The Best Ways to Use Sunlight in Your Garden

The natural way that sunlight shines can be used to create great effects in your garden, and it doesn't even cost you anything. Often we don't spend enough time thinking about how we can make the best use of the sun and the shadows that it generates. However, these are fantastic ways of giving your garden more atmosphere and creating a different design element.

Keep Track of the Sun

If you want to get the most out of your garden, you need to understand where the sun is at different times throughout the day. The best way to do this is to draw a plan of which parts get the sun in the morning, afternoon and evening - this way you can find the ideal spots for morning coffee, such as on your wrought iron balcony, as well as where you'll get the evening sun for entertaining.

Think About Your Contours

The natural way that you garden grows, with the different contours and mounds that are present, will create a dramatic feature as the sun rises and sets and shadows are generated across the surface. If you want to give this even more definition, you can add in extra levels, such as a raised seating area.

Use Light to Enhance Foliage

The sun's rays can also add another dimension to your topiary and other natural features to give them an almost magical appearance. As the sunlight hits the shrubs, it highlights certain parts and generates shadows that enable you to really appreciate the range of shapes that are on offer.

Make the Most of Patterns

You can create interesting patterns on walls, patios and decking areas by adding in features that will generate different shadows when the sun hits them. This could be through a fence, the elaborate design of the railings on a wrought iron balcony or perforated screens. By positioning them in just the right place, you'll get the best effects from the morning or evening sun.

Natural Spotlights

Even when you have a large amount of shade in your garden, you can still catch some of the light if you place plants in just the right areas. For instance, you can plant accent shrubs that will catch the sun's rays to give the appearance of a spotlight, which will really stand out compared to all the shade that is around.