Garden Shade Meditation
Oh no, here comes the sun!
This hot July prompted thoughts about shade. The virtues of shade become apparent when the temperature hits 104F/40C.
There is a relatively small amount shade in the garden, though lately I've begun to add more. Large shade trees have drawbacks which include large root systems, fire danger, and the expense of professional trimming. A largish shrub (10-30 feet) or patio-sized tree (15-30 feet) can provide good shade and be less problematic.
Lovely morning shade from the Acer palmatum 'Oshio Bene'. It's about 12' (3.6 meters) tall.
There are several different Pittosporum tenuifolium selections in the garden. They've been somewhat, but not completely satisfactory: they drop foliage in high heat, would look better with more water than they get, and scale insects have been an issue.
Early morning shade from P. 'Wrinkled Blue'.
Windows are essentially holes in a wall and our intense SoCal sunlight quickly heats up the interi…
This hot July prompted thoughts about shade. The virtues of shade become apparent when the temperature hits 104F/40C.
There is a relatively small amount shade in the garden, though lately I've begun to add more. Large shade trees have drawbacks which include large root systems, fire danger, and the expense of professional trimming. A largish shrub (10-30 feet) or patio-sized tree (15-30 feet) can provide good shade and be less problematic.
Lovely morning shade from the Acer palmatum 'Oshio Bene'. It's about 12' (3.6 meters) tall.
There are several different Pittosporum tenuifolium selections in the garden. They've been somewhat, but not completely satisfactory: they drop foliage in high heat, would look better with more water than they get, and scale insects have been an issue.
Early morning shade from P. 'Wrinkled Blue'.
Windows are essentially holes in a wall and our intense SoCal sunlight quickly heats up the interi…
