Does your garden receive morning sun or afternoon sun? Do you perhaps have a north-facing garden that is mostly in the shade? What is a plant hardiness zone even mean? Puzzled about the location and climate terms used in gardening? These are great questions that most new gardeners ask.
Your geographical area, the garden location and the amount of sunlight exposure your garden beds receive are significant factors to consider when selecting plants that will thrive in your garden. Finding out which way your garden bed faces and how much sun it receives is one of the initial steps in assessing your garden. You also need to know what hardiness zone your region is in as this helps understand a plant’s ability to survive extreme temperatures in your area, and want considerations to need to be given to care for it.
Location and Climate Terms
Drought resistant: Plants that can sustain a short period without or little water.
Light Exposure: In a garden, there are basically four levels of light exposure: full sun, part shade (or part sun), light shade and full shade.
Full sun: Is a sun-loving plant that requires direct sunlight of about six hours or more, especially in the afternoon.
Full shade: is categorized for shade-loving plants that require no direct sun or very little sunlight and may also be referred to as dappled light.
Part shade or Part sun: Is a plant that only needs three to six hours of sunlight.
Seasons: Winter (December, January, February); Spring (March, April, May); Summer (June, July August); Autumn or Fall (September, October, November)
Light shade: This is a plant that is sensitive to direct sunlight and only needs up to 3 hours of sunlight.
Plant Hardiness Zones (Average Minimum Temperatures in Winter)
For the most part USA, Canada and the UK’s hardiness zones are very similar. Other regions such as Australia have a different zoning system.
| Zone | Fahrenheit | Celsius |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
-50°F and below |
-46°C and below |
|
2 |
-50°F to -40°F |
-46°C to -40°C |
|
3 |
-40°F to -30°F |
-40°C to -34°C |
|
4 |
-30°F to -20°F |
-34°C to -29°C |
|
5 |
-20°F to -10°F |
-29°C to -23°C |
|
6 |
-10°F to 0°F |
-23°C to -18°C |
|
7 |
0°F to 10°F |
-18°C to -12°C |
|
8 |
10°F to 20°F |
-12°C to -7°C |
|
9 |
20°F to 30°F |
-7°C to -1°C |
|
10 |
30°F to 40°F |
-1°C to 4°C |
|
11 |
over 40°F |
over 4°C |
