North facing gardens have a bad rap. Tell me they are good

[harajukubabe]

Just that really

I love mine, but I am not a fan of the sun. I love that we can eat outside on a scorching hot day and it's lovely and cool on the patio in the shade (created by the house)

Unless you are fond of moss.
They aren’t.

No. My wish list when buying a house starts with south facing garden....

If the garden is long enough and not surrounded they are ok. You will find sun at the end of the garden and have a nice cool shady area.
Our garden is north west (so not real north) and there are sunny bits all day. So maybe see just how north it is

South facing here and all my grass keeps dying as it’s a total sun trap.

My garden is south facing and the rooms at the back are boiling, we spend all summer trying to shade the back of the house it if that helps!

My wish list excludes a south facing garden!

Love mine, in the shadow of a three storey house but the patio at the far end has sun in the morning which moves round to the patio next to the house by evening.

The front is south facing and unbearable for me. At the back I have very sunny spots through to fairly shady spots and grow anything I like depending on position.

We have north facing but we are on top of a hill so get lots of evening sun on the patio from the west which is lovely. . I love having true shade by the house.

I think a lot depends on the surroundings and how big the garden is.

They're great if you have a long enough garden so that at least some of it gets the sun. It's lovely to have a cool area at the back of the house on a scorching day, and if you have a conservatory it actually stays fairly cool.

When buying a house I’ll take any facing garden except a north facing.

Love mine.

Sunny spots at the end of the garden if I feel the need for sun.

My previous house was South facing and it was unbearable all day long, no shade for the kids. New house is North and its much better, cool on the patio during the day, unshaded from about halfway down all day then evening sun on the.patio. A much better balance.

We're in our third house with a north facing garden and they've been fine, just not an issue.

Depends how long the gardens are. On my street the north facing houses have lovely sun traps at the end of the garden in the evening because their gardens are quite long. We're south facing and keep the blinds down at he back if the house to keep the place cool.

I wouldn’t buy a house with a north facing garden

We are north facing and have a long thin garden. I have a bit of sun on the conservatory until about midday, and the patio gets it until late afternoon and the lawn/veggie patch do well until the sin goes down.
The kitchen/family room/conservatory (it's now open plan) is bright, it wasnt before knocking through. But also, its lovely to escape the heat of the day. The sitting room is at the front of the house and gets very hot, in summer we tend to close the curtains as we are blinded by the sun when sitting on the sofa.
However, I hate the moss on the north facing roof, or more to the point I'm frustrated with the birds whose reason for living seems to be to throw it all over the patio.

Mine is south facing and is hot all day. The back room is sweltering. I burn up if I put the washing out. Id love a north facing garden.

More! The kids can’t play out in it without sun lotion and hats and all the gumph, there’s only one tiny strip of shade before the sun goes down and all the plants turn to ash if I don’t water them everyday.

I can’t see anything because the sun is always in my eyes, and the parasol on my garden set may as well not even be there for all the good it does!

Mine is north facing. But no buildings behind and long garden. To be honest, I don't notice the shade at all. It's the nicest garden I've ever had and I get loads of compliments from visitors. In a way, it's fab as I could plant a tree almost anywhere and not get a shadow!

We're E-W, so the N thing isn't an issue here, but our front room (with TV in) is W-facing & I would kill for a N-facing TV room.

We have to have curtains drawn for hours every evening in the summer

How long is the garden?

We have a north facing garden and I love it. Half of the garden is in shade most of the time but the other half gets sun all day in summer and in the evening at other times. This means that we have plenty of shade to use even in the boiling weather, but can also pop the paddling pool towards the end so that it's not too cold.

Our house is also lovely and cool in the summer months as the sun doesn't shine on the kitchen or bedrooms at the back and also makes the most of any winter sun we get in the living room.

The garden in our old house must have been south facing as we couldn't go outside it was unbearable we had to put a gazebo up.
Our house now has a north facing garden it's fine. It's sunny at the patio first thing in the morning and the sun then moves round the garden through the day and ends up at the bottom of the garden. It's not gloomy at the back but it's a bit darker than the front - which must be south facing as you can't be out there in full sun

our north facing garden is long & thin. the house stays cooler in the summer because the sun doesn't come directly in the big windows to the garden. And from inside I can admire the sunny view at the end of the garden, so it all works fine.

Does the house get depressing or cold in winters if north facing garden? I realise this is personal choice

I wouldn’t have thought the house would be any warmer or colder because surely if the back garden is north facing the front is south facing so gets the heat from there. Our garden is north facing but quite big so we get sunny spots anyway, I don’t sit in the garden in winter and wouldn’t if it was south facing either