This is a collaborative post.
A sunny day in the garden is one of the best comforts out there. Sitting out in your garden seating areas in the fresh air and feeling the sun’s warmth on your skin is restorative and nourishing. However, that beautiful sun can sometimes be a little too much, and if so, it makes your favourite patio or deck feel like a frying pan in the middle of the afternoon.
It’s a real shame when you have a great space you can only use during certain times of the day. You don’t have to just live with it though, you can take some simple steps to find a balance between the open sun and a nice, cool, shaded spot to relax. This way, afternoon dinners and working outside are much more possible.
To do it right, finding a good way to block that harsh sunlight in garden seating areas requires being mindful about your garden design and aesthetic so any dividers and blockers you use won’t cause an aesthetic issue. Let’s discuss how to achieve that in the post below.
How To Limit Harsh Sunlight In Your Garden Seating Areas
Add A Pergola Or Gazebo
If you want a more permanent solution, a pergola or gazebo is a fantastic way to go, as they give you a dedicated spot with shade, and they can be a beautiful addition to your garden’s design. A pergola, with its open roof, lets some light filter through while still blocking the direct sun, and a gazebo offers a solid roof for full coverage.Â
If you want it to look great, you can grow climbing vines over them to get a natural shade that changes with the seasons. That should give you a perfect place to put a table and chairs, and also means the underside is easier to clean and take care of.
Use A Canopy Or Slatted Fencing
If you like to move your furniture and want to make it easier to install, you can’t go wrong with a good canopy or a large garden umbrella. These are great because you can move them around as the sun shifts throughout the day, so you always have a shaded spot exactly where you want it.Â
You could also opt for slatted fencing nearby which allows you to divide off the space, and with well-sourced timber merchants you can make sure the wood is correctly treated so it doesn’t fade too much in the sun.
Plant Strategic Trees & Shrubbery
A natural and long-term way to get shade in your garden seating areas is to use plants. But which ones? Well, you can plant certain trees or tall shrubs in the areas where most of the sun points at the worst time of day. Popular options will include deciduous trees, for instance, which give shade in summer, then lose their leaves in the winter to let the light through.
Depending on your tastes you could also implement a nice trellis or two against the fences or pergolas that we mentioned, or even outdoor porch shading. With this advice, we hope you can more easily limit harsh sunlight in your garden seating areas.
