Terms of Sunlight Used for Plants

The two main categories, of light requirements for plants: “Light” and “Shade”, even so, most plants fall into a main light need, some can survive and tolerate different lighting conditions.  

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Listed below, a list of light values in which plant  (house or garden) need.

• Direct Sunlight = Un-obscured full sunrays that has nothing but air between them and the plant it is hitting, be it clouds or tree leaves & branches or building walls 

• Indirect Sunlight = Obscured Sunrays that hit objects between the sunrays and the plant causing the plant to receive reflected light casted from the object the sunray is directly hitting

• Partial Sun and/or Partial Shade = In short, partial shade is approximately two to four hours of sun per day in a given location.  Partially shaded sites receive both sun and shade at various intervals.  Plants in partial shade may receive direct sun throughout the day for a few hours with at least half the day spent in shade. Partial shade means the amount of sun is less than  partial sun, defined as 2-4 hours of sun per day. 

• Shade =  Shade by definition is lack of open sunlight, but in gardening terms this means less than two hours of sunlight a day.

  • LIGHT SHADE

  • Light shade is a permanent shade cast by the shadow of a structure, as a building, wall, or greenery as a hedge, or tree on a site otherwise exposed to the open sky and open to light.  It offers the most opportunity for blooming plants that otherwise like the sun light.

  • PARTIAL SHADE

  • After light shade, partial shade provides the next best opportunity for flowers in shade.  This is good for houseplants requiring indirect or low light.   Under these conditions, an area receives up to 6 hours of direct sun, with four or more of those hours being in the morning, and the rest of the day being in shadow. Plants growing in these areas need to stay out of the hot afternoon, and evening direct hot sum.   It is the most beneficial for a variety of plants.  (Note that if 4 or more of the 6 hours of sun are in the afternoon, this I known as full sun).

  • DAPPLED OR FILTERED  SHADE

  • Sunlight filtering through the canopy of open tree branches or through latticework structures, or a curtain, is known as dappled or filtered shade with the pattern of light shifting all day.  This is probably the most common shade in suburban backyards and is also the most common woodland shade-garden environment.

  • DEEP OR FULL SHADE

  • Deep or full shade is the dense kind of shade found under evergreens or closely spaced shrubs and trees that do not allow any direct light to penetrate. This is the most cooling kind of shade but is also the most difficult; it takes effort to find plants that will bloom here. But it also can be the most interesting, because the plants suited to it tend to have the best leaf structure.