option for plants is to block the light altogether with a wall. An easier way to block the light is to surround the plant with walls made of plastic.
A costly way to block light entirely is with a frost cloth. It is transparent and impenetrable and prevents sunlight from getting through except for maybe a few rays. However, due to its expense and inflexible qualities it is rarely used.
Ground covering can be effective in preventing light from getting to your plants, but they can get damaged by frost.
Basket covers are just as effective as frost cloth at preventing light from reaching the ground beneath it. Its design allows air to circulate through the fabric. Try to find a basket cover that is easy to fix and buy a bigger size to accommodate multiple plants. Another suggestion is to use a wall mounted greenhouse. The plants can be easily installed in the frames and the greenhouse is easy to cool in summer.
If you do not have a greenhouse in your garden, grow lights are a great way to generate heat for your plants and get them to grow nice and healthy. However, when using grow lights be sure to consider the weather. If it is really hot some of the lights you use may be hot to the touch.
Another expensive but very important way to generate heat for your plants is with a hot bed. Every few feet you build a little “rack” of hot water that is able to generate enough heat to keep your plants from freezing.
Prune any plants that are endangered by frost. It is important to move potted plants of your annuals outdoors into the shade of evergreens after they have been exposed to the sun for a few hours.
Of course the most effective way to generate enough heat for your plants is within the home itself using a residential heater. After you have made all the necessary arrangements to have the needed heating installed take a look inside and see what type of job you need to do first. There are many different kinds of heaters and the kind you need will depend on the type of plants that you are cultivating.
