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

[harajukubabe]

Just that really

I wouldn't even consider it.
You can make shady parts in a south facing garden but you can't bring sun into a Northsided.
On hot days the north side is still cool which is a relief so imagine winter.
Freaking dark and horrid.

We have a north facing garden and I much prefer it to south facing as I struggle to sit in the direct sun. The garden doesn't get sun from October to March but I wouldn't be out much in the garden in those months anyway. The rest of the year the patio gets sun in the morning so lovely for a nice sit out first thing. Then it's in shade by lunchtime while the grassed area is in sun. Means we can sit out in the shade and enjoy watching DS play in the paddling pool etc. Best of both worlds in my opinion.

In our house it is the kitchen diner and DS' bedroom which are north facing. That works fab for DS in summer as his room never becomes a furnace and it's bright and airy as a child's room with lots of colour etc so it doesn't feel gloomy in winter. We have gone for bold colours in the kitchen diner too specifically so it still feels bright in winter.

We have North facing, it's a complete non issue.

We have a long 100ft garden and have a small part of the patio which is always shaded which is nice in the heat to eat in or to sit on hot days and then we have sun on the rest until around 7pm.

The house is in no way dark, Our north facing room downstairs is all open plan and we have bi folds so plenty of light and is a lovely cool space in summer and fine in winter we have two radiators and the room is over 30ft and it still feels cosy. We all wish we had DDs bedroom in the summer as it just never gets hot, I lived in south facing before and I would choose north over south every time.

I have spent a long time considering this recently!

It really depends on the aspect, length of garden and buildings nearby. A long garden will have plenty of sun at the bottom. I recently discounted a house with a West back garden as the house behind blocked the sun.

I would also go NW happily.

The house with the garden I hated most was actually east and small. Lost the sun at the back at 11am and always cold and mossy

Wouldn’t even look at a house that had a north facing garden or family room. Heating bill is massively reduced by having main rooms south facing. You can open the windows if it’s too hot.

Well it means there's plenty if shade for dcs to play in their paddling pool on a hot day! Other than that, lots of moss. It takes forever for the lawn to dry out in spring enough to mow it. A lot of stuff doesn't grow well and we get billions of slugs!

DoctorAllcome sums it up. We're lucky to have a south facing back garden but that means that the front of the house faces north. The lawn at the front of our house is 80% moss.

I think it depends if you like a sun trap or not. I personally wouldn't want south facing, Ive got west at the moment and it's too hot on the patio in the afternoon and evening.
Also size, shape and surroundings make a difference. My friend has a sideways rectangle shape north facing garden and it's perfectly warm in summer and never gloomy. I prefer it to my garden which has a large area in shadow from tall trees and the grass there is damp and boggy.

Love it. But we’ve put in huge patio doors and skylights at side of the house - otherwise it would be too dark.

I’m not a fan of sitting in the sun.

We have a small, new build garden that is north facing.

It's not great in the winter, we've decked it all as the grass was just muddy patches in the winter and the decking gets slippery in places and takes a really good scrub come spring.

But in the summer bizarrely it's fab. The house provides shade for the paddling pool and the Guinea pigs hutch, and when we have BBQs there is always somewhere shaded to sit if someone doesn't like full sun.

Would rather have south facing and have a big brolly if I am honest BUT otherwise I love our house and area so it's a compromise I am willing to live with.

All those saying you need a long garden, you don't. We have a small, north-facing garden and it still gets plenty of sun from about a third of the way down in summer. The end gets the sun throughout the winter too, so that's where I put all the sun loving plants. And the washing line

I grew up in a house with a south-facing garden and, as a pale ginger, I spent my life indoors as the garden was always too hot. Yes, you can create shade if your garden is big enough for tall plants and trees to block the sun, but if it's a smaller garden and you try to do that you just block out the sun completely!

I love our north-facing garden because I get the choice of sun and shade. Moss is not an issue because it's not particularly damp. In fact, the only place we seem to get moss is in the alleyway down the side of the house which faces east.

I have a NE garden and it's a non issue. We still grow almost everything I like - roses, peonies, irises, honeysuckle, clematis etc. There are two spots to sit that get sun in the morning or evening and we mostly sit in the shadier spot. Plus the lawn is absolutely fine - even considering three dogs per on it. No problems with moss at all and not brilliant drainage.

I had a S facing garden once and I sat out a lot less as it was far too hot, even in cooler days. The patio used to burn my feet!

Interesting isn't it the love/hate.

I love the situation of my house. My two main reception rooms are full on south facing with 11 huge sash windows between them and I have to close the blinds to keep them at a nice temperature for ⅓ of the year.

My kitchen/dining/family room is north facing with a 9ft high glazed area/French doors and a couple of high sashes - not dark, not cold, my small walled courtyard garden (40ft x 20ft) has sun somewhere at all times of day. Too much sun to sit outside without an umbrella.

I much prefer north facing. My south facing front garden is unbearable in the hot weather.

I should add, I've grown tomatoes, lemons and limes in my north-facing garden this year, without a greenhouse, so definitely not too cold and plenty of sunshine!

I always thought I wanted a west facing garden

As PPs have said any decent sized garden will work,

I have a tiny house an and an even tinier garden ( some people will have dining tables bigger than my garden / terrace ) I would just prioritise - if house lovely and suits you , but are you willing to hold out for south facing garden - well do so I would ( personally choose the better house ) - my DS's Godfathers' house has north facing garden but they have tables and chairs where the sun arrives late afternoon and early evening - rather lovely

We have NW facing (in NW England’s so hot sunniest part of the world!) and irs absolutely fine. It’s a little yard with patch of grass and tbh in winter gets no sun but in summer it’s fine! Good chunk of sun in the morning and afternoon (between going behind houses etc) but comfy for sitting in and great for DC as not direct sun constantly. Plus our sitting room is at the from as is our bedroom and they are always beautifully sunny and warm all year which I love (spend a lot more time in there than the garden realistically). The only thing is we want to do the back kitchen etc eventually and as also north facing it won’t be lightest room ever but we aren’t too worried as that will be factored into the design. All in all it would never put me off my dream house wherever the garden faces.

Basilisk, I have got two seating areas, one at each end, both with umbrellas as they are both much too sunny and hot to sit out in without at either end of the day.

This is my north-facing garden and the photo was taken around mid-April, so sun not yet at it's summer height. So you cam see, a decent amount of sun and not dark or damp or cold!

(I realise I'm getting a bit defensive about north-facing now 😂)

Our north facing garden got the evening sun slanting across it so was perfect for a g&t in the sun after work. Our south facing garden doesn't get any evening sun because a neighbour's house is in the way. So I preferred our north facing garden.

It might depend which part of the country you're in . Wet west might get moss but drier east not. Further north sun lower in the sky. And height of house will make a difference.

My garden is a mud pit for 9 months of the year. Its a pain to dry washing and hang it out because it's always so muddy through getting zero sun. I live it in the 3 months or so it's dry but the rest of the year I want to pave it over.

I've had both. The south facing garden used to look dark when we looked out onto it because all of the sun was concentrated on the back of the houses.

Our north facing garden looks beautiful and sunny to look out on. We have a large patio area across the back of the garden which is a complete sun trap and a summer house in one of the back corners which we often sit in on a winters day as it's bathed in sunlight.

It obviously all depends on how long the garden is.

Mine's south west but I like shade and cool. I find heat and strong sun on me annoying.

We have a long North facing garden which is 150ft. It's great ... loads of sun but plenty of shade nearer the house. In winter months the sun often isn't high enough to reach the garden though. The children's bedrooms are at the back of the house so stay lovely and cool.

I would say a small north facing garden wouldn't be for me though!

Grew up in a house with a north facing back garden. It was always cool and only partially sunny. My second homes garden was the same, it was a bigger to dry laundry. They seemed to take twice as long. Our new home has a south facing one. It's a lovely sun trap and the washing literally dries in a couple of hours!