How to Understand Your Site's Solar Orientation
Choosing the ideal place for a swimming pool or vegetable garden requires an understanding of your property's solar orientation ' you'll need to know where the shade and sun will be all year. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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1
Observe the shadow cast by your house and other significant structures on the property over the course of a year. The position of the sun in the sky changes from season to season. Areas that are shaded in winter may receive sun in the summer, and vice versa.
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2
Observe the character of the shade on your property throughout the year. An area beneath a tree canopy that is in deep shade during the summer may be in filtered shade after the tree drops its leaves.
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3
Observe the location of the shade and sun during the course of a day. Take note of the extent of shade in the morning, at noon and in midafternoon.
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Make a series of diagrams to record your observations, and refer to these while planning your garden and landscape improvements.
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Include diagrams for the longest and shortest days of the year ' the first day of summer and of winter. Conditions during the rest of the year will be somewhere between these extremes.
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Take into account the time of day an element will typically be used, and site it with respect to the kind of sunlight available on your property at that time.
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Determine which direction is north by referring to the plot plan attached to your deed or by using a compass. Take note of which parts of your property face the cardinal directions.
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Plan elements for the north face that require indirect light or shady conditions.
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Select elements for the south face that require full sun.
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Choose elements for the east face that require the cooler conditions of morning sun.
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Find elements for the west face that can tolerate the heat of afternoon sun.
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Tips & Warnings
Study photos of your property taken at different times of day and different times of year.
