It provides a nice, subtle shade to the area where we installed it; enough to make it feel much nicer than being out under the sun, but enough sunlight comes through to keep grass green and for growing plants to continue growing. We live in Texas, so it's already pretty hot..! This is super helpful :) Installation was possible between my husband and I; hard, but possible so we were happy. Shade material is nice and thick, resembles burlap but it's strong. Only thing I wish is that the covers for the bottom of the columns would be tighter so they won't be so prone to rusting. But overall it's a very nice product..!