Light levels are set out in the graph below. You’ll find much more gardening success if you stick to plants that grow well in the light levels you have at your property. The good news is that by utilizing the four sides of your house, you’ll discover you likely have light levels for both sunny and shady plants. (That is of course unless you have a lot of shade from trees or other tall buildings; then you just have a shady garden.)
Full Sun
On the graph, full sun is represented by the distance between 10am and 2pm.
Add another section – any one and you have full sun. So, if you have sun on your garden during that time either with sun before or after,(or both) you have full sun conditions.
Those mid-day sun levels are the most important.
Shade Garden
If you have sun in the morning but not the rest of the day, then you can consider yourself mostly shady.
With sun only in the later part of the day, you are definitely shady.
If your sun is before 10 and after 2 or even 4, then you definitely have a shady garden.
Part Shade
When you get sun in two of the time periods but NOT the noon period.
Having Said All That
There are regional differences. So what we consider “part shade” in Florida is considered full sun in Ontario, Canada.
These rules of thumb are guidelines rather than carved in stone. Other factors such as variety choice will often make a difference when growing some plants in more or less sun than recommended.