The One Plant You Need to Shield Your Seedlings From Intense April Sunlight – No Shade Cloth Needed

If you're growing your own this spring, an important factor for success is shielding seedlings from the sun. Temperatures in spring can be volatile, and while nights are often chilly, a hot spell means daytime temperatures can sometimes rival those seen in summer. And if there's one thing recently sown seedlings or delicate new plug plants struggle with it's extremes of temperature, when harsh UV rays can scorch those tender new leaves.

Ideally, you would place new seedlings somewhere they won't get scorched by unseasonal burning sunshine, acclimatising them gradually to the outdoors on overcast days. However, if your only space to bring on new seedlings is a sunny spot, or you've already planted out your new veg plugs into their final spots, then a portable shading option is the way forward.

While shade cloth is undoubtedly a good solution, it can be a faff to install, as well as unwieldy and – frankly – not particularly aesthetically pleasing. A more attractive option is a green shade solution comprised of plants and flowers that actually thrive in full sunshine. This is where sunflowers can be your best friend (and I've just found an amazing sunflower seed variety pack on Amazon). To grow them you'll need to get clued up on how to grow sunflowers and how to sow seeds outdoors, and then you'll be away, with your very own home-grown shade solution that's portable, attractive and great for biodiversity too.

How to Use Sunflower Plants To Shield Seedlings From The Sun

There are all kinds of sunflower varieties to choose from, including dwarf varieties that grow to around 20in (50cm) and others that will reach over 8ft (2.5m).

Some are branching (and these are the ones that will produce the most shade) while others are single-stem plants topped with a single flower.

Blooms come in a variety of colours from the jolly bright yellow we all know and love to white, green and moody shades of copper, orange and red.

Choose height and branching habit according to the plants you're wanting to provide shade for and it's hard to go wrong.

You can shop sunflower seeds at True Leaf Market, and from a huge range of sunflower seed varieties at Burpee.

How To Place Pots of Sunflowers To Protect Your Seedlings

This sunflower shading trick is all about plants in pots, not grown in the ground. The reason being is that in the ground, sunflowers will quickly crowd out any small, more delicate plants below as their root systems are strong and soon dominate.

By keeping them in their pots, your sunflowers are not only portable but also contained.

For the best shade protection from the heat of the afternoon sun, position your pots of sunflowers to the west or southwest of your young veg plants or nursery flowers.

As they grow, you can also strip off the leaves from the base of the stems if your sunflowers are doing their job rather too well. Tie them onto bamboo canes, such as these ones from Lowe's, to keep them supported and secure with Shop plant ties from Amazon, or garden twine.

Added Benefits Of Growing Sunflowers In Your Backyard

Dramatic, cheerful and a real draw for insects and birds, sunflowers will quickly boost the biodiversity – and there are so many reasons why biodiversity is good for your yard. They'll also provide a quick-growing, easy to move shade screen for younger plants.

The large, open, nectar-rich blooms of sunflowers are one of the best plants for pollinators. They're a magnet for bees, butterflies and hoverflies (particularly honeybees and bumblebees).

Each flowerhead is in fact made up of hundreds of tiny tubular flowers, packed with nectar and pollen. After feeding, these beneficial insects will then move on to pollinate all kinds of edible and ornamental crops in your yard. Bees also use the large flowerheads as resting spots, particularly at night.

Gathered en masse, your pots of sunflowers are particularly accessible to pollinators.

Sunflowers are also one of the best plants for birds, which will also love you for growing sunflowers in your yard. In particular finches, tits, cardinals and woodpeckers. So leave the seed heads for your feathered friends over autumn.

In winter, resist the urge to cut down your sunflowers, as their stems make cosy hibernation spots for all kinds of beneficial insects, which will repay you the following year by pollinating and acting as natural predators, feeding on harmful bugs.

If you’re keen to provide shade for young veg or flower seedlings with beauty and maximum environmental credentials, portable pots of sunflowers are a fantastic idea. With their beautiful, bright flowers on tall stems, they're nature's own parasols, and easy to grow too.

Of course, you and your young plants won't be the only ones to benefit. Pollinating insects adore the nectar-rich open blooms of sunflowers, while birds will flock to the seed heads later in the year. Growing sunflowers to shield seedlings from sun really is a win-win situation for gardeners, plants and wildlife.

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