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

[harajukubabe]

Just that really

Having complained about our north facing garden earlier... Never have trouble drying washing, it is good for the dcs when it's very hot because there's plenty of shade. In the big heatwave last year we just set up the paddling pool, sand tray etc close to the house and they could play there. Also our front garden faces south and it's unbearable in the heat. I wouldn't like our back garden and be like that.

I can't see how it affects the house as one side will face north and the other south and it will depend where the rooms are whether there get the sun. I would say that a glass conservatory would be better facing north though or it will be like a hothouse most of the summer

I'm on my second north-facing garden house now. The main issue is that both have been Victorian houses, so relatively tall, meaning large shadows are cast. They have both had a yard or paved area immediately behind the house which NEVER gets direct sun.

However, the end of the (small) garden is sunny, and would be sunnier if we reduced the height of various shrubs.

In both houses, the main bedroom and lounge have been lovely and bright, and tbh I value that far more than more sun in the garden - I live in the north west and some years barely seem to sit out at all! I'd struggle if the rooms in the house were reversed and main rooms were shady.

So, pros and cons. I imagine it's not a big deal in newer houses with bigger gardens.

Ours is north facing and I rarely go in it because it doesn't have much sun. I just sit on the front doorstep (no garden but it faces south) because it's so warm and the sun bounces of the concrete. I love it. It's a waste of a garden really.

@LemonRedwood I love your garden!! It's just what I would choose

Ours is north facing but we get loads of sun! Depends on the size of the garden, ours is about 25 metres squared. The end of the garden gets scorched in sun and the grass dies. So we put our patio up the back bit and have to use a massive umbrella when we have friends round as it's so hot in the summer to sit in.

But the area by the house is always nice and cool and the grass is beautiful, So depends on the size of the garden. I remember when we put an offer in on the house and it got accepted, then we realised it was north facing I was so worried. But didn't need to be at all, we just put the socialising area at the back of the garden, not near the house and it's fine. It's actually perfect for us, scorching sun at the back half and cooler by the house.

Thanks, keepingbees 😊 It's a work in progress 😂

As a previous poster said it depends on how long the North facing garden is. One side will be east facing, the other west and the end will be south facing. Unless a shadow from a building stops any sun all day, you will still have sunny patches.
My front garden is about 60ft and is north facing but because it is quite open there are areas that have sun from dawn to dusk. My beds are a riot of colour and action and I just plant to match the light conditions.

Ours is north facing and we get a fair bit of sun - first thing on a morning then it comes round again from about 2ish in the summer. The bottom of the garden is a sun trap and sometimes too hot to sit in. We keep on top of the moss, and have hedgehogs that eat the slugs!

I prefer it to the south facing garden I used to have. I can be out in it all day with the kids, they don’t get too hot. Having the patio doors open really helps cool the house down. The sitting room leads directly into the garden and it’s always lovely and cool in summer. We went with a scandi look in there, which works very well with cold northern light (as it does in Scandinavia!).

My last house was north facing and the kitchen and main living room were at the back. It felt cold and gloomy all the time. The patio was always slimy and the daffodils planted there always grew up blind.

Current house is south facing. It feels warm and bright all year round and the garden is a sun trap, which I'd argue is only a good thing in the UK. The only downside is that the carpets and furniture at the back of the house fade quite quickly.

I would never buy north facing again.

Our garden is North facing, which I didn't realise until we'd bought the house. The whole garden is sunny first thing, then the sun gradually moves down the garden during the day. The far end of the garden is sunny into the evening. Best of both worlds as we get sun and shade at the same time.

Our living-room is at the front of the house and gets very hot in summer. The dining room and kitchen are at the back and stay cool. In the winter the dining room can be chilly and dark but that's because the only radiator is in the conservatory and there is no door between conservatory and room.

My parents had a south facing garden which meant curtains were regularly closed to stop blinding us (on a hill so the houses behind were lower down.)

