The afternoon solar is the issue
The afternoon solar cooks a desert backyard. That low western mild hits exhausting and bakes all the things. For those who’ve watched vegetation look superb within the morning and fried by 4 within the afternoon, that western publicity is often why. For those who’re nonetheless deciding whether or not your backyard wants shade in any respect, I make the total case for shade in my article on why I add shade to my backyard in summer time.
A shade construction helps, however solely with a part of the issue. My ten-foot construction blocks the solar when it’s excessive overhead in the course of the day. As soon as the solar drops low within the late afternoon, it is available in sideways from the west, below and across the construction, and reaches the beds anyway.
That hole is what the sunflowers fill. The tallest in my row are round fifteen ft, taller than the shade construction, and so they run in a line alongside the west facet of my beds. When the solar drops, they take that late mild earlier than it reaches the vegetation. The row shades my beds all summer time, and it prices me subsequent to nothing.
Shade is one piece of getting a low-desert backyard by means of scorching summers. For the larger image, listed below are ten methods I put together my hot-climate backyard for summer time.











