How to Shade Leaves

Determine how quickly you need shade. If you cannot wait for a tree to grow, you can build a pergola. It is a beautiful addition to a garden and provides filtered shade for plants underneath it. You can grow a vine at each of the four corners that will eventually reach the top of the structure and create even more shade.

Use shade cloth. Agricultural shade cloth with various percentages of shade filtering is readily available. It is light, flexible and easy to work with. It can be assembled in a temporary or permanent manner depending on your requirements. Simply attach it to four posts (creating a pitch by altering two parallel post heights) or a hoop structure. You can also create an elaborate shade house to withstand long-term weather conditions.

Grow a tree. If you do not have an immediate need for shade or can use temporary measures until a tree reaches a shade-producing size, many fast-growing tree options are available. Some small tree choices are dogwood (Cornus kousa), redbud (Cercis canadensis) and golden locust (Robinia pseudoacacia). For a large tree, consider thornless honeylocust (Gleditsia), oak (Quercus) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica). You can also choose large shrubs that you can prune and train into a small tree, such as serviceberry (Amelanchier), crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia fauriei) or seven-son tree (Heptacodium miconioides). The amount of shade produced will vary among the different species.