Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
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:
CarterBeatsTheDevil · 01/10/2023 15:57

Our back garden is north-east facing but there's no house on the southeast side, and the house on the northwest side doesn't cast any shadow over our garden, so all parts of it get plenty of sun over the day.

Ęcosie · 01/10/2023 16:06

I dont like the sun anyway so fine for me

Fedupwitheveryone · 01/10/2023 16:20

would you believe OP that some people actually live in flats and apartments which have no garden at all?!

swimlyn · 01/10/2023 17:01

As long as the north garden is >20 feet long it’s not a problem.

Patio near the house = shade, patio end of garden = sunny.

These intense discussions have always amused me.

niclw · 01/10/2023 17:31

I've got a south facing garden and absolutely hate it. There is zero shade on the patio area and main part of the grass on ridiculously hot days and it's not big enough for a large parasol. If it was bigger I'd be able to create some shade. However the furthest point from my house grows moss easily. It doesn't get the sun ever but is a horrible area to sit as it is narrow and surround by everyone else's property. On top of that my south facing living room is unbearable in the summer. The nicest room in the house temperature wise is my bedroom which is at the front and north facing. I'm looking at getting some kind of canopy over my back wall to create shade in the living room next summer.

SingingSands · 01/10/2023 17:53

I love our North facing garden. The top of it gets sun well into the evening. If you stand at the back and look towards the house it becomes a south facing garden 😉

Monkeytrousers04 · 01/10/2023 18:02

I have a north facing garden and love it. But it was the number one thing people fed back on when our house was on the market. “Lovely house, but worried that the garden won’t get enough sun.”

It really annoyed me. Mainly because, like you, they could have looked on a map and figured it out first instead of booking a viewing and wasting my time!

MumsGoneToIceland · 01/10/2023 18:08

I have to admit I was concerned on moving from a south facing to a north west facing garden but I actually prefer it. It’s as sunny as my south facing garden was in the morning but in the afternoon, it’s still bright but less overbearing than it was in the morning, much more pleasant!

Johnnybegood2 · 01/10/2023 19:36

I'm full south facing and spend all summer melting in my house. Too hot to go in the garden as there's no escape from the sun!

enchantedsquirrelwood · 01/10/2023 19:38

I never understand this. Unless the garden is really tiny, the other end is south-facing!

(our garden is sort of south-west-ish facing but the garden in our last house was solidly north facing -we didn't even notice which way it faced!)

enchantedsquirrelwood · 01/10/2023 19:39

Ęcosie · 01/10/2023 16:06

I dont like the sun anyway so fine for me

Also this, I don't actually spend much time in my garden anyway.

enchantedsquirrelwood · 01/10/2023 19:41

Also "pasty" kids = much less likely to get skin cancer.

Mysterian · 01/10/2023 19:45

I like shade loving plants. I'd welcome a huge fern and hosta patch. And if the garden is long enough it doesn't matter much anyway. I don't think a family of Gollum-children will be a huge issue. And what will global melting coming you might die later than the rest of us.

Fahbeep · 01/10/2023 19:45

We have a North facing garden. It's fine, though a little tricky to grow flowers in. The rest of the house's attributes made up for it though. Large corner plot. Have extended etc.

LoobyDop · 01/10/2023 19:54

I agree with you, OP, I love being out in the sun and would feel really short changed with a north facing garden, I wouldn’t consider it. Ours is south facing, and even so is very overshadowed by trees and other buildings. I move my chair around to follow the sunny spots! You can always create shade if there isn’t enough, but you can’t magically bring the sun in.

Reading the thread, though, it would seem to be a 50/50 split, which can only be a good thing.

WiddlinDiddlin · 01/10/2023 19:54

Mmm, because we don't all like the same things?
Because some of us actively dislike full sun on the front or back of the house for hours on end.
Because some of us have literally one bloody property in the area they need to move to that is within their price range (actually, I had two, the other was a non-standard construction concrete job and was awful, damp and crumbling).

Because... not everyone has the same priorities, freedoms and privileges.

StinkyWizzleteets · 01/10/2023 19:57

Clutches pearls you mean they actively want…. North facing? Oh diddly deeryme how proletariat

MrsRaspberry · 01/10/2023 20:02

Hows about its none of your business where she chooses to live and as for your horrible comment about her kids just piss off with being so judgmental seriously. I can't believe you came to mumsnet thinking you could justify your judgment over a flippin garden placement and added in being horrible about her kids

greengreengrass25 · 01/10/2023 20:14

Also in most roads one side could face one way - North and the other South.

Our garden is long anyway so fine facing NW

Cars on drive face South so useful when it is frosty and cold

greengreengrass25 · 01/10/2023 20:21

Also not liking the comment about dc being pasty

A relative of mine has just had a nasty melanoma removed from their face,

LadyChilli · 01/10/2023 21:31

South facing is very high up on my priority list. I would/did sacrifice a lot for a garden that gets the sun. Sadly the garden over the back is very overgrown and in recent years a couple of huge trees have sprung up on the boundary which puts most of my garden in shade all year round. So aspect is not the only thing to look at. That said, my windows get sun and as a PP said, it makes a difference in getting the house warm in spring and autumn.

Dramatic · 01/10/2023 21:33

Our north facing garden is perfect, shady patio but sunny further down the garden. Best of both worlds.

Dramatic · 01/10/2023 21:33

LadyChilli · 01/10/2023 21:31

South facing is very high up on my priority list. I would/did sacrifice a lot for a garden that gets the sun. Sadly the garden over the back is very overgrown and in recent years a couple of huge trees have sprung up on the boundary which puts most of my garden in shade all year round. So aspect is not the only thing to look at. That said, my windows get sun and as a PP said, it makes a difference in getting the house warm in spring and autumn.

Same applies with any house though presuming your house has windows on the back and the front.

Ilinaya · 01/10/2023 21:36

Looking at these posts, you'd think north facing is actually more popular! I wonder if it's due to the hotter summers we now get.

Katiebaby3009 · 02/10/2023 11:33

I have south facing and there is no shade in the summer at all. With young kids, it’s too hot to be out there sometimes so I can see the advantage of north facing!