Shade Mapping

Shade Mapping

I recently used Sketchup to model the distribution of shade in my front yard. In the coming summer I plan to convert it to a garden and would like some guidance on where to plant different varieties. Because the front yard is north of the house part of it is covered in deep shade even during the middle of summer. As well because I live at such a high latitude (52 degrees north) the house casts quite long shadows. Sketchup's geolocation function allows you to use Google Maps satellite data to locate models in the real world. Once Sketchup knows the latitude of the model it can accurately model the shadows cast throughout the year off of any given model. I'm not aware of an easy way of getting Sketchup to track shade, so instead I modeled in hour by hour by drawing shapes to match the shade then added up the hours that each shape spent in the shade. I then applied a colors to the shapes to indicate the length of time spent in shade.

In the map you are looking South-West (the house is orientated almost directly North-South). The area running from the street South along the East side of the house is the drive way. During the summer I put a number of planters and containers for growing vegetables in the driveway. I had intended on placing planter boxes along the house on the driveway, however this map has made me realize how much shade this area actually gets. I will likely try to put most containers along the North-East edge of the driveway to maximize the amount of sunlight they get.

It's a really nice feature of Sketchup and nice to use in planning of new gardens.