Too hot for garden...need help with shade structure design

[BarkerChickens]

Hi all!! I am new to this forum, but am a member of BYC and Sufficient Self.

DH and I live in the high desert of southern California. Our summers are intense to say the least. We get sun with mostly clear skies nearly every day from sun up to sundown. Our veggies get cooked. I know full sun is 6+ hrs a day....not 15. Last year, as an experiment, we put an easy up over a portion of the garden. The veggies under the easy up did excellent, whereas the one's in full desert sun, were stressing.

So, we have decided to build a single shade structure over our entire garden. Our plan is to not have it 100% covered, but instead have it covered witha lattice style using 2" x 3" lumber spaced evenly across beams. That way, it is partially shaded, but the plants are still getting sun all day (from between the 2" x 3" wood). So, if the plants are getting partial shade, and partial sun for 15 hours a day, we imagine they will get at least 6 hrs of sun total. Does this count or are we looking at it wrong?

 

[Ariel301]

I have the same problem here in northwest Arizona. Our garden grows best in the fall and even into the winter, and suffers during June-August. We have some shade trees around our garden that help some, as well as a mister that I can turn on when the plants are looking really bad, to wet things down and cool them off.

A friend of mine built a sort of frame structure out of tall fence posts around her garden and then made a roof over it out of what people here call shade cloth. It sort of looks like one of those big canopy type tents you can rent for special events, and it really works well for her garden. I don't know any brand names, but it's sort of like a green or tan see-through tarp material almost, and it blocks out some of the sun but lets some through. You can buy different grades that allow in different amounts of shade. People usually use it around porch areas to make a cool place to sit in, and I don't think it is terribly expensive, unless you'll need huge amounts. You might look into that; I have some sections of it I use in my goat and poultry pens and they love to lay under it because it is cool and shady. (I like to sit out there too because it's so nice!) It doesn't stand up terribly well to high winds, though, I don't think...don't know if you have as much wind as we do...but if it's not fastened down super well, a strong windstorm can rip it apart.

 

[dickiebird]

What 301 said. Many of the commercial growers in Fla. use the shade cloth over entire growing areas.
Seems to work great.

THANX RICH

 

[BarkerChickens]

We have used the shade cloth before...our problem is that we are in a high wind area. We can get gusts up to 70 mph with 50+ mph winds being common several times a year. The shade cloth wouldn't last more than year at most. We need something more permanent (wind resistant). That's why we thought of the lattice design. Our patio is that style and it seems comparable to the shade cloth.

Isn't it crazy how full sun plants need so much shade in the desert environments? Last year was so hot that even with regular drip irrigation, some of our full sun tomatoes were suffering from blossom end rot. We figure it was so hot and windy that the tomatoes couldn't get enough water.

 

[dragonlaurel]

You might make a strong frame and put lattice panels on them. You could train a vine on it even. I'd use roses or grapes on it here. Roses might work for you too.

 

[vfem]

Oh yes, a shade cloth seems like an amazing idea!

If you want to go on the cheap, and REALLY doing something that will last. Use canvas drop clothes from like Home Depot! I'm about to go get some to make a sail type shade canopy for our deck since we're 100% sun with no trees in our yard (other then our orchard).

Someone I read about did a similar thing for their cows. Put the shade clothes on some PVC pipes and put castor wheels on it so they could roll them around from area to area as they needed to move the shade spots. This may also help you get it out of the way for bad wind days. Though, cutting slits in the cloth like little quarter circles (fish scale shape) may help the wind move through and the sun not so much.

Maybe something similar could work for you?!

 

[wifezilla]

Old trampoline fabric is a possible alternative....and you can usually get it for FREE.

 

[ducks4you]

Have you considered planting a shallow garden bed on the NORTH side of your house/garage/outbuilding? I've started more lettuce just north of my garage where it NEVER gets full sun, but there will be enough indirect light for them.

 

[BarkerChickens]

Have you considered planting a shallow garden bed on the NORTH side of your house/garage/outbuilding? I've started more lettuce just north of my garage where it NEVER gets full sun, but there will be enough indirect light for them.

Our garden is on the northside, but here in the desert, it is SUNNY and HOT everywhere. We have a small strip of shade along the house where the patio us...the rest of our yard is full sun.

 

[curly_kate]

I think the lattice sounds like a great idea. Since it is not a solid mass, it seems like it would be able to let some of the wind pass thru, instead of just knocking it over. Of course, I have no firsthand knowledge of this, so I'm just speculating.