Six hours is a number, not a feeling
The usual definition of full sun is six or more hours of direct light in the growing season. Standing in the garden on a Saturday tells you very little about whether a spot clears that bar.
Tap the bed and the app gives you today's hours, the longest unbroken stretch and the same figures for midsummer, so you can compare a spot against the label instead of against your impression.
Measure a spot in your garden
- Find your garden, courtyard or balcony on the map and zoom in.
- Tap the bed, the border or the place the pots will go.
- Read the hours of sun today and at midsummer, the longest unbroken stretch, and the split into morning, midday and evening. The full year is part of Pro.
- Compare the figure with the plant label. Horticultural guides commonly call six or more hours of direct sun full sun, and three to six partial shade.
- Subtract for your own trees, hedges and fences, which the app does not know about.
Morning sun and afternoon sun are different things
Plants that scorch in hot afternoon light are perfectly happy in the same number of hours taken in the morning. The report splits the day into morning, midday and evening, so a wall that only gets late sun is visibly different from one that only gets early sun.
That distinction is usually more useful than the total.
Balconies, courtyards and the north side
Small urban spaces are where the calculation earns its keep, because they are dominated by the buildings around them rather than by the sky. A courtyard can go from four hours in June to under one in December.
Check both ends of the year before committing anything perennial to it.
What the model leaves out
It knows about buildings and nothing else. Your neighbour's beech, the fence, the pergola and the hedge all block light and none of them are in the data, so a real bed will usually get less sun than the app reports.
Read the figure as the ceiling: what the spot could get if nothing but the buildings were in the way.
Common questions
How many hours of sun does my garden get?
Tap the spot on the map and the sun hours report gives its hours of direct sun today and at midsummer, the longest unbroken stretch and the morning, midday and evening shares, calculated from the surrounding buildings. Pro adds the equinox, midwinter and the full year.
What counts as full sun?
Horticultural guides commonly use six or more hours of direct sun in the growing season for full sun, three to six for partial shade, and less than that for shade. The app gives you the hours so you can compare a spot against the label.
Does it know about my trees, hedge and fence?
No. It only knows about mapped buildings, so a real bed will usually get less sun than the app reports. Read the figure as the most the spot could get.
Does morning sun count the same as afternoon sun?
For the hour count, yes, but not for the plant. Afternoon sun is usually hotter, which is why the report shows the morning, midday and evening shares separately.
