Spring is officially here, and one characteristic of the season, and even into summer, is creating a garden. Whether you’re creating a garden from scratch or are reviving a garden from last year, creating the ideal environment for plants is crucial. As most plants require some type of light to grow, putting them in the proper place in your backyard is necessary, with the proper shade or light amount needed. Plants require one of three types of light to grow: high light, medium light, or low light. Some even require very low light.
If your backyard or planting area isn’t equipped for low light plants, one way to create a low or medium light planting area is with a garden canopy. A garden canopy has the same structure as a shade canopy – a galvanized or powder-coated steel frame and a mesh tarp as a canopy. Mesh tarps are used for this purpose for outdoor shade for both plants and people, as they allow air and light to come in through the material but not a significant amount. While a mesh tarp typically lets 30 percent of sunlight in, the tarp itself for the canopy is a woven polypropylene cover. Like any ordinary canopy structure, a garden or outdoor canopy can come with a flat or slightly peaked roof and is available in various sizes to cover your outdoor area.
If you’re considering planting low or medium light plants in your backyard or garden and shading them with a garden canopy, some popular low light plants include: bleeding hearts, holly bushes, various ferns, philodendron, spider plants, prayer plants, sansevari (a snake plant), cast iron plants, and Zamioculcas Zamiifolia, also known as the “Z” plant. As a general rule for deciding whether a plant is low light, medium light, or high light, plants that are darker green in color and that don’t flower typically require low light to grow.
