To think this garden will be ok?

[Marino]

Excuse the blurry pic, just to give a rough idea on sizes. It's a fairly small new build garden and unfortunately north facing! Ticked plot is ours.

We don't have the garage from the original plans, so my logic is it may be ok as with no garage there's room for sun to come in through there, we will get sun at bottom half of garden (atleast half, right?) and in the summer months when it's up high we'll have plenty.

Am I right, or am I daft?

I have a similar plot and fretted about it being NE facing, as our old house was south facing.
Honestly there is plenty of sun, the bit where the garage would be (same position as yours) is a sun trap and we’ve made that into a patio area. There is sun in our garden all day, if we are out in the evening we move down towards the bottom but the patio area isn’t in shade either.

The back of the house has bi fold doors and it would be too much to have full sun coming through them all day. From mid afternoon there is always a shaded area of the garden which is nice to have. In my old house on really hot days there was nowhere to hide from the sun.
Ultimately the plot location/size won out over the direction of the garden for us.

It will very likely be fine for the area you have marked off, otherwise you may need to get a patio heater or wear a cardigan more often but if the house ticks every other box I would take the chance. I have seen people sit out in the front garden on the rare super hot days.

I think you’ll get sun OP, the advice to go and have a look is good though, to put your mind at rest

Everyone in this thread is so dramatic. I live in a new build mid terrace with a north (43 degrees north east to be precise) Our garden is quite long but not wide and the end gets the sun all day even in winter! And even if it doesn't get direct sunlight it's still really bright out there as it's not overlooked or blocked by any other building other than our terrace. When the sun is high in summer months the majority of our garden gets the sun 👀

Is it a cul de sac. ? I sit out the front of our house if it's sunnier .. I bet you get sunshine at the back of it ! I think not being overlooked is more important than sun.. you can go out and get sun !

North facing would be a deal breaker for me.
Not only will it not get much sun in summer, it will get practically none in winter and will be dark and damp as a result.

Yes if you have a patio where the shed is now I think you will be able to enjoy the garden.

sorry cant read the whole thing. we have lived in new build with south facing garden and now north facing garden. I prefer the north facing. The south facing was far too hot and was too small to have much shade. its taken a while to work out what plants like shade. But we much prefer sitting on a shaded patio for dinner in the summer rather than baking in heat and fighting over the sun umbrella

@Janus

It’s going to be sunny this week, is it possible to visit once at about 11 and once at about 3 and see where the sun is on the plot? Or has it not been built yet?!

Given the double width drive and no garage, I think you'll get far more sun than I was assuming from your first diagram. Unless you stick in a massive fence, obviously.

With that layout I'd expect some sunny areas for a reasonable amount of time in the day. Again, with the assumption the plot is level and not sloped.

Damn, quoted wrong message, sorry!

@Marino

We haven't exchanged but have reserved etc. The £15k extra for south facing garden didn't seem worth it to us when it was a worse plot, the gardens were overlooked from all aspects whereas we have no houses behind us (and no chance of expansion), it was closer to the main road, we're tucked out the way etc. Husband also said it's a definite pro to have the front of the house south facing as the main rooms would benefit. I don't expect an all day sun trap but having sun in the summer months is a necessity or we'll be miserable.

I lived in a two-storey terraced house with a north facing patio garden - a bit smaller than your garden. In summer the sun was high enough enough in the sky to give sun in most of the garden, for most of the day including early evening. You should be fine, I wouldn't worry about it.

I used to have a north facing patio garden, with a 25ft wall at the end and three storey terraced housing to the south. We got a decent amount of sun in the summer. My brother had a north-east facing garden with equally tall buildings around, and he had a GORGEOUS garden with trees, plants, lawn and all. You'll be fine :)

Its not the north facing bit thats the issue to me.

It the buildings on the side you need to keep an eye on which may take out any remaining sunlight you might get in the west or east in the summer.

We have a house where the back garden is north facing. We have a raised patio area which helps. We also have nothing to the West which helps (there are large trees on the border to the east). The garden isn't particularly deep so its only really the bottom of the garden and the East of the garden that gets a lot of sunlight. I'd say from mid morning until about 7pm is when we do manage to get a nice amount of sunshine in the middle of summer. We were still eating out on the patio (which is next to the house NOT at the bottom of the garden) until September to catch the sun.

It makes it interesting for where to put things. The compost bin is sort of in the middle of the garden in the shade in a random place that wouldn't have been my first choice but otherwise I lose space which gets good sunlight.

Our house (and the one on your plans) does have a front garden too though. Its brilliant and we have been growing lots in it - including veg in pots. I think thats possibly the key - make the most of that space and make it usable even if thats unfashionable. To hell with anyone who thinks its a bit weird - make the most of what you have got.

I think it really is a case of trying to view it on a sunny day to get an idea of what its going to be like. I definitely wouldn't rule out a north facing garden until you've done this.

Ours can be a pain in the bum but I also don't know that I'd swap it either. It means the front of the house where we live most of the time is lovely and warm and sunny. And the back of the house is much cooler - which definitely works for me - the kitchen and the garden are where you want to spend more time in the summer months.

The garden however is definitely not as pleasant over the winter and it can get very wet and dank etc. Its just starting to get better now.

