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Original poster

Do you have a North/NW facing garden and how important is it?

31 replies

moonsquirters · 02/02/2014 16:59

We are currently in the process of having our house valued. All if the estate agents are making a big thing of how great it is that we have a SW facing garden and how people will pay a premium for this. Admittedly our kitchen and garden at the back is lovely and sunny even on a winters day and it's great in the summer. Our rather dark front room is rarely used.

The house we are looking at looks great on paper. It has lovely French windows going into the garden at the back and a conservatory off the back room. The garden is small but private with lots of trees. It looks great on paper but I'm being put off now because the garden is N/NW facing and I'm imagining the back of the house being gloomy and wondering if this is why it hasn't sold. We haven't l

Your thoughts please.

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MILdesperandum · 02/02/2014 17:23

We used to live in a house with a smallish back garden with trees, north-west facing. You do get the sun, but only for certain parts of the day; it keeps moving (obviously). I think the trees were worse because they were huge sycamores and they were probably more annoying than the position... We're now in a house with a south facing garden - can't wait for summer.

What sort of trees are in the garden?

Original poster
moonsquirters · 02/02/2014 17:24

Actually just looked again and it's more north easterly.

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Original poster
moonsquirters · 02/02/2014 17:29

We haven't actually looked round so I'm just going through the photos and google earth. DH just told me I'm being ridiculous and it makes no difference. Clearly he's an expert Hmm

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Original poster
moonsquirters · 02/02/2014 17:29

Going from the photos obviously....

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Original poster
moonsquirters · 02/02/2014 17:34

It has high hedges and lots of v high conifers from the picture. Presumably to create privacy.

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Sunnyhunnybee · 02/02/2014 17:41

Hmm...a northeast garden would make the house a no for me

Original poster
moonsquirters · 02/02/2014 17:48

Oh dear I was hoping not to hear that!

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AcaciaBeez · 02/02/2014 17:54

Currently my kitchen/bedroom face SSE and the other bedrooms face the other way it makes such a difference! I didn't think it was but even in the winter with the sun coming in it warms up so much.

I think it might be an issue but if everything else was perfect I'd consider that angle

beatricequimby · 02/02/2014 17:56

Our is West at the back which is lovely. And East at the front which gets more sun than I expected. The bit near the house doesn't get much sun but the other end does because it is very open. If you have lots of trees though then it is going to be shady. How about the front garden, could you use it to sit in the sun?

turkeyboots · 02/02/2014 18:02

I have a north facing back of house and garden. I'd love to pick house up and spin it round 180 degrees. Back rooms are cold and dark. Garden gets almost no sunlight. Only plus is on very hot summer days I can let my v pale redhead children out to play without them burning in 2mins.

Facebaffle · 02/02/2014 18:04

We have a north facing garden. In winter I cant hang out the washing as the garden never gets any sun ( low sun and shade from the house ).

In summer we can sit towards the end of the garden until about 6.30 and then the full garden is in shade again.

A conservatory is out of the question as it would be in permanent shade and therefore freezing in winter.

A south facing garden would be a major consideration if we ever move.

JoinTheDots · 02/02/2014 18:06

Ours is north facing and gets barely any sun past 3pm (and that's in one tiny corner of the garden) nothing grows other than shade and damp loving plants which tend to be grasses and moss. It is ok for us as we are not gardeners and don't spend loads of time in the back garden but I've noticed as our daughter gets older, now 3, she would like to play outside and grow things so it would be nice to have a little sun. I would factor in which way the garden faces if we ever move, and the rest of the house would need to be very good to get past this and make an offer.

LBDD · 02/02/2014 18:10

We have a north easterly garden and love it now. The patio is always shaded so is great for DC to play all day in the height of summer and no worries of burning. The bottom half of the garden gets sun all day in the summer, less so the rest of the year. No problem with growing anything really either. The best thing is we don't have that greenhouse effect with the French doors at the back of the house. Even at the hottest times my house is always cool at the back. We always thought we would prefer a south facing garden but now know several people whose curtains are drawn all summer to keep the sun out and who can't sit on their patios at midday as it's too hot and sunny.

Original poster
moonsquirters · 02/02/2014 18:13

Mmm it seems fairly unanimous then. I can cope with dark bedrooms but I have 4 boys under the age of 10 and so the garden is pretty important as they will spending a lot of time in it. I spend relatively little time outside but I like the fact our current kitchen is light and bright.

