My major goal for 2019 was to add another 24 foot long growing/display bench directly across from my older bench. In addition to adding the bench I wanted install shade cloth above both benches to reduce the heat generated when temperatures rise above 90 degrees (f) here in Colorado. I have many different species under development including some being used as accent plants. After constructing the new bench and installing the shade cloth, I carefully selected and moved trees that I thought would benefit most by growing under the shade cloth. I really enjoyed moving all of these trees/plants to the now shaded growing benches. I used 30% black shade cloth ordered from Greenhouse Megastore. I did have the cloth hemmed with grommets installed every 24 inches. I took a digital thermometer and measured the tempiture on a growing bench sitting in full sun. The reading was 117 degrees on the surface of the bench. I then checked a bench under the shade cloth, the reading was 91 degrees. Out side tempiture was mid 90’s. One of my more temperamental species are my quince trees. In the past they all show stress starting when tempitures starting hitting 90 degrees. By the end of the growing season they all look pretty bad. My “Kurokoji” quince hates heat so much it will drop all of its leaves and look like it is dead. I moved this quince under the shade cloth and placed it directly on the ground and not the bench. It has responded with new growth now. My “Toyo-Nishiki” has been under the shade cloth the longest, it has responded with new growth all over the tree now. I have since moved some others under the shade cloth. The last quince to make the move was a very large semi-cascade “Scarlet Storm” tree. Almost all of its leaves were sunburned before I moved it and it was not growing. I placed the tree on top of turned up cinder block and it is just now starting to put out new growth all over. I have a couple of “Twisted Apricots” that were looking pretty bad, they are now budding out again. I am very pleased with how the project turned out.

As for the project itself I did learn a few things:

1. Do NOT fall off the ladder backwards. Do not have your Bonsai wire cutters in your back pocket as they will not soften your landing.
2. Make sure you have your cell phone in your front pocket to call for help should you ignore item number one.
3. Use redwood instead of pressure treated lumber. My pressure treated lumber started warping as soon as I brought it home.
4. I tried staining pressure treated lumber and that did not turn out well. The first two boards were still wet 5 hours latter. The chemical in the wood bled through the stain and it looked awful. I stopped at two boards. I may try latter.
5. I used a wood bowl to enhance the ends of the rafters, looks much better then a square end. I also made a jig with some scrap lumber so that the end of all the rafters would be the same.
6. Plan ahead if you want an arbor for the shade cloth. My first bench posts were not tall enough. I had to add an extension to the posts to make it tall enough.
7. Do not believe what the box stores are selling. Bring your measuring tape and double check the measurements on any metal fittings. I bought 4″ x 4″ metal extenders and the actual measurement was 3 1/2″ x 3″ which is not going to work!
8. Construction will go quicker if you have someone helping you, especially if they know what there doing.
9. You can hang rafters by yourself if your careful. The trick is to install a piece of scrap 2×4 on one post. Then you can rest the rafter on the scrap board, bring the other end of the rafter up on the other post. Level it off and bolt it down. Then go back to the other side level the rafter again and finish bolting that side.
10. Never hold onto a rafter that is not fully bolted on both posts. See item number one.
11. Make sure all the rafters are level with each other.
12. Add second level of rafters that the shade cloth will rest on. Rafters should be wide enough to support the shade cloth without it sagging.
13. Do not extend rafters into neighbors yard, they might not like it.
14. Pre-Order Kotap BB-6B Ball Bungee, 6-Inch  cords to thread through the grommets to anchor the shade cloth to the structure.
15. Figure out some way to anchor the shade cloth to one end of the rafters. I used two 8 foot metal growing stakes. I used a half “U” metal bracket to anchor the growing stakes to the top of the rafter. I then drilled a hole through the stake and bracket and used a long deck screw to anchor both.
16. Fish the shade cloth up through the wood arbor and anchor one side of the shade cloth to the metal growing stakes. Wrap the bungee cord around the metal stake so it is nice and tight.
17. Carefully fish the rest of the shade cloth over the top of the rafters and anchor that side of the cloth. The shade cloth should be nice and tight from front to back.
18. Finish securing sides of the shade cloth to the wooden structure. I used a short deck screw to the inside of the rafter. Shade cloth should be nice and tight when finished.
19. Watch this video and see what type of shade cloth you should use depending on where you live: Best Shade Cloth to Reduce Temperature of Plants for Your Vegetable Garden
20. Think about how to get leaves, pine needles off the top of the shade cloth. I am going to buy a leaf blower.
21. Think about when to put the shade cloth up and take down, not to mention where to store the cloth. How about a plastic tub.
22. Solar lights mounted on the posts work fairly well under 30% shade cloth. On cloudy days the lights may not work very long during the night. I am very pleased how well they are working.

All in all I am very happy with the 30% shade cloth and it looks pretty good. I do plan on making some wood covers to hide the metal post extensions.

I plan on putting up shade cloth over the back yard growing benches.

There are over 70 different species growing under my shade cloth, they seem to be happy, none of them have complained to me?

New 05-06-2020:

I discovered last fall that my new shade cloth ordered in the summer of 2019 had developed 2 holes where the cloth was rubbing up on the plastic knob of the Bungee cord. A few days ago I used 1 mm aluminum wire to basically knit the holes closed, wire the two ends together. Now the knitting job does not look to pretty but who cares since you cannot see it and I know it is not going to come loose. I earlier had cut a hole in the cloth trying to remove the tag from the cloth. That hole was also closed with 1 mm aluminum wire and it did not come undone all summer and fall.

So make sure when your installing the Bungee cords not to let the plastic knob come in contact with your shade cloth. Also make sure the dumbo (me) holding scissors knows where to cut!!

Gallery 08-09-2019: