Understand sun and shade in your garden before you plant

Light is one of the strongest hidden drivers in a garden plan. It shapes how a place feels, which plants survive well and whether a seating area becomes inviting or frustrating.

Do not think only in "sunny" or "shady"

What matters is when the light arrives, how long it stays and what blocks it. Morning sun, filtered afternoon light and full south-facing exposure all create different possibilities.

What to observe

Before you decide on planting or seating, look at:

• which areas get sun in the morning, midday and evening
• where shadows from the house or neighbours fall
• whether trees or fences create changing shade through the year
• which places feel too hot, too exposed or too dull now

These observations quickly tell you where certain functions belong.

Use light to place functions

Some practical examples:

• a breakfast seat often benefits from morning sun
• lush or shade-tolerant planting needs less exposed positions
• a main terrace feels different in hard afternoon heat than in soft evening light
• a children's or circulation zone may not need prime sun at all

Avoid expensive corrections later

When light is ignored early, people often move planting, redo borders or stop using the main seating area as much as they expected. Reading sun and shade first prevents that kind of rework.

TuinPlan helps because plot context and zones already give you a better base to interpret where light should support use.

Inspect the estimate in TuinPlan

Open Sun & shade on your property and compare seasons and parts of the day.
The model uses property and building context, including modeled obstructions.
It is an estimate: trees, weather and local changes can make the actual shade
different. Your photos and observations add that context. You can inspect it
whenever useful without completing another setup flow.