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PenguinsDontEatKale · 02/02/2014 18:14

We have a north facing garden. Means our living room and main bedrooms are south facing and lovely and light.

I had washing on the line today, even in shade. Though the garden is long and thin, which helps.

Original poster
moonsquirters · 02/02/2014 18:15

That's good to hear LBDD but it rarely gets too hot up here in the NW!

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AngryFeet · 02/02/2014 18:15

I wouldn't buy a house with a north facing garden. My favourite is west facing as you get the afternoon sun which I prefer and you get the amazing sunsets. I have south facing now which is nice but the heat can be a bit much in the summer and I really miss the sunsets I used to be able to see from my kitchen window!

BonaDea · 02/02/2014 18:15

For me it is very important.

We do have a north facing garden but it is very long so we get plenty of sun from about 1/3 of the way down. It does mean that our patio is basically in shade for most of the day but for me that isn't a bad thing because it means you can sit out with dc without burning. If we want sun we can move further down the garden.

But if it is a short garden with trees it will be dark and may not really warm up. You will also be limited in what plants you can grow.

Having said that, you may take the view that in the uk we have so little really warm weather that it doesn't make that much difference! We live south east so have enough good weather to make it worthwhile b

PenguinsDontEatKale · 02/02/2014 18:16

On hot days almost always having some shade is lovely too.

Chewbecca · 02/02/2014 18:28

It's very important to me too. We ended up buying NW and it's fine, the westerly aspect makes it work and the kitchen is on that side , the garden is big so there are sunny areas all day right through to the evening. NE is more of a worry.

Grockle · 02/02/2014 18:46

It depends... I was always put off by North/ NW gardens but I now have one.

I actually really like it.

My bedroom & front room are beautifully sunny as are the hall, stairs and landing. It makes the house lovely and bright all year round. In the summer, the kitchen at the back is sunny but cool. The garden is not huge but not overlooked - no big trees so we have sun from early morning til mid-late afternoon/ early evening. There is sun til later on in the evening at the end of the garden - lots of neighbours have a patio down there.

MrsAMerrick · 02/02/2014 18:53

I have never lived in a house with a north facing garden but would think very seriously before buying one. In fact, if the garden wasn't huge, I'm not sure I would ever consider a north facing garden. I love the fact that the back of our house, and the garden, face South est so lots of afernoon and evening sun.

Our bedroom is at the front of the house, one window faces north and one faces east, that doesn't bother me as I'm never in bed with the blinds open.

Our living room runs front-to-back in our house, the front is quite dark in winter but we've made it cosy. The back gets the light from the sun. I'm not so bothered about the way the rooms face, although would want at least one reception room to face south/get a lot of light. The garden not facing either south or west is a deal breaker for me though.

Yuppers · 02/02/2014 19:13

We have a north facing garden (though about to move to a house which is south facing) and it's fine. We have sun until say 4ish in spring and autumn, we have sun longer in summer. Inf act due to the good weather last year, my grass turned yellow!

We have shade at some point in the garden all the time, which is helpful on the hot days. The house at the back is perfectly warm, I manage to get washing dry and I have loads of plants growing (my DH is a keen gardener) which do just fine. It wouldn't put me off the house at all.

MrsBartlet · 02/02/2014 19:34

We had a north-east facing garden in our last house and we hated it. It was fine in the summer when it was warm in the shade and the sun stayed in the garden for longer anyway but awful in the spring. Once the sun had left the garden (eg about 2 pm in May) it could be glorious sunshine out the front of the house but too cold to sit out on the patio in the garden. It was a small garden though, so I suppose if you had a big garden you might still get sun in it somewhere depending on the surroundings.

Andreaolimpia · 02/02/2014 20:22

We have a SW facing garden,and this was very important for us,and still is!
We spend most of the day in the kitchen as it is the brightest room in the house and wouldn't have it any other way!!
2 years ago we nearly bought a N facing house and pulled out after our offer was accepted as we couldn't come to terms if living in a "dark"house/kitchen.
We have 2 children and it's lovely to see them playing in the garden,topping up on some Vitamin D!
We are still looking to move and we rejected sooo many lovely houses just because they were facing the "wrong"way!
Think about all those lovely BBQs in the summer under the shade accompanied by a Moretti!!!
Can't wait for the sun to come on our garden!
Think through as a house move doesn't come cheap...
Good luck!

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