Black Mondo Grass Sun or Shade Outdoors? The Best Answer

What is the best answer for Black Mondo grass sun or shade when you plant it outdoors? In my previous article, I answered this question for indoor plantings (Black Mondo grass sun or shade indoors). But are there differences between indoor and outdoor situations for answering? Keep reading to find out.

In this article, I will show you how to provide the best lighting for the healthy growth of black mondo grass outdoors (garden, backyard, balcony). Providing this situation for it involves understanding its preference for shade while ensuring it receives enough indirect light.

➡  You can hear the Audio version of this article below:

Black Mondo Grass Sun or Shade to Keep its Elegant Appearance

To find the best answer for Black Mondo grass sun or shade, first, you have to understand how the kind and intensity of light can have an impact on the appearance of this plant. Let’s find out about it.

The effect of light on its appearance

Black Mondo grass is one of the low-maintenance ornamental plants that due to its black foliage is very popular for landscape designing. It also blooms with tiny clustered pink flowers that have shades of white and pale purple which make an eye-catching contrast with its dark appearance.

In my previous article when talked with you about the pro tips in Black Mondo grass light requirements, I told you this plant hates direct sunlight and in a bright place with a long duration of light will turn green and lose its eye-catching appearance.

In addition, when I discussed the Black Mondo grass flowers, I told you this plant needs a bright place to encourage it to bloom. Now, what is the best answer for Black Mondo grass sun or shade to have a stunning contrast between its dark foliage and tiny whitish blooms? Keep reading!

What is the Right Location for Planting Black Mondo Grass sun or shade?

First, let to find the Black Mondo grass light requirements based on the light levels. Do you know what is the meaning of the light level in gardening? It is determined based on the amount and intensity of sunlight. In the following, you can find out various terms:

Light Level Guideline Table
Light Level	Plant Needs	Comments
Full Sun	At least 6 hours of direct sun daily	·   Some plants can tolerate a warm full sun and are labelled as “heat or drought tolerant and full sun” ·   Some plants need a “cool full sun”.
Part Sun	Between 3 and 6 hours of direct sun per day	·   Can tolerate more light. ·   Need a minimum amount of direct sun. ·   Direct morning sun is good.
Part Shade	Between 3 and 6 hours of sun per day ·         Need protection from intense mid-day sun	· Sensitive to getting too much sun, particularly in the afternoon ·   Need shade during the hottest parts of the day. ·   Direct morning sun is good.
Full Shade	Less than 3 hours of direct sun per day

If a plant is labelled as part sun or part shade, it needs filtered light for most of the day or will do well in direct sun during the morning or afternoon.

The above table is a general guideline and every plant has its specific instructions. The Black Mondo grass Light level Requirements are mentioned in the below table:

Monitor Light Levels for Black Mondo Grass
Light Level	Plant Needs	comment
Full Sun	6+ hrs sun	A “cool full sun” condition.
Part Sun	4-6 hrs sun	Afternoon sun
Part Shade	4-6 hrs sun	Morning sun

Some gardeners believe that black mono grass can thrive in part sun too  (4-6 hrs afternoon sun). But you must note that the afternoon sun has more intensity than the morning sun which causes a hotter condition.

In addition, this plant can tolerate full shade, please note that when a plant can tolerate full shade conditions, it doesn’t mean that it has a healthy growing growth. However, most of the seed labels of Black Mondo grass only recommend a “Cool Full Sun” or “Part Shade” to keep its elegant appearance and encourage it to flower.

Now, come on to answer “Black Mondo grass sun or shade?”.

• You must provide a “Cool full sun” condition with at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day for your plant if you live in a place with milder summer days.
• If you live in an area with hot summer days, providing cool full sun is hard and you should plant your Black Mondo grass in a “Part Shade” place with a 4-6 morning sun.
• As mentioned above some gardeners believe the Black Mondo grass can grow in “Part sun” too. It could be good if you live in a region without hot days in summer because the afternoon sunlight is hotter than the morning sunlight.
• If summer has hot days in your garden, you can also plant your Black Mondo grass in a place with indirect sunlight as recommended for plants that are either “Part sun” or “part shade”. To do it you can plant your Black Mondo grass under the beneath taller trees, near the north or east side of buildings, or in areas shaded by larger plants.
• You can also consider using shade cloth or other shade structures to create suitable conditions for Black Mondo grass if you have limited shaded areas in your outdoor space.

If you are a smart gardener, you may ask me why usually advise avoiding direct sunlight for Black Mondo grass (growing and caring for black mondo grass) while all of the forms in the Light Level Guideline Table from full sun to full shade need direct sunlight.

There are a lot of factors in determining the best light condition for every plant including its intensity, duration, and quality. I cannot dive into this subject in this article, but you must know in places with high light intensity or long light duration (especially in summer), direct sunlight will increase the temperature and it will cause leaf scorch and even kill your plant.

Conclusion

Now, you can easily answer the “Black Mondo grass sun or shade”. Please tell me you live in what hardness zone and state of the USA (or other climate regions in the world) and do recommend to other gardeners in your area which light conditions for planting Black Mondo grass? “Full sun”, “Part shade”, or “Indirect sunlight”?  I am waiting to read your recommendations. Please ask me if you have any questions about this issue, below this page.