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Florida, Zone 9b. I've got a lot of unused space around a screened in pool so I'm planning to do some container gardening. Three walls and the roof of this area are window screen material held up by aluminum posts. The area that I am planning to use gets about 10 hours of direct sunshine diminished only be the screen material and an occasional post shadow.

For the purposes of plant selection, should I consider this area full sun or partial shade?

Also, what if anything, can I do to minimize the affects of the chlorine vapors from the pool? What flowering plants would thrive despite the presence of chlorine?

Henry Taylor
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    Best way to tell is to mark the line of the sun as it travels through the day, say 9am, 12pm and 3pm. Then you will know how much sun the area gets and what plants would be best. – Viv Mar 10 '16 at 22:49
  • +1 Thanks, Viv! So it is just an issue of hours of direct sunlight, the light and heat which is absorbed by the screen does not factor into it. I was thinking there would be an equation like "8 hours of screened sunlight = 6 hours of unscreened sunlight". Thanks! – Henry Taylor Mar 11 '16 at 02:21

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Well it's filtered sunlight, so that counts as partial or dappled shade, just about. There may be increased ambient light levels because of the reflected light off the pool, and possibly from the hard surfacing material round the pool if its a pale colour, but that's still not direct sunlight. Even so, that effect is probably enough to stick to plants that like partial shade - total sun lovers may well lean forward trying to get at the brighter area just beyond their reach, not an effect that's attractive over time with growing plants.

As for the chlorine, the link below has some information, but it doesn't sound like its anything you should worry about too much - the vapours from the chlorine won't affect the plants, though extreme and consistent water splash might, but it would have to be a lot and often.

http://www.spectrumanalytic.com/support/library/ff/Chlorine_in_Pool_Water_and_Nearby_Plants.htm

If you wanted plants that somehow lessen the smell of the chlorine from a human point of view, there won't be any, unless you count strongly scented flowering plants, which won't mask it, but might contribute a more pleasing scent.

Bamboo
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