Sun Mapping is one of the very first things you need to do as a new gardener is to select your future garden space and assess how much light it naturally gets.
You want to be aware of which sections of your space (for example, your patio, garden, backyard, or land) get sunshine and at what times of the day.
Enter Sun Mapping
Identifying this piece of information will give yourself the best chance of success.
A sun map assesses your space and records a timeline of how the sun moves throughout the day. It basically tells you which parts of your yard have sun and which parts have shade.
So how does someone Sun Map?
My first instinct was to buy a little contraption to do this work for me. I know I know… but then I stopped myself right then and there and realized that people have been gardening for centuries without any fancy gadgets. I wanted to learn how to map the sun – the old-fashioned way 😊 A couple of quick Pinterest searches later, I found my guy, the Garden Fundamentals.
Sun Mapping Instructions:
1. DRAW A MAP OF YOUR YARD
Note any landmarks, fences, sheds, existing trees, etc.
2. COPY THIS MAP 5X
3. GO OUTISDE AND NOTE WHERE THE SUN HITS AND WHERE YOU SEE SHADOWS
When you see shadows, simply shade/color those spaces on one of your maps.
4. REPEAT THIS PROCESS EVERY THREE HOURS
Do this at 9:00am, 12:00pm, 3:00pm, and 6:00pm to record the how the shadows change throughout the day.
5. CREATE A LEGEND
- If 3 maps show that a section is sunny – mark it sunny
- If 3 maps show that a section is shady – mark it shady
- If it’s neither sunny or shady – mark is part-shade
Evaluating Your Sun Map
When you’re done doing the whole yard, you should see three distinct colors – sun, shade, or part-shade.
Apologies for the toddler crayon in the 9:00 drawing (haha)… but as you can see, my yard gets a bunch of full sun (yellow) and has a shady section near my patio (blue).
This is good because my Square Foot Garden beds line up nicely in this area of my backyard. I know that everything I plant there will need to be happy getting full Texas sunshine!
As a first time gardener, I plan to plant a lot of basil and a bunch of different tomato varieties – both plants do really well with 8+ hours of full sun.
Happy Sun Mapping
Hopefully this helped you plan your next garden or assisted in understanding your current garden. Please let me know in the comments below what you do to gauge the sun for your garden.