During the warmer months, for many Australians,
it's all about sun, sand and surf.
But for us gardeners,
there's one more very important thing on that list.
Shade.
(GENTLE MUSIC)
When the temperature really gets up there,
we tend to think of shade in terms of protection.
At the height of summer, our precious plants can soon become stressed
if they're in full sun and aren't equipped to handle the heat.
But shade needs to be considered all year round
because all plants, to varying degrees, need light to grow.
So, it's a question of how much light or shade a plant needs to thrive,
and to answer that,
you'd need to understand the type of shade in your garden.
This area of my backyard was designed to create seasonal shade
by choosing a deciduous canopy.
In winter, this Gleditsia drops all of its leaves
and lets in the sun,
but its leaves provide filtered shade
during the hottest part of the day in the warmer months.
The understorey also gets hit
with low-angle morning and afternoon sun in summer,
which can be intense,
so I've chosen plants that can tolerate
this type of inconsistent shade.
For example,
succulents need a certain amount of direct sunlight each day
and this position offers these aloes and this Cotyledon
the right kind of ratio.
They're doing really well.
Lomandras have a reputation for being tough
and adaptable to all kinds of growing conditions,
and this one is thriving.
Another plant that is performing well in this area under seasonal shade
is this Neoregelia bromeliad.
There are a number of different cultivars available
with various degrees of sun tolerance.
Bleached leaves are a sure sign that bromeliads are getting too much sun.
These ones down here are looking lush and beautiful,
so I'm going to plant another variety to add some more colour.
Neoregelias are epiphytic and generally very hardy.
I'm placing it in a shallow hole
and backfilling around the base with shredded pine bark,
which is a bit like leaf litter in the crevice of a tree
or on a forest floor.
After an initial watering in,
it will only need a weekly top-up around the base
and over the foliage to keep it happy.
I reckon this is the kind of scenario that springs to mind
when most of us think of shade.
I love these dwarf sugar gums
which I planted to provide morning summer sun protection
to the eastern side of the house.
The thing is, being evergreens,
they provide dry shade
to the area underneath year round.
There's a bunch of native grasses here that have established well
as part of this habitat garden,
including things like Lomandra, coastal sword-sedge and Dianella.
But there is a bare patch towards the back that I need to deal with.
I'm going to fill out this area with a selection of plants
that are proven performers in dry shade,
including Correa 'Bicheno Bells',
Acacia cognata 'Limelight'
and Dianella 'Cassa Blue'.
And I'm planting quite densely to quickly fill the space.
I've chosen small plants in 140-millimetre pots
so I only have to dig small holes
to minimise disturbance to the base of the tree.
Any small tree roots should be cut cleanly
and roots thicker than your finger avoided.
This sandy soil is really impoverished,
so I want to add some soil conditioner to help the plants along
until they're established.
So, a couple of handfuls in the bottom of the hole
and then I'll just work that in and really mix it with the site soil
so the bottom of the hole remains free-draining,
just like that.
Then just pop the plant in.
Tease it out of the pot.
That's looking good. A little bit of a tickle.
And then into the hole.
Soil in dry shade often becomes hydrophobic,
so I'm applying an organic liquid wetting agent.
It's a competitive environment,
so the plants will need watering a couple of times per week
until established
and then once a week when it's hot.
Finally, some mulch to finish it off.
Another type of cover that you can use to your advantage
is controllable shade.
This is the main living area of our home.
It faces north and has been designed to capture low-angle winter sun.
In the warmer months, we want protection from the hot sun,
so we've put up these removable shade sails
and I've also planted a grapevine
which, of course, is deciduous.
This variety is called 'Perlette',
and while it gives us a lot of fruit mid-season,
we're also growing it for the leafy canopy it provides.
By trimming back the canes,
I can create just the right conditions underneath
for growing a range of productive plants
including Mediterranean herbs,
makrut lime, lemongrass and blueberry.
And whilst these plants will take full sun,
they really thrive and use less water with a touch of shade.
Growing in shade is often seen as challenging,
but if you understand the type of shade
and then choose the right plants to suit,
you'll open up all sorts of opportunities.