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Master Gardeners California Gardening Lawn Care

does mesh screen mean I don't have full sun?

Need2SeeGreen 10 (SoCal)

9 months ago

hello!

I am still I guess jonesing for the buffalo grass ... assuming it is flat-growing? (I can't recall now if I asked this already.)

Anyhow, do these mesh-type of fences mean you do not have full sun? (See photos. Sorry about the mess.) I will ask this other places too, but maybe somebody here knows.

As I understand it, "full sun" means a 6 hour minimum, even on the shortest day. (I think we are in Sunset 22 or 23 ... if that helps.)

I have kept track of this but I don't think I ever asked about the mesh fence before. I was assuming that I had to count the meshed areas as shade - but maybe I don't?

Thank you in advance for all thoughts.

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Comments (3)

jrb451
9 months ago
Sunlight passing through a screen will be diminished somewhat.
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Need2SeeGreen 10 (SoCal) thanked jrb451
gyr_falcon
9 months ago
In areas that can be very bright and hot, such as parts of SoCal, it can actually be beneficial for even full sun listed plants to have some protection. Shade cloth is often listed in various percentages for the sun blocking amounts. 30-50% can be fine for many plants, such as sun grown vegetables, especially if there are a lot of sunny days in your area. If you are close to the coast and experience frequent and extended overcast conditions, the extra screening might be more shade than true full sun plants would prefer.

It is difficult to tell from the photo the percentage of shade your screen would provide. The color of screening matters a bit, too. Maybe you can compare it with some various percentages of shade clothes that are sold at garden centers to get an idea of the shading amount your screen provides.

There are ways to determine light levels of an area using camera metering, but that gets a bit technical to explain. You can search for sites that explain how, and are similar to the way it can be done for indoor plants: Greenery Unlimited | How to Measure Light for Plants (lazily, just the first site I came across--there may be better ones) It might give you a sufficiently close idea between screened vs unscreened.
Need2SeeGreen 10 (SoCal) thanked gyr_falcon
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Need2SeeGreen 10 (SoCal)
Original Author
9 months ago
Thanks, gyr_falcon - that is food for thought! There must be a way I can do this - I'll bug the master gardeners again.
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