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Original poster

Are north facing gardens really that bad?

41 replies

PamelaDoov · 03/02/2022 14:37

About to move to a house with a north facing garden. I’m not sure of the exact size, it’s wider than it is long but it’s a pretty good size all round.
I’m not really a garden person- I put some flowers into a few pots during spring but that’s about it, and by the end of the summer they’re dead/bedraggled. I’m not a sun worshipper either, I’d never go into my garden to lie there and sunbathe. But I do like a bbq/garden party during the summer.
Is it really that bad having a north facing garden if I’m not arsed about growing things and getting a tan?

OP posts:

Houseplantmad · 03/02/2022 14:49

I've got a north facing garden and you'll be fine we have our patio at the bottom as it has sun til very late in the summer. The rest of the garden is sunny all day in summer. Not so much in the winter.

Babdoc · 03/02/2022 14:49

Just warn your guests to bring cardigans to your summer parties, as it will be cool and shady in your garden. But it sounds no problem to you at all, and if you pick shade loving easy care plants such as ferns, lily of the valley, foxgloves etc, you are less likely to have dead/wilted results from your efforts.

SexPeopleLynn · 03/02/2022 14:52

Our north facing garden is in full sun for most of the day in the summer contrary to popular belief!

If the garden is short then the house shadow may add some shade but a good sized garden won't suffer in the summer

As previous poster says, we have our patio at the back of the garden as it gets the sun into the evening whereas the bit right next to the house is in the shade in the morning and evening.

parietal · 03/02/2022 14:55

i love my north facing garden. it is long & narrow so the far end gets the sun but the bit near the house is cool & shady even on hot days. much more relaxing than baking in the sun.

GiantKitten · 03/02/2022 14:57

Depending on what other buildings are around, you should still get sun even in the evening in high summer - in the W facing end - the sun rises and sets much further north than you’d think. (I have a short N-facing wall outside my bedroom window and the rising sun strikes it for 2-3 hours)

In winter you’ll get hardly any though if it’s quite short.

Original poster

PamelaDoov · 03/02/2022 14:57

Thanks repliers. It’s been hard to judge it because every time we’ve been over the weather has been dull & grey. But I looked at a photo of the garden on google maps and I can see the garden gets a big patch of sun on the west side. That was only a snapshot though, so hopefully the area that does get sun throughout the day is greater.

OP posts:

Original poster

PamelaDoov · 03/02/2022 14:59

I am in the West Midlands if that has any effect on the sun 😂

OP posts:

Namechangeforthis88 · 03/02/2022 15:00

If you go for it get yourself over to the gardening board for tips on making the most of it.

Suzi888 · 03/02/2022 15:01

Nothing grows in ours, plants really struggle.
As long as you don’t want to hang your washing out to dry either- go for it. We can hang washing out for about 3 months of the year if it’s hot, otherwise it’s just damp. Admittedly ours is on an incline too and our neighbour grows conifers.

I pray we can get out of here one day.

MargotEmin · 03/02/2022 15:03

On the plus side the flowers will face you. I recently moved to a place with a south facing garden and it made me sad when the first daffs this year all turned away from me!

sqirrelfriends · 03/02/2022 15:03

Nothing wrong with it.

In summer the sun is still in the garden for ages as it sent in the west.

Hungry625f · 03/02/2022 15:04

Ours is short and north facing. We're not sun worshipers and tbh I prefer it shady. I can dry my washing fine, but the grass is a bit boggy in winter.

cobblers123 · 03/02/2022 15:04

I have North facing back garden and I get sun pretty much all day. It moves around so all of my garden gets a lot of sun during the summer.

During winter It doesn't come up to the patio and back of house and that end of the lawn can be quite wet.

I like it and that's being someone who compromised on the back garden being North facing when I bought the house. I wouldn't change it now as I love the shady part when it gets really hot.

On the upside, bedroom, hall and lounge bask in sunshine in winter and can get really warm even when it's freezing outside. 🌞

Original poster

PamelaDoov · 03/02/2022 15:08

Nice to hear some positive comments on north facing gardens

OP posts:

TheTurn0fTheScrew · 03/02/2022 15:30

We have a short, north facing yard. It gets almost no sun between November-March. We still manage to grow stuff in pots - evergreen shrubs, hostas, cyclamen nearer the house, and everything else down the bottom.

We have a good sunny strip all day at the back April-October, but I do sacrifice lots of that space to growing sun-loving stuff. It's always lovely in the mornings though - weekend coffee and croissants on the deck. If I want to catch very late sun sometimes I'll sit on my front steps with a glass of wine instead.

My biggest bugbear is washing - I like to line-dry and it's definitely harder in the shade.

Ealaigh · 03/02/2022 16:46

I’m moving to a house with a north facing garden. It’s a detached house with a west facing lawn and the garden itself is over 2/3 acre, backing onto farmland so I’m not too concerned.

BigWoollyJumpers · 03/02/2022 16:52

On the upside, bedroom, hall and lounge bask in sunshine in winter and can get really warm even when it's freezing outside

We get this. The last couple of sunny days the heating hasn't come on at all during the day. In the Summer, we have had to plant a big tree for shade though, and have shutters on the front windows.

It's all about how you want to live really I suppose. Our back garden in North West and large, but we still have the patio by the house. In the summer we absolutely bake, and in fact I have trees planted around for shade. We only have a couple of months deep Winter when we have no sun on the patio. I have a Mediterranean planted garden, so it seems to do OK.

LivingDeadGirlUK · 03/02/2022 16:56

I think it's only an issue if the garden is very small so the house will shade it most the day apart from early morning and late evening.

20week · 03/02/2022 17:02

We have a north facing front garden. I'll be honest it is noticeably cooler than the back however it does get a fair bit of sun in the summer. Flowers grow successfully at the very front and then shrubs down the side.

GiantKitten · 03/02/2022 17:08

@cobblers123

I have North facing back garden and I get sun pretty much all day. It moves around so all of my garden gets a lot of sun during the summer.

During winter It doesn't come up to the patio and back of house and that end of the lawn can be quite wet.

I like it and that's being someone who compromised on the back garden being North facing when I bought the house. I wouldn't change it now as I love the shady part when it gets really hot.

On the upside, bedroom, hall and lounge bask in sunshine in winter and can get really warm even when it's freezing outside. 🌞

@cobblers123

My daughter has recently moved into a house like this, with bay windows at the front, and it’s just like yours - glorious!
It is a bit darker at the back but the garden is quite long so there will always be sun in some of it, and it is nice to have a shady part too

toppkatz · 03/02/2022 17:12

@PamelaDoov

I am in the West Midlands if that has any effect on the sun 😂

but the fact that it is currently winter will have an effect. If you go to look at it on a sunny day at this time of year, bear that in mind. It will get far more sun midsummer than it does now.

NoJaffaCakesAreKeptInThisVan · 03/02/2022 17:21

My garden is East facing so we don’t get any evening sun, it starts to get shady from about 4pm in the summer but by 6/7 there’s no sun at all….I wouldn’t want any less sun than we have so, for me, North would probably be a no no.

That said, a friend who lived around the corner was NE and in the height of the summer their house was lovely and cool because the sun didn’t shine directly into the house. They did have sun in the garden all afternoon, I’m not sure about the morning and