Microclimate analyzer: sun and shade on your property, by hour and season

A shadow map on your own roof. Scrub to a July afternoon or a January morning and see exactly where the shade falls, so every plant goes where it can live. Free, on any address, no account.

Open it on my address The A to F framework

See it run, then open it on your roof

A one-minute run of the analyzer on a Phoenix yard: the shade sweeping across the lot as the day and the seasons move. Type your address and it opens on your own roof in a new tab.

Map yours in three passes

Orient the property
North up. Name the faces of the house, the walls and the big canopies. Each makes its own climate.
Scrub through the seasons
Morning, midday and late afternoon in July, in January and at the equinoxes. Shade in December can be the hottest spot in July.
Ground-truth it
Walk the yard at a few times of day. Reflected heat, wind, cold pockets and runoff refine the zone the sun gives you.

Save the map to my property and the planting planner reads the same sun and shade.

The A to F microclimate framework

Six kinds of sunlight around a house, not a grade. South faces get the most sun, north faces the least, and the letters run east to west.

North · shadier side

West
obstruction

FED

House / walls

ABC

East
obstruction

South · sunnier sideAfternoon sun from the westMorning sun from the east

A
Morning sun, afternoon shadeEast end of the sunnier, south-facing side
Good starting point: Herbs and anything that wilts in afternoon heat
B
Morning and afternoon sunThe open south-facing side
Good starting point: The classic full-sun crops on your local planting calendar
C
Morning shade, hot afternoon sunWest end of the sunnier, south-facing side
Good starting point: Heat lovers, and stretching the fall harvest
D
Morning shade, partial afternoon sunWest end of the shadier, north-facing side
Good starting point: Sweet greens that would bolt elsewhere in summer
E
Filtered or reflected light all dayThe north-facing side with indirect light
Good starting point: Adaptable crops such as desert strawberries
F
Morning and afternoon shadeEast end of the shadier, north-facing side
Good starting point: Summer greens, edible ferns and other shade crops

What you'll know at the end

Where the afternoon shade falls in July
Where the winter sun reaches for citrus and greens
A letter, A to F, for each part of the yard
Which spots keep young trees alive through their first summer
Where new shade would do the most good
The sun and shade the planting planner will use

Questions

What does the microclimate analyzer actually show?

A 3D shadow map laid over your address. Pick any hour of any day of the year and it draws where the house, walls, trees and the neighbors' buildings put shade on your lot.

Why does afternoon shade matter so much in Phoenix?

July afternoons here are the limiting factor for most food plants. A spot with sun until noon and shade after is where tomatoes, herbs and young fruit trees survive their first summers. Full west sun is for the toughest plants only.

Are the A to F letters a grade?

No. They describe the type and timing of sunlight around a structure. A and F are both useful; they just suit different plants. The south-facing side gets the most year-round sun and the north-facing side is shadier, and the letters run from east to west along each.

Do I need an account?

No. Type your address on this page and the analyzer opens on your roof. With a free account the map is saved to your property, so the planting planner and any design review use the same sun and shade.

Is the shade map exact?

It is exact for the shapes it knows: buildings and terrain. Tree canopies and new walls may not be in the data yet, which is why the third pass is walking the yard.

Request a consultation

Rather have it designed or done for you? Tell us about the property.