I have a North facing garden and get a lovely light in the back rooms that hose plants seem to thrive off. I don’t get much direct sun in the summer but the garden is still quite bright because there is no deep shade. In the evenings I sit out there even if there isn’t direct sun 🤷🏻‍♀️ you can still eat/ have a drink out there. People come round and it’s never been a problem

My garden is the exact same position OP- north facing but slightly to north west. We get loads of sun in the summer. Honestly, the whole of lockdown last year was spent basking probably from April onwards. We get it until about 8pm. Obviously less so in the winter but still a bit. I’m a total sun worshipper and it’s honestly fine.

"Husband also said it's a definite pro to have the front of the house south facing as the main rooms would benefit."

I do miss having a south facing bedroom and living room!

@Marino

Excuse the blurry pic, just to give a rough idea on sizes. It's a fairly small new build garden and unfortunately north facing! Ticked plot is ours.

We don't have the garage from the original plans, so my logic is it may be ok as with no garage there's room for sun to come in through there, we will get sun at bottom half of garden (atleast half, right?) and in the summer months when it's up high we'll have plenty.

Am I right, or am I daft?

unless the house is a skyscraper of course the garden will get Sun!

The shade cast by the house will vary depending on the time of year, the sun rises in the East and sets in the west, so will go over your house and garden from right to left, casting shade when it hits an object.

In the summer the sun is higher in the sky so you get more sun all over then. The bottom half of the garden (if it's to scale) should get lots of sun most of the year, the middle bit of the garden will get sun in high summer and the bit in shade near the house is truly North facing.

I have a garden that is technically north and west facing (two separate areas) but the buildings around are not near my boundary, so the only shade is cast by the fence and trees.

It's not an issue of which way the garden "faces" in relation to the house, but how big both are and what shade is cast by buildings and trees nearby.

We have a north facing garden, small plot. It’s ok.
Advantages - in the summer there is plenty of sun in most of the garden, sun is not blocked out by trees etc belonging to the neighbours.
Disadvantages - winter is a write off, spring and autumn also not great. The areas right next to the house don’t get any sun at all at any time of the year.

Your neighbour to the west has a garage which would block out some of the best of your sun, especially at the end of the day when you might want to sit out after work.

I am very far north, in a three storey house with a small courtyard garden...admittedly the ones next door (to the SW) are just two storey, but when I sit in the the back (NE) corner in the summer I can feel myself crisping up like bacon and as the sun continues on around from lunch time ish to mid afternoon the sun is right across the yard, and then on round to beaming into the back of the house from about 5pm
It's really lovely to be able to sit in the cool kitchen or dining room in the afternoon when you have had too much sun

There was even sun in there this afternoon...would have been earlier but we had a little cloudy break so too bad!

It is a pita from end of October to now ish as the sun is soooo low, but like I said, far north (20 mins north to Aberdeen) but like you this time of year I am only out ther to dash out to the wash-house or let the dog out!

I'd pay the extra £15k for the south facing plot. And we did, we recently bought a new build and paid 15k more than the same house with a north facing garden. Ours is East facing, with west facing rear garden. We get sun all morning on the front and all afternoon in the back and the north aspect is covered by a large 6ft garden wall so we're sheltered from it.

I have had in the past two houses with north facing gardens. Never again. They never warm up, that face of the house is often damp and green in time and unless it's super long, won't get hardly any sun morning or afternoon thanks to the garages on both sides of the garden.

The price difference will be reflected If you ever came to sell. A lot of people are aware how miserable a north facing garden is and you'll struggle to sell it on too.

Don't do it. Take the other one. You'll be very glad you did.

I’ve a north facing balcony in my flat - I get sun very early in the morning and then nothing again til close to 4/5pm til sunset and then that’s it

We never use it tbh it’s crap and such a waste

It’s pretty similar to our house. Garden is north facing and we get plenty of sun at the back of the garden until about 6 pm, used to be later but a large tree we planted now blocks the setting sun. Our main patio is at the rear of the garden, about 30ft from the house which is 2 storeys.
There is a 7ft brick wall on the boundary that absorbs the sun all day so it’s quite warm in the evening.
Having lived here for 25yrs there are two advantages, the kitchen and living room stay cool in hot summers, we have two distinct areas in the garden either sunny or shady so can grow all manner of plants. Last summer, during the heat waves we could sit in the shade but still enjoy being outdoors. It doesn’t matter which way your house faces in the winter there is no point in a sunny aspect because you are unlikely to be sitting outside.

Have you got the lounge at the front? If it's south facing you will spend all day in summer with curtains shut if you want to watch tele at all. We did that for 14 years. Never again.

You will get the sun on right hand side of the house from the east in the morning, sun at the front from the south and some evening sun at back left hand side from the west at night. I have had a north facing garden and had a lovely lawn & side patio to the south east

@Angrymum22 my old house had a sheltered South facing patio spot and you could sit out in December and eat your breakfast, it was that warm. Point is, if you have a South facing garden you could sit out, if you wanted to.

We have a west facing now, and we've had a lovely afternoon in the garden, we've had the sun out most of the afternoon, but there's no chance we would have done this at the old house with a North garden. It would have been freezing, damp and awful.