My current house is SE facing at the front and NW facing at the back. We do not have houses next to us, we are massively offset so our back garden gets full sun to every part of the garden, plus we have a small side garden which is to the west.

The benefit is you can find sun if you want it or avoid it if you don't. Ds2 was white blonde as a toddler so having his toys set up on the patio in the shade was a blessing when we first moved in.

Re darkness our lounge on the back has french door bay window plus another window, the other room at the back is the kitchen so it is cool when you are cooking which I love.

As a family we are not sunbathers, we don't lie on a beach for 2 weeks because it is just too hot, hence why we love this house, you can sit in sun or shade. We love it.

I think people always imagine houses in rows so a north facing garden will be shadowed, mine is not next to any other houses despite living on an estate. When we go to sell I shall be making sure the garden is in full sun when the photos are taken so it can be seen.

Mine is north facing. I hate it. Because it's also quite small and overlooked, it means that grass just doesn't grow. I hopefully will get artificial grass when we can afford it. For now, we don't even use our garden.

we have a north facing garden
sure, south facing would be better, but IMO mumsnet property threads are always a bit pie in the sky, and seem to assume that everyone has access both unlimited budget and unlimited supply of otherwise suitable property.

our garden is short, and we're in a tall Victorian Semi, which means no late evening sun in Autumn or Spring. However, the sunny mornings are beautiful. You can grow plenty of stuff, as most things don't require full sun all day. Our front garden is great for growing any particularly sun-thirsty flowers. To make the most of the sun, we have a decked seating area at the end of the garden, instead of a patio near the house.

Our north-facing kitchen can be gloomy on cloudy days. But the sitting room at the front is always light and bright.

We are south facing and it gets hot, our back rooms were 25 degrees at 10pm last night because I'd forgotten to open windows when the sun went down to air them out. Having said that we have made lots of shady spots in the garden with trees and man made structures and so I love that we can have the best of both worlds.

The front of the house faces north so we have our bedroom that side as it amazes me how much cooler the front rooms are to the rest of the house. Whilst we are able to have a lawn and plants at the front we are fighting a lot of moss. I wouldn't like it to be my main garden. We wrote off a house with a north facing garden as it was completely overshadowed and the house just felt miserable and grey.

This was taken in May and our doors are just behind the table which is the only shaded area in our garden.

My garden is East facing, which is another No.

It's much sunnier than I anticipated or read about.

Mine is E too - very slightly towards to the S. It is glorious on summer mornings & afternoons, but it's short, & slopes away from (tall 2-storey) house, so the sun disappears completely at about 5.30pm at best.

I suspect a N-facing one would actually do better in terms of early morning & late evening sun in the summer. Surrounding buildings & length of garden matter as much as aspect.

Best for me is north facing with sun at the far end. Hate main rooms with direct sun all day long and in increasingly hot summers just unbearably hot too ! Love shade with choice of sun.

Ours is south east. The kitchen has huge french doors and gets ridiculously hot though.

I have a north west facing garden and after my initial hesitation I've grown to love it. I get full sun all day over summer from the top to the bottom third and then a shady part where my main patio is. I've been carefull with the flowers and shrubs I've planted so my sun loving ones are at the top and my shade loving flowers are at the bottom. I actually wouldn't change it

I used to have NW and the sun would come down the garden throughout the day reaching the patio mid afternoon, which was ideal. We have SW now which is also nice.

I feel the same way about my north facing garden Tip, wouldn’t change anything about it. The far end is too sunny for things like hellebores but they thrive half way down and my garden is only small.

Thank you all.

Actually can I add - despite being fond of north facing with sun at bottom, if buying you need to visit on sunny day so you can check garden is long enough and house
Not so high etc that there is no sun.

Seasonal - I’ve been thinking of summer. In winter you will have more moss to clear up if it’s a problem. Also any decking may need washing down a few times per winter to avoid slippages. ‘Washing bleach’ (powder, natural aerator) works really well and is not harmful to soil/animals/insects/water etc.

Small price to pay to have shaded summer rooms and seating area imo.