Comments on: How to Add Shade Cloth to a Hot Summer Garden (Easy DIY Setup)

By: Angela Judd

Angela Judd — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 19:24:09 +0000

In reply to Charles Thomas. 1. If it's just one person it might be a good idea to break it up into smaller sections. See if there are pre-made sizes, that might make it more economical. I would probably do mine the same if I did it again, because the poles are a bit of a pain in the garden, so I wouldn't want to add more unless I had to. 2. Mine is just the standard white cover, not aluminet. It lasted for 3 years and started to get very stretched out. We got a new one and put the old one on top of the chicken coop (folded over). Hope this helps!

By: Charles Thomas

Charles Thomas — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 18:48:45 +0000

Aaaak. It seems like the AZ sun and heat are wiping out my garden earlier and more extensively each summer. I’d like to add some shade like you have done. A couple questions:
1. The area I need to cover is appx. 20’x30′. Your 17’x20′ install looks a bit ungainly, particularly for one person to handle. If you had it to do over again, would you recommend I break up my sections into two 15’x20′ (4 poles) or three 10’x20′ (6 poles) pieces?
2. It looks like you’ve used both the standard white plastic shade cover and aluminet. Based on performance, would you recommend one over the other?
Thanks in advance. Long-time fan and subscriber.

By: Angela Judd

Angela Judd — Sat, 12 Apr 2025 20:48:07 +0000

In reply to Bob. Yes, if possible.

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 12 Apr 2025 17:45:24 +0000

Should the shade cloth hang down on the west side to protect from late day sunlight?

By: Angela Judd

Angela Judd — Sat, 15 Mar 2025 20:25:01 +0000

In reply to C. That should be fine. I wouldn't want to go much higher but 65% should not be too much. Observe your plants and see how they do.

By: C

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 04:56:22 +0000

My HOA requires that shade cloth be tan or sand, the lowest % I found that’s tan is 65%, is that too much shade, do you think my veggies would survive? Any suggestions? Thanks

By: Angela Judd

Angela Judd — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 21:34:24 +0000

In reply to Alice Garcia. With the monsoon's definitely, but I hope for the best!

By: Alice Garcia

Alice Garcia — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 19:48:04 +0000

Do you worry about lightening striking the metal poles?

By: Charles Orwig

Charles Orwig — Sat, 22 Apr 2023 22:44:52 +0000

In reply to K. @K, i have 40% white shade cloth. We get strong winds in the nc foothills. My shade cloth, 20’x 20’, is barely affected. Most of the wind blows thru it without damage

By: Charles Orwig

Charles Orwig — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 11:39:26 +0000

In reply to K. @K, i have a 50% shade 20x18 cloth. The wind does not take ahold of it enough to cause any problems. Mine just lays on top of the framework with plastic clamps.

By: Angela Judd

Angela Judd — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 20:43:41 +0000

In reply to K. Sounds like your wind may be worse than ours. We do get monsoons and the occasional microburst which would be a problem I'm sure. We will see how it does. I'll post an update after the monsoons.

By: K

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 03:02:20 +0000

Thank you for the detailed description and pictures! How windy is it in your area? We’d love to add some shade cloth for our garden in southern AZ, but we get a lot of wind gusts in our yard even outside of the really bad wind storms – strong enough to regularly knock over potted plants if we aren’t careful. How much wind can something like this hold up against?