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

[chillidoritto]

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?

I would only ever buy a house with a South, or preferably, West facing garden. Where we live now, we had the option of a four bed detached or a three bed semi and we went for the three bed semi as it has a south facing garden. It's the top of our list.

Our garden is north facing but as its big and wide and no houses directly behind it gets absolutely loads of sun. Nearly full sun for most of the day in summer.
Conversely our old house which had a small south facing garden was shaded by the fence and large trees apart from in the height of summer.
Go at different times of day to look at houses to get a true picture of how good or bad the sun situation would actually be. A south facing garden really isn't all that and definitely not a good enough reason not to buy a house you like.

I'm with you OP, but I think a lot of people don't realise until they move in, or know what North-facing actually means.
I have a North facing garden that grows nothing but ivy, weeds, moss and slugs. I have done my best to find plants that will grow, but it's cold and damp, even in summer.

I have no idea what direction my garden faces

It's has sunshine and then shade by house /patio doors as day goes

I need a compass

We discount any houses with North facing gardens when we buy. I'm a sun lover and ideally buy South West facing.

We move a lot because of my job.

Pasty kids 🙄
You need to buy a house with a much bigger garden OP. Mine is several acres, and I have no idea of its orientation.

It depends for me. We saw one house that we discounted because of the N-garden - slightly elevated, with an entrance off an odd living room / conservatory combo, overlooked by a council estate block of flats, with big trees on either side. Eek. I think it was about £1.3 million thank you, London. But done well it can be fine. We ended up in a house with two gardens and it's basically too hot in one half of the house at any time May-August.

How nasty are you?

Our open plan living room/kitchen, where we spend most of our time, opens onto our north facing garden. It was brilliant this summer when it was hot, because we weren’t sweltering and could sit outside in the garden in the shade. Our garden is small, but we still have a lovely natural lawn. Our next door neighbours (also north facing) also have fabulous flower borders. I’m planning to emulate that, and planting this winter for next summer.

As for sunbathing - none of us sunbathe, and our kids will only play in the shade and covered up with hats, sleeves and sun cream. My husband and I cover up similarly in the sun. In my opinion, no sunbathing can be healthy under any circumstances. You see tan, I see sun damage.

Not everyone wants glaring, blazing sun at all hours of the day during the summer.

Some people also don't like sitting out in it, as it's too bright and uncomfortable. Also, some other respect their skin rand are fearful of skin cancer.

The rooms that face south are always over-heated in summer and too hot, and may need air conditioning or the curtains drawn. Not good if it's the lounge or a bedroom.

I'd love a garden full stop, live in a tiny terrace with a minute back yard with just enough room for the bins and a few tubs

because my living room is like a sun house and no matter what its always burning hot

id love to seap for a north garden

I love my north-facing garden! It gets plenty of sun and I'd hate it to be any hotter/sunnier.

I have fantastic herbaceous borders and grow lots of lovely plants - have never had a problem. The patio is cool in the mornings, which I love. The lawn gets sun all day.

I'm not a sun-worshipper and I relish the coolness of the patio in the summer.

Never understood the craze for south-facing gardens.

I really like our north facing garden - gets enough sun in the summer months but doesn't get anywhere near as hot as the front of the house (south facing). The north facing kitchen diner stays lovely and cool in summer, a welcome respite from the very hot south facing living room. I would actively avoid buying a house with a south facing garden - I'm not a sun/heat worshipper at all.

I could have written this word for word. We have lots of days sitting out in our north facing garden in the sun. And it's often too hot and direct sun in the front garden.

Loads of plants grow well in north facing gardens, you just have to know which ones to plant.

i have wrap around gardens so have the worst/best of all 4 directions!

My garden is NW facing, not very big and it's great. In the height of summer it's still warm, and bright, but we don't get hit with unending sunshine. Stays shady till around 2pm, which means our lounge stays nice and cool. Our front garden gets loads of sun, and we are struggling to grow anything more than a hardy bush in it. Flowers just die, but our back garden is full of colourful flowers!

We have a south facing garden - our kitchen/ diner is unbearable in the summer - definately couldn't have a conservatory or sun room. The living room on the other hand is cold and dark.

I hate the sun and hate sunny weather. If I lived in the UK it would be a joy not to have them in my garden

Also, we can enjoy our large bifolds and several skylights. Our neighbours whose gardens don’t face north have had to have awnings, electric blinds, curtains and the like installed. We can enjoy the view and the light without getting too hot.

Mine is south facing and I bloody hate it, far too damn hot in the summer.

My back garden faces south, between the walls of the house, the neighbours extension and the garage wall, it's a hot box. The heat shimmers off all sides. Yes my washing gets dry super quick, but it's far too hot to sit out.
Because i have pets, I'm forever using the water butt water to cool the flagstones.
Would currently give a limb for a cooler north facing garden.

I much prefer to have a south facing lounge and bedroom. It's preference I guess. and my north facing garden is lovely. Apple tree, loads of plant and climbers. Yabu

Not everyone wants the same things from a garden as you. HTH.

The simple answer is that the things they like about the house outweigh the fact that the garden is north facing. This was the case for us. We moved in late November last year and I didn't see any sun on the grass until about March, it stopped about halfway down the back hedge (medium lengthed garden). I was beginning to despair, but actually we got plenty of sun over the summer months so I'm content with not very much in the depths of winter.