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?

North-facing gardens still have sunny spots. They lend themselves well to jungle planting schemes (weird as you’d think that’d be sun related). In these times of climate change, i’d plump for a shady, but hardcore gardeners swear by a southwest facing plot. I certainly wouldn’t rule out a perfect house on the basis of garden.

Definitely prefer north over south, keeps the house nice and cool during summer months (most windows at the back of house so north facing). If you're lucky enough to have a large garden then finding the sun shouldn't be a problem. Sitting out in the shade over lunch and dinner is lovely.

We’re north facing, with not a huge amount around us.
Our garden is an absolute sun trap. Ultimately it’s about the house and that’s what swung it for us.

I think a lot of you live in a part of the country that sees a lot more sun than where I live!

I know! I lived on the south coast at uni & had 3 different student houses with north facing gardens. Really didn't experience all day sun as many posters have said on here & the winters in particular there was no sun & the house felt colder.

Well this thread has cheered me up, so thanks OP! I also thought that NF back gardens would be cold and damp and was dreading having to buy a property with one.

I will miss my WF one when I move though

I'm blessed with a south-facing yard/garden that I've put years of work into - unpaving it and gardening with good results - flowers and food, enough to share with my neighbours. We swap our bounty too.

I'm also cursed with adjacent absent landlords, non-gardeners in north-facing gardens and a dreaded absent 2nd home owner none of whom could give 2 shiny fucks that their unkempt 'gardens', dump piles and overhigh fences do actually affect my sunlight - leaving my garden in shade for 6 months of the year.

Timely question OP, just today when I reasonably and politely asked about cutting back an out of control willow - I was treated like a crazy lady and told "don't knock on my door again".

Oh dear. Not only does that rude man need to learn some manners someone needs to tell him that he's on a downward spiral if he thinks he's going to stop a woman in her 60s from gardening - like I'm a loony carrying on with anti-social behaviour!

Treat me like I'm crazy - and be prepared for the consequences, which I'm currently mulling on and will set my course to carry out.

My garden is NW facing and I have various gazebos and parasols to try and keep some of it in the shade in the summer! Its not particularly big. The sun is on it all day long, and the conservatory has had to have a proper roof on it for the same reason - it gets SO hot because of the path of the sun. The front of the house can be unbearably hot early afternoon when the sun is beaming directly in the windows too, but it's brilliant for the solar panels. It's nice getting the sunrise in the garden for a morning cuppa and the last of the light in the top corner of the garden. Never had any problem growing anything either, except that the soil is really bloody dry.

My north facing garden!

maybe... just maybe.... people have different wants/needs/opinions on gardens as you do?! Wild theory but ill put it out there!

I think it really depends on the length of the garden. A lot of these gardens will be mostly shady in the winter but I don't think people care or notice as much in the winter.
If one side of the house is cold the other side is warm, so a north facing garden makes no difference to the warmth or light in a house unless all the living spaces face one way, like some 3 story modern town houses.

I think the closeness/tallness of neighbouring buildings is far more important than the actual aspect. Not in the UK, we get a lot of sun here 🌞

As a pale skinned redhead whose father had skin cancer I am delighted to have moved to a north facing garden and wouldn’t buy a south facing one. It is quite a long garden and it is lovely. It was neglected when we bought it amd overgrown with so many different varieties of all types of plants which didn’t get the memo about things not growing in a north facing garden. I’ve been able to sit out so much more than in our previous west facing garden that got too hot for me. Also there is loads of sun so will be able to get a good veg patch going which is important to me.

Friend only wanted a south facing garden when she moved and is finding it is very hot with all the glass in her kitchen.

The comment about serious adults is very funny 😂

My garden is NE facing and I have to say, were i in a position to move it is a factor I’d consider as a result. We get limited sun in the summer especially living in terraces with smaller gardens. It’s all gone by 4pm, so no eating outside, bbqs in the shade, paddling pools weren’t an option as when we got the sun it was between 12-3 and just too strong then. I can’t enjoy the rest of the summer evening sun after work. Whereas the front of my house which faces the road gets beautiful sunshine most of the day and well into evening. Frustrating. My house is also quite cold which I think is an effect of its position, it takes forever to warm up in summer in the north facing kitchen. Some people might like it but honestly sometimes I’d come in from warm sun outside to needing to put my dressing gown on!

@Ilinaya I'm a Londoner & my uni was in another city. Obviously i'm not living in detached houses in rural areas with large garden. The light & warmth did matter to me because of how I use my house eg most "living" at the back where the kitchen/diner is. And i'm out at work & want the sun & warmth when i get home. We don't have that much sun in this country anyway so I like to maximise, but each to their own.

I think my garden faces north ... and I'm in Scotland! It works for me. I'm not an outdoorsy person, so you'll generally find me indoors on even the finest of days
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I won't ever buy another property with a garden. Not one with bastarding grass anyway. It's a lot of upkeep considering it's only the dog who uses it, especially now that my kids are older.

I don't think I would like the hot sun just outside the back door, there must be no escape from the sun in a south facing garden, especially those modern ones with not many trees

Our 1st house, I wanted a South facing garden. We bought one and the first summer rolled round and I realised it was a mistake for our young family that enjoy being outside but not in constant direct sunlight. We did make shady spots but it still was just too intense.

Out next home we bought a South facing garden that is absolutely beautiful. It was the garden that made us fall in love with the house, the previous owner had landscaped it so beautifully, such amazing variety of plants and different parts to the garden. We enjoy this garden much more and the garden still gets plenty of sunlight, in different parts of the garden at different times of day.

Our garden is south facing. unbearably hot when the sun is out, just as wet in the rain as a north facing one ;)
only usable to dry laundry, if you want anything to grow you need to water constantly. never again if i can help it.

Mine’s north facing too. And it’s small. I still get sun in it until at least 2pm every sunny day and my washing dries no problem. It’s also not overlooked at all since it faces neighbouring massive gardens and fields. The living room is a delight on hot days, it’s so cool.

Buying a house off the road, down a private drive, close to outstanding schools and near family and friends was kinda more important than ending up with leathered skin 🙄.

I’ve had two north facing gardens and they are both entirely full sun, no shade at all. I don’t even know what a south facing garden would do better?! 🤷🏽‍♀️

I even have trees in this garden but they don’t cast much shade in the right place at the right time.
I don’t get sun in the evening or the winter, but I don’t really see that as an issue really. During the spring and summer we have full sun the majority of the day.

I don’t know whereabouts you live, but if it’s the South East, it would be a godsend when it’s 37 degrees outside. We’ve had a north facing garden in the past, it was no problem as there was sun, I guess it depends how big the garden is?

It has an impact on the house interior as well - means the front will be south facing and hot. Mine is north east facing and

gets sun everywhere except the back of the house - that’s a plus in summer when it’s hot but makes it dark in winter . But that’s ok . However if it’s a small garden with trees etc from neighbours , that can impact on what sun you get . Mine is quite long and fairly open .

I would never have bought one but when we were trying to buy a new build house, we wanted a particular style property and the only show house in that style was miles and miles away. As the sales assistant had just received the keys to a completed one ready for sale on the site we wanted, she offered us a look around so we could look at layout. I made it absolutely clear we wouldn’t be interested in that particular house though with a North facing garden.
How wrong we were! It was April and already got loads of sun. We went back every day for 3 days at different times taking photos so we could see what it would be like throughout the day. Because of the way the houses we staggered slightly and the pitch of the rooftops, the garden had sun for the full day from sun rise right up to 8pm in peak summer. We snapped that house up, ended up being a very good investment.

What a self righteous little post this is!