Where should vegetable beds go?
Vegetable gardens usually need the brightest, most open part of the yard, especially for tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, beans, and melons.
Map sun and shade in minutes.
Sunpatch is a free 2D garden sun planner: sketch your yard, drop in the things that cast shade - buildings, fences, trees - and see where sunlight lands through the growing season. It uses a simple overhead map, so you can plan planting spots without building a full 3D model or signing up for a paid tool.
- Free to use
- Fast 2D sketching
- No account required
- Seasonal sun map
Why plan your garden around sunlight?
Most planting advice leans on phrases like full sun or partial shade. In a real yard, those labels shift with the hour, the season, and whatever happens to be casting shade nearby. A quick 2D map is often enough to make better garden decisions without slowing you down.
See the yard as a light map
A spot beside the fence might get morning sun, fall into shade by lunch, then open back up by late afternoon. A map turns those guesses into something you can actually plan around.
Account for shade casters
Houses, garages, sheds, fences, hedges, trees: they all eat into your growing space in different ways. Sunpatch lets you draw them with simple shapes so nothing surprises you come planting season.
Move quickly
Sketch, calculate, adjust, repeat. Sunpatch is built for early layout decisions, when you want useful sunlight answers before buying plants or moving heavy containers around.
How to use Sunpatch as a garden sun planner
The goal is simple: create a practical yard sun map before you commit to beds, containers, or new plants. You do not need an account, a paid plan, or a full 3D scene to get started.
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Set your location
Sun angle depends on latitude and season, so start with the place where the garden will grow.
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Draw shade sources
Add buildings, fences, trees, and other objects as simple 2D shapes that affect your yard's direct sunlight.
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Compute sun exposure
Sunpatch evaluates the sunny, partially shaded, and shaded areas across the growing season while keeping the planner lightweight.
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Place plants by light
Use the map to compare spots before you dig anything in, buy new plants, or haul containers around.
What counts as full sun, partial sun, and shade?
Plant tags are handy, but they're really just shorthand. A garden sun planner helps turn those labels into actual hours of direct light for your specific yard, the same scale Sunpatch paints across your map.
- Full sun 6 hrs+
- Six or more hours of direct sun a day. Most fruiting vegetables, herbs, and flowering plants want to be here; this is the prime real estate.
- Partial sun or shade 3–6 hrs
- Three to six hours. A lot of herbs, greens, and shade-tolerant ornamentals are perfectly happy in this range.
- Shade under 3 hrs
- Under three hours of direct sun. There's still plenty you can do with these spots: shade-loving plants, paths, seating, a compost bin, or a water feature.
Garden planning questions a sun map can answer
Sunpatch is built for the early layout decisions that make the rest of a garden plan easier.
Can I use a partly shaded area?
Yes. Partial shade can be useful for lettuce, spinach, cilantro, parsley, mint, many flowers, and seating areas that would be too hot in full afternoon sun.
Why does season matter?
The sun rides higher in summer and lower in winter. The same fence or roofline can throw surprisingly different shadows on the same bed depending on the time of year.
Why choose a 2D planner?
For garden layout, a clear overhead map is usually faster than a detailed 3D model. Sunpatch focuses on the planting question: which spots get enough direct light?
What should I still check outside?
Sunpatch estimates direct sunlight from the objects you draw. It's still a good idea to check local conditions like weather, slopes, overhangs, and reflective surfaces.