Late summer is one of the hardest times to be a gardener, and that's because of one single factor, the heat. Scorching temperatures and heat waves can cramp even the most committed gardener's plans for maintaining their outdoor space. And in a garden, you don't typically have lots of shade trees or other shade options for making the work more comfortable, so it's a real challenge to find solutions that allow you to be in your outdoor space this time of the year.
Here in California, the summer months mean mostly 90-100 degree days so the need for reliable shade is high. But most shade options on the market are either impractical, expensive, or just not large enough to meet the needs of a backyard gardener. After researching so many garden shade ideas, I've finally landed on something that checks all the boxes.
Why this design is a great choice for providing extra shade
Typically, I cover each bed individually, but I wanted to do something easier to install that also allowed me enough shade to be comfortable while working in the garden during the summer months. I also wanted something temporary that I could take down between seasons so that in the winter, I wasn't stuck with a massive permanent structure that blocked sunlight from reaching my plants. It needed to be quick to set up and take down. It also needed to be easily repaired should any piece of it become damaged and inexpensive overall. This design is a great way to accomplish all of these goals and is the most effective way I have found to create the shade you need to comfortably work without cluttering up your garden space.
Key Features of this DIY shade design:
You can work underneath it easily making summer garden work less intense without too much sun
Take down the shade during windy weather, and put the whole thing away in the winter when you don't want permanent shade structures taking up the yard
Easily close it up like a giant sliding outdoor curtain when it's overcast, windy, or raining (just tested this out and it worked great)
It's pretty cheap compared to buying a shade structure or building a permanent fixture out of wood/pvc/fencing materials
I have trees and berries planted along the fence and this allows me to keep the shade away from these areas so that they can still get all the natural light they need
Low waste and less material intensive than other plans I've seen
Minimalist appearance so it doesn't really impact the view of your garden or the yard
How to build this easy DIY garden shade
This simple fabric canopy shade was made by repurposing things that were designed to hold outdoor string lights in creative ways. Using light poles that can be staked into the ground (no concrete required) and cable wire also intended for string lights, you can essentially build a simple skeleton structure to hang your shade fabric from when you're out in the garden. Simply unroll your shade fabric, attach the S-clips on either side, and hang them on the wires. Because the shade is hung with S-hooks, the whole shade also conveniently slides like a big shower curtain (similar to retractable awnings but less complicated) so you can move it as you work. You can also push it out of the way easily if you'd like to open the space back up to let the sun's rays in. I've found this to be a great option if you're looking for something affordable, effective, and fast to install.
The light poles are essential for keeping the wire supported so that the weight of the shade fabric doesn't cause the entire thing to hang too low. I bought a string light wire kit, a sun shade, a two pack of light poles, and a bag of wire S-clips to bring this project to life. The best thing? All together it costs around $80 in materials and it took very little time or know-how to set it up. When compared to the cost of umbrella shades, shade sails (which require heavy duty mounting poles) or pergolas, $80 is an absolute bargain for a quality, practical solution. You can also control how much shade or natural light you let in by picking different shade blocking fabrics. Because I wanted my shade to protect the garden during intense summer heat, I got a shade fabric designed to allow some natural light in, while filtering out about 40% of the sunlight. You can decide if you'd like more or less sun blocking for your garden space. They sell shades in 20% increments for all types of garden applications all the way up to full shade. You could also get a couple of shade options that you can swap in and out to customize it even further. The ability to slide the shade also allows you to use it just during the most sun intensive parts of the day, blocking the afternoon sun when it's hottest outside and then removing it for the evening.
All together the whole thing was around $80 in materials and took very little time or know-how to set up.
DIY backyard shade plans
Materials:
2 string light poles: https://amzn.to/3DYsdkf
S-hook clips to hold the shade (normally used to hold string lights) https://amzn.to/3OX3jYl
Cable kit for hanging string lights https://amzn.to/3OWuDGd
Shade cover, 40% blocking if you want to leave it up to protect plants https://amzn.to/3OWuDGd
Tools:
Drill to make holes for the hooks
Wire cutters
Steps
Figure out the distance your shade will need to span, measuring from your house or other solid structure to the fence or wall. This will be the length of your wire. It's expected that the cable wire will be longer than your shade cloth because it is spanning a large space.
Lie out your shade cloth so that it's flat and attach S-clips down both sides with the teeth of the clips holding the fabric and the metal S facing the outside.
Measure the width of your shade fabric and add 5-10" to allow for fabric stretch.
Using your measurements, drill holes and attach the wire connectors. It's a good idea to start by attaching the beginning and end point for one side and then the other side. Use the shade cloth as a visual reference to make sure you have the width correct.
Assemble your light posts and place them in the yard in between your two anchor points directly under where the line will run.
Attach your cable to one anchor, string it through your light pole, and attach it to the end point. Do this on one side first and then the other.
Once you have your cables attached, tighten them using the tension springs provided with the kit.
Attach your shade cloth to the wire by lifting it and sliding the S-hooks over the lines on either side
Slide your shade down to wherever you need it, or push it all the way to one end to bunch it up until you need it.
Now that you have this shade, you can swap it out if it's damaged, put it away when it rains, and upgrade to a larger size or different material without needing to rebuild your basic structure. I leave the poles and cables up year round and use them to hold string lights and balloons for various other occasions when I'm not using them for the garden.
Potential improvements:
I may string up a third line in the center of the shade to pitch the middle and reduce sagging
I need something better to stop the hooks from sliding when I want the whole thing to stay open.
You could just attach the wire to the poles and string up the shade that way as long as you support the poles with a staked line
So far, I've had this shade line up for 2 years and it is working great! On windy days, make sure you take down your shade, but the lines and the poles will be fine.
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