How to Shade a Butterfly Garden

A butterfly garden can be a beautiful addition to your yard. Not only will you have great flowers, you’ll be able to enjoy butterflies frequently. Keeping them shaded will help the plants flourish and help attract the butterflies during the afternoon hours.

Shading a butterfly garden is something that is important depending on the type of garden that you have. A lot of the gardens will be able to handle direct sun but others will need to have some shade, especially during the afternoon.

• Note the shade and sun patterns that are in your yard where the garden is or will be. An area that has full sun will be in direct sunlight for at least six hours a day. Partial Sun areas will receive anywhere from two to four hours. Also take notice to what times of the day that the sun hits as it is at different strengths throughout the day.


• Figure out what type of sun exposure each plant needs to have. Let this be an indicator as to where you will need your garden to be.


• Arrange each of the plants so that they can help each other. For instance, a larger and leafier plant may be able to protect a smaller plant that is more sensitive to the sun. The tougher the plant, the more sun it can handle. Allow these plants to be in front of the ones that will have more issues with direct sun.


• Take time out once a year to reassess your butterfly garden. Take note of any plants that are not getting enough light or are getting too much. You may have to move a few plants or even go without some because they simply cannot handle the environment that they are in.