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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why anyone would choose to buy a house with a north facing garden?

373 replies

chillidoritto · 26/09/2023 18:50

Currently trying to find a new house and every time I think we’ve found one that ticks all the boxes, a quick look on street view shows it has a north facing garden!!

A woman at playgroup was going on about how lucky she was that she had a shady north facing garden! It’s dark, damp and nothing seems to grow there except moss! She does have very pasty kids mind.

Am I missing something? Are they so bad?

OP posts:
tootrueblue · 26/09/2023 18:51

I've had one in the past. No problem, just created a patio at the back of the garden to catch the sun

Comtesse · 26/09/2023 18:52

Pasty kids? What are you on about??
Most people buy a house because they like the house, the orientation of the garden is relatively minor.

DinnaeFashYersel · 26/09/2023 18:52

My back garden is north facing.

I bought my house because the house is gorgeous. The views are amazing and whilst my back garden is north facing each part of it has some sun at some point of each day.

The pasty kids comment 😂

tootrueblue · 26/09/2023 18:52

Also to add, my grass was lovely and it was new turf too

sarsaparillatree · 26/09/2023 18:53

Maybe they're vampires and don't want the sun?🙃

Iudncuewbccgrcb · 26/09/2023 18:53

It probably only matters if you are the kind of person who likes to spend a lot of time in the garden?

BatshitCrazyWoman · 26/09/2023 18:54

I love the light in a north facing room, and have zero interest in sunning myself? I'd hate a south facing garden!

Houseplanter · 26/09/2023 18:54

When I'm practically melting in my kitchen in summer I'd spin my house round in a moment.

LoisWilkersonslastnerve · 26/09/2023 18:54

Mine is north facing, it is a bit irritating in the summer but the rest of the plus points of our house make up for it. I'm not a big sun worshipper to be fair.

Kellogscorncrakes · 26/09/2023 18:54

Our garden is North facing but gets plenty of sun throughout the day, the end especially. We're an end terrace and the garden is quite long so the sun gets to it over the houses as it were. I'm glad of it in the heat of summer but then I'm not much of a hot weather fan!

Kellogscorncrakes · 26/09/2023 18:55

Our garden is North facing but gets plenty of sun throughout the day, the end especially. We're an end terrace and the garden is quite long so the sun gets to it over the houses as it were. I'm glad of it in the heat of summer but then I'm not much of a hot weather fan!

SnapBang · 26/09/2023 18:55

Pasty kids? How ignorant.

CherryMaDeara · 26/09/2023 18:55

My mum’s garden is north facing. She would have loved a south facing one to have a conservatory.

However, in the summer her kitchen and living room and extension stay lovely and cool.

Given global warming, a north facing garden seems more and more enticing…

Deliaskis · 26/09/2023 18:55

We have a North facing garden, and to add insult to injury, it's elevated! When we chose to move here we were moving from a very overlooked estate type setting to having a spectacular open aspect at the back. The fact that it's North facing has relatively impact on what we do. We can still sit out there in the sun on warm summer days, have a BBQ, but be pretty sure of a nice breeze too. We're not big gardeners so that doesn't affect us. We do have a funny situation though in some weathers where we can open the front door it's benign and warm and sunny, and out of the back door or can be like an arctic gale!

But generally it doesn't really bother us.

Luxell934 · 26/09/2023 18:56

Pasty kids? Rude. Maybe they don’t want skin cancer.

I have a north facing garden and get plenty of sun.

Slaterz · 26/09/2023 18:56

It was all I could afford at the time and the house itself is great.

thistimelastweek · 26/09/2023 18:56

I'm looking out at my north-facing garden right now. It's lush and lovely and filled with late-evening light.

So like everything else, it depends on the particular circumstances.

DaffyDaffy · 26/09/2023 18:57

We like a north facing garden, the sun reaches the house/patio by teatime for dinner outside in the summer, bit of guaranteed shade for the paddling pool and not fretting about sunscreen in the morning/lunch, the sun works its way up the garden as the day goes on. We have plenty of plants and a lawn in fab condition!

ThisMustBeMyDream · 26/09/2023 18:57

I've just moved from a house that had a NW facing garden to another NW facing garden. Both gardens get loads of sun. My previous house was a proper suntrap come the afternoon. Neither garden is overlooked so plenty of sunshine in them. The only time there isn't sun is first thing in the morning. By mid morning half the garden is in sun, by late morning the vast majority is in sun.

Tribblesarelovely · 26/09/2023 18:57

I agree, I wouldn’t look at a house with a north facing garden.

Ivebeentogeorgia · 26/09/2023 18:57

Mine is north east facing. I get sun from 8am-6pm in June- although it moves so some is in shade, some is in sun. It’s more annoying as it goes into autumn and the suns gone by about 5 but then the other plus points of the house make up for it. Unless the garden is really small, it should def get some sun

KimberleyClark · 26/09/2023 18:58

My back garden is east facing. The front of the house gets bloody hot in summer in the afternoon/evening.

Ienjoyedthebarbiemovie · 26/09/2023 18:58

When we bought our house there were literally two houses available within our budget. We bought one of these and luckily we have a really long (east facing) garden. We get the sun all day really. Perhaps they buy a north facing garden because that’s all there is on the market at the time.

Pasty kids!? Hope that was just a really bad joke

BettyBallerina · 26/09/2023 18:58

There are advantages. My house is lovely and cool in summer (cold in winter, though). Flowers do take longer to come into flower in summer. The sun moves across my garden in summer so there’s always a choice of shade or sun to sit in. My front garden faces south and it’s like stepping out into Spain in the summer months with no option of shade. So I actually prefer a north facing garden. And I definitely don’t have pasty kids!

MatthewsMumFromTikTok · 26/09/2023 18:59

What a nasty Op!!