Idiot alert - how to use my compass!

[SunnySideOfTheStreet]

Hi, this is the year I start gardening and to start gardening I first need to know which way my garden faces. And to know which way my garden faces I am standing at my back door facing the end wall with my compass in my hand. So far so good. Do I just turn the compass until the north point on it and the compass needle align and then take my reading from the compass direction which is facing the back wall or am I doing this wrong?? On my back doorstep the north points align at about 10 on a clock face so is my garden NE facing? this is actually even more exciting than S&B

Are you in the UK and is it sunny? That is how I work out which way the garden faces...

Oh and the clock thing I just can't get my head round. Dh does it at roundabouts and I just want to push him out of the moving car...

But I think north at 10 o'clock might give you a NE facing garden.

No and no.................. Tomorrow I am going to track the sun around the garden and I will report back with my findings :)

:) :) :) at pushing DH out of a moving car!!

If it is NE then the sun should rise on your right but forward a bit (I think perhaps 1o'clock ish ).

It should then track round the front of your house so the area in front of the back door will be shady but the fence will be sunny.

It should set to your left but probably over your shoulder a bit.

I'm basing this on the sun tiding in the east, setting in the west and your garden being ghs opposite way round to our SW facing garden

Thanks BadRoly - will check it out over the next couple of days to be sure. I do know with certainty that the wall to my right is very shaded and so growing things there is much more of a challenge than on the wall does to my left! Is that true of a NE garden and do you want to be my new best friend

I have never understood which way a garden 'faces'. Surely gardens have 4 sides (at least) and so they 'face' in all directions?

I suppose it means where your house is relative to the garden, and where you get shade at various times of day, but it has always confused me.

Throw in clock faces traviata and it all goes terribly wrong.

I base it on standing with my back to the house looking at the garden. Whichever way I'm facing is what the garden is facing.

But I can't do the clock thing.

I just look on google maps

If you are standing at the back door with a compass and facing your back fence then your garden faces whichever direction the compass says your back fence is at.

So yes, from your description, your garden faces north east

Yes you have a NE facing garden. But it's also about any slope, so if your garden slopes up from house to end, then you can grow better plants than if your garden also slopes NE and slopes from the house down to the end.

Thanks everyone - will you all please follow me onto my next thread where I'll be asking for design ideas for my NE facing townhouse back garden :)

Funkybold please explain how the slope thing works? Why can you grow better plants if the garden slopes up from the house?

If the sun is in the south, and the north east facing garden slopes up from the house to the end of the garden, then it will get more sunlight than if it slopes down from the house to the end of the garden where it will get very little sunlight.

Quick pic to explain...

applauds FunkyBoldRibena

Wow Funky - excellent description. So much for this novice gardener to learn. Luckily I have a flat garden.........

Excellent thank you! Now I see why my garden gets sun occasionally!

A flat garden which is north facing, you can really improve your plants if you make your beds sloping towards the south. It's how they have improved growing conditions for millenia...artificial south facing slopes even on north facing plots. I think every degree of south facing slope adds 10 minutes worth of sunlight to your plants. Don't forget they shade each other out as well...

Funky - are you really Alan Titchmarsh? :). Thank you so much.

Unfortunately, not - I teach organic hort though ;)