Indoors or out, you need to be sure that your level of lighting maps to the kind of light and the amount of light that your plant requires. Without the right amount of light, the right soil type, and the correct amount of water, your plants will not thrive. 

As you begin to think about additions and changes for your garden for next year, lighting is an essential element to consider.  So, let’s look at lighting in this article.

Outdoor Plants: 
Most of us likely have areas of our yards and gardens that vary in the amount of sun they receive each day.  Some are in the sun the full summer day.  Others may have morning sun or perhaps afternoon sun.  And other areas may be in complete shade. If you have lots of trees or buildings near your home, you may find your garden in dappled sun from the trees or in the shade made by your home’s shadow, that of another building, or a fence.

We refer to these areas as shaded, semi-shaded, partial-sun, or full sun areas.  I have some of each and around my home and in my fully shaded areas, I’ve found that ferns, Hostas, Lily of the valley, Jacob’s ladder, and Solomon’s Seal do quite well. 

If you are searching for plants for a specific garden area, take note of its sun conditions. You may need to go outside and map the amount each specific garden receives throughout the summer to know the amount of light it gets per day and thus level of sun tolerance the plants you buy should have.

Then test that against what you see on websites. As an example, many list lots of plants as shade loving plants but in researching each one, many of them actually need at least partial-sun to survive. So that plant would not be for you if you need a full sun or full shade plant. Bottom line, be sure you know how much sun each area of your garden gets so you can select the right plants for it.