Fall Foliage from a Screened Porch

Fall Foliage from a Screened Porch

Why your screen porch beats sitting in the yard when leaves and wind pick up

The best seat for fall color is not a folding chair in the yard. It is a chair on a screened porch. You face the same maples and oaks. You don't sit in the wind that strips the trees, and you don't wear the leaves that come off them.

The U.S. Forest Service explains why the show happens. Shorter days slow and then stop chlorophyll production. Green fades. Carotenoids show as yellow, gold, and orange. Anthocyanins show as red and purple. Oaks run red, brown, or russet. Hickories go golden bronze. Aspen and yellow poplar go golden yellow. Red maple turns scarlet. Sugar maple turns orange-red. Peak color generally develops in late September in the Northern States and can run through October into early November in the Mid-Atlantic and southern Midwest. North and high ground turn first. South and low ground turn later.

That window is short. Wind and dry air take the leaves as soon as they color. Sit in the open yard and you get the view plus the mess: leaves on the cushions, grit in your cup, a gust that ends the hour. Sit on your screen porch and the trees stay in front of you. The debris stays outside.

Screen is not a wall. Air still moves. You still hear the leaves. You still see color through the screening. What you don't get is a drift of oak leaves across the sofa every time the wind lifts. Southern Living’s porch-screen guidance is blunt about the other side of that bargain: do not let leaves pile against the screens, and brush debris off the mesh so the view stays clear. The screen is a filter. It works if you keep it open.

That is why we build SNAPP screen Track the way we do. We want the frame to disappear so the foliage does not. SNAPP is our patented one-piece extrusion (U.S. Patent 8,484,926) - only ½ inch wide, and available in aluminum or PVC. No caps, covers, expanders, adapters, or corners. Plastic caps on other systems can shatter, split, crack, fade, and pop off. We do not use them. Screen is held by a secure spline and the opening stays clear.

A skinny track matters when you are looking at trees, not at hardware. Cut the track, mount it, roll in your screen. Openings do not need to be square, plumb, or level. PVC can follow an arch. Aluminum has no maximum opening. We do not recommend PVC over 110 square feet or in extended, severe freezing. If a screen happens to get damaged, simply pull the spline and put in new screen. The track stays. The view stays.

Use the porch for the color, not as a project site. Midday sun on the floor. Late light on the canopy. Coffee, a book, someone in the other chair. When the wind comes up, you stay put. Leaves hit the screens and drop outside. 

If your porch is not screened yet, you can still catch this season and every one after it. We make SNAPP so most homeowners can finish the job with a saw, a drill, and a weekend. Then the foliage is a porch habit, not a drive.

Q&A: Fall is stall a great time to enjoy or build a screen porch

1. Why watch fall color from a screened porch instead of the yard?
A: You get the same trees without sitting in wind-blown leaves. Screen stops debris. The view stays.

2. Why do leaves change color?
A: The U.S. Forest Service: shorter days destroy chlorophyll. Carotenoids and anthocyanins show through as yellow, orange, red, and purple.

3. When does color typically peak?
A: Forest Service guidance: late September in the Northern States; October into early November in the Mid-Atlantic and southern Midwest. North and elevation first.

4. Does screen block the view of the trees?
A: Polyester and fiberglass are made to see through. Our ½-inch SNAPP track is sized to stay out of the picture too.

5. Will wind still push leaves through the mesh?
A: Whole leaves and most debris stay outside. Fine grit can cling to the screen. Simply brush, blow or spry off if needed.

6. What is SNAPP screen Track?
A: A patented one-piece aluminum or PVC track used to mount screen material without the need for caps or extra parts. Made in the USA. U.S. Patent 8,484,926.

7. Why no caps?
A: Caps on multi-part systems shatter, split, crack, fade, and pop off. Spline holds our screen securely in place. Those extra parts all the other guys use just make installation more complicated and add more chances for failure.

8. Can we screen an odd-shaped porch?
A: Absolutely. SNAPP screen is great to begin with, but on openings that are not square, plumb, or level ... it really shines. Take a look on our FaceBook or  INSPIRATION to see real diy customer projects (https://screenporch.com/inspiration)

9. How do we keep screens clear during leaf drop?
A: Do not let leaves pile against the mesh. Brush, blow or spray off as needed. That is the same upkeep for any screened porch.

10. Where do we get SNAPP?
A: SNAPP screen Track can be purchased from our growing family of select regional suppliers, lumber yards, hardware stores, as well as Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and direct from SNAPP screen. 

 

Final Thought

Fall color is a short show. Watch it from inside the screen, not under the trees. Mesh keeps the leaves and the wind on the other side of the opening. We make SNAPP screen Track so that opening stays slim, strong, and free of caps - so the picture is the foliage, not the frame. ScreenPorch.com.

SNAPP screen Track – Simply Superior by Design™

SNAPP screen Track can be purchased from our growing family of select regional suppliers, lumber yards, hardware stores, as well as Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and direct from SNAPP screen. 

Check out customer testimonials on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@SNAPPscreen) 

Get INSPIRED by real diy customer projects (https://screenporch.com/inspiration)

 

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Bibliography

1. U.S. Forest Service. “The Joy and Science of Fall Colors.” https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/fall-colors/joy-and-science
2. U.S. Forest Service. “Why Leaves Change Color” (GOVPUB-A13). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-A13-PURL-LPS95750/pdf/GOVPUB-A13-PURL-LPS95750.pdf
3. National Park Service. “Learn About Fall Colors.” Rocky Mountain National Park. https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/learn-about-fall-colors.htm
4. Gruener, Brandee. “How to Clean Porch Screens: 6 Easy Steps.” Southern Living. https://www.southernliving.com/how-to-clean-porch-screens-1181597
5. ScreenPorch.com. Home page. https://www.screenporch.com/
6. ScreenPorch.com. “Tracks & Parts.” https://screenporch.com/tracks-parts
7. ScreenPorch.com. “SNAPP screen Track Specifications.” https://screenporch.com/specifications
8. ScreenPorch.com. SNAPP screen product sheet FORM 15002.12. U.S. Patent 8,484,926. https://screenporch.com/images/ScreenPorch-15002-12.pdf
9. ScreenPorch.com. “Porch Screening PROs.” https://www.screenporch.com/screen-pros