The best shade cloth for gardens

50% is the density most vegetable growing actually wants, and this is the only product at that density whose manufacturer publishes both what the fabric is and how long it will stand behind it.

Knitted HDPE in a mono/mono construction, up to 50% UV block, breathable to air and water. The mono/mono detail matters more than it sounds: a monofilament knit in both directions is a more dimensionally stable fabric than a tape weave, which means it does not distort at the grommets or run when it snags on a cane.

Fifteen years of fabric warranty against cracks, splits and tears due to UV degradation. That is the longest published term on any shade fabric on this site by a factor of five — the shade sails we cover run three to seven years. On a product whose single failure mode is UV, a fifteen-year UV warranty is the specification.

And breathability is doing real work in a garden. A knitted mesh lets rain through, which means you water straight through the cloth rather than lifting it — the thing that decides whether shade cloth stays up through a heatwave or ends up folded by the shed.

Sizes are 6 x 15 ft, 6 x 100 ft and 12 x 50 ft. The 6 ft width is the one to think about: it covers a standard 4 ft bed with hoop clearance, and two runs cover most plots. No grommet spacing or edge finish is published, which is the one gap.

The lightest density Coolaroo publishes, and the right answer to a problem most growers misdiagnose: scorch on a few extreme afternoons is not the same problem as sun all season, and treating it with 50% cloth costs you ripening.

Tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and squash want heat and light. What they do not want is leaf scorch and blossom drop at 100°F. 30% UV block takes the edge off the peak without meaningfully reducing the light the plant is using — which is the whole point of a light-density cloth and the reason it exists as a separate product rather than as a cheaper version of the 50%.

It is the same knitted HDPE fabric family as the 50%, so the handling, the breathability and the watering-through behaviour are identical.

Published only in 6 x 15 ft, which is the practical limitation — one bed's worth. For a larger plot you are buying several, and at that point the 50% in a 6 x 100 ft roll is the more economical fabric even if it is the wrong density.

No warranty term is published at this density — Coolaroo publishes the fifteen-year term on its 50% Garden Cover and 90% Sun Protection lines and not on the 30%. We would rather flag that than assume it carries across.

70% is where you go for the things that genuinely want shade rather than relief: seedling flats, leafy salads in high summer, shade-loving ornamentals, and propagation areas.

Knitted HDPE, up to 70% UV block, breathable. Same fabric family and same watering-through behaviour, at a density that turns a sunny bed into a genuinely cool one. Lettuce and spinach that would bolt in June under 30% will hold under 70%, which is the practical difference.

Sizes 6 x 15 ft, 6 x 50 ft, 6 x 100 ft and 12 x 50 ft, which is the widest range Coolaroo publishes at any density and the easiest to buy for a whole plot.

No warranty term is published on the screening line, unlike the 50% Garden Cover and the 90% Sun Protection. Coolaroo sells this line primarily as privacy screening rather than as garden cover, which is likely why the term is not stated on it — but not stated is not stated, and we will not assume.

And the mistake to avoid is using 70% as a default. It is a specialist density. Put fruiting crops under it and you will get healthy green plants and very little fruit.

The only shade cloth here sold cut to your dimensions — custom, 6 to 24 ft wide by 1 to 300 ft long — which for a plot that is not a tidy rectangle of 6 ft beds is the practical answer.

It is also the only one publishing a GSM figure: 180 GSM knitted polyethylene, 75% block rate, up to 95% UV stabilized. GSM is fabric weight rather than shade percentage, and having both lets you do a comparison the other products do not allow: 180 GSM at 75% block is a lighter fabric than the shade sails we cover at 190 to 260 GSM, doing a similar job under less tension.

A 3-year limited warranty, which against Coolaroo's fifteen is the trade you are making for the custom sizing.

And the edge is the thing to plan around: cut edge, no edge taping. Grommets, tape and fixings are a separate purchase. A knitted lock-stitch fabric will not unravel from a cut, which is why this is viable at all, but you are finishing the edges yourself and that is real work on a large piece.

75% block sits between the 70% and 90% densities above, which for a garden is on the heavy side. Read it as a shading-structure fabric that happens to work over beds rather than as a purpose-made garden cloth.

Included because it is the density people reach for when they are shading a seating area at the end of the garden, and because putting it over a bed would be a mistake worth naming.

Knitted HDPE in a tape/mono construction, up to 90% UV block, with air flowing through the knit. The tape/mono weave is the denser structure — tape in one direction, monofilament in the other — which is how it reaches 90% while staying breathable rather than becoming a solid sheet.

It carries the same fifteen-year fabric warranty against cracks, splits and tears due to UV degradation as the 50% Garden Cover, which makes it the best-warranted dense shade fabric we have found.

Sizes 6 x 15 ft, 6 x 50 ft, 6 x 100 ft and 12 x 50 ft.

Over a vegetable bed it would be a disaster. 90% is the density for a pergola roof, a pet run or a seating area. Almost nothing edible produces properly under it, which is exactly why shade cloth is sold by percentage rather than as one product.