Allotment Plot Plan
Get the plot down on paper to a consistent scale, so bed lengths, seed quantities and next year's rotation can be worked out in the warm.
GG-02 2 pages
Garden and growing · GG-40
Garden Sun and Shade Mapping Sheet
A free printable sun and shade map: a lettered squared plan with north and scale, then three dated looks at where sun and shade fall through the day.
Download Free · no sign-up
2 pages. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.
Print it and write on it
Fill it in type and save
The fillable versions have real form fields — open them in any PDF reader, type into them and save. Printing help.
What this sheet is for
Choose where to plant from the sun and shade you have watched, not from a guess. Looks in three seasons show how far the shade moves through the year.
Who it is for
Gardeners planning new beds, people taking on an unfamiliar garden, and anyone deciding where a tree, a greenhouse or a seat should go.
How to use it
- Draw the garden on the grid with the buildings, walls, fences, hedges and trees, and draw the arrow to north.
- Choose the areas to watch and give each a name or a grid square such as C7.
- On a bright day, look at each area at the times written across the top of page two and mark S, P or a dash.
- Repeat in two more seasons, count the S marks, and mark the plan with the key.
What is on the sheet
2 pages, in this order:
Page 1
Printed under the title: A squared plan of the garden on page one; on page two, three dated looks at where the sun and shade fall through the day, area by area, so planting positions are chosen from what you have watched.
Watch, then mark. Draw in the buildings, walls, fences, hedges and trees that cast shade. Then, on a bright day in each of three seasons, look at every area at the times written across page two: S for sun, P for part or dappled shade, a dash for shade. Count the S marks and mark the plan with the key.
Write-on lines: Garden · Drawn by · Date drawn
Also printed: Plan of the garden: draw what casts shade, and mark the key letters once you have watched · NORTH · Draw an arrow · pointing north · SCALE · 1 square = · KEY · full sun · part shade · shade · wet · dry · windy · frost pocket · Full sun and part · shade mean what · your plants' labels · say they mean.
Page 2
Sun and shade through the day — S sun, P part or dappled, a dash for shade; same times for every look
Also printed: Time of each look: write the times in · Area · Sun · Key · name or square · hours · Look on (date) · Season · Weather
Ruled lines: Also seen: wet patches, wind tunnels, frost lying late, reflected heat
Questions
How many hours of sun counts as full sun?
The sheet does not set a figure. What counts as full sun or part shade is whatever the plants you want to grow ask for, so take that from the plant label or your supplier and compare it with the hours you counted.
Why look more than once a year?
Because the sun sits lower in winter than in summer, so a bed in sun in midsummer can be in a building's shadow from autumn to spring, and trees cast more shade in leaf than bare. Looks in different seasons show how far the shade moves.
Related sheets
Vegetable Garden Planner
Plan the season with last year's beds in front of you, which is the only way rotation decisions get made from fact rather than memory.
GG-08 2 pages
Tree Planting and Establishment Record
Keep a new tree alive through its first summers by making the watering and checks visible, and know afterwards which trees from which nursery actually took.
GG-14 2 pages
Frost and Winter Damage Record
Base next winter's protection on what died, recovered or came through in your own garden. A hardiness label is a guide; this sheet is the record of your plot.
GG-45 1 page
Garden Diary Weekly Page
Keep a week of the garden on one page, to look back on when planning next year. It is the running record that ties the specialist logs together.
GG-41 1 page
