Patio Sun Shades

Summer is coming, and it’s going to be a scorcher.  After three years of miserable weather, the boffins at meteorological offices the world over are predicting three glorious months of uninterrupted sunshine:  and this time, it looks as though they might actually be right.  All across Britain, people are preparing for the first al fresco friendly season since 2004, buying barbecues, garden furniture and protective awnings.  Anyone getting set to enjoy the heated days and long warm evenings is looking to kit their outside spaces out with the right gear to safely enjoy the sun.  Topping every summer shopping list are patio sun shades.

Patio sun shades make the traditional seating area of a garden a haven of rest and comfort, shaded from the sun’s heat as much as its harmful rays.  They don’t have to be kitsch or puny, either – just as the days when English summers could be guaranteed to be warm are gone, so are the days when buying patio sun shades meant procuring garish stripy umbrellas that turn into broken flapping things at the slightest hint of wind.  Modern patio sun shades are kin to the heavy duty sculptural shade sails seen over the outside tables of trendy restaurants – manufactured from UV-protective sun sail cloth and as good looking as they are practical.  Patio sun shades made from this material are durable, resistant to UV, water and wind:  and they’re lightweight and attractive into the bargain.

These new style patio sun shades lose the heavyweight nature of industrial shade sails, but keep their aesthetic appeal and practicality.  They don’t flap, unlike old school gazebos or parasols:  patio sun shades are anchored with yacht-like hawsers, so they stretch taut over your garden seating area.  Imagine a sail filled with wind and you’ll get the idea. 

Patio sun shades can be anchored to the walls of a house, creating a modern-looking awning that dispenses shade and protection in equal measure:  or they can be installed as free-standing canopies projected from a mast like pole.  Either way, they add more than a dash of drama to a garden:  unlike parasols and gazebos, patio sun shades work in harmony with the natural shapes of plants and trees:  looking, if anything, more like a striking modernist sculpture than a piece of garden furniture. 

The uses of patio sun shades extend beyond simple protection – they’re strong enough and waterproof enough to operate as a roof in inclement weather:  and, again unlike the more traditional alternatives, patio sun shades are cooling as well as shading.  A “normal” garden parasol doesn’t really protect the user from heat – it just blocks UV rays, creating a shaded area that can be as stuffy and uncomfortable as the inside of a tent.  The fabric used to make patio sun shades blocks heat as well as harmful rays, giving users a truly comfortable, cool seating area in even the hottest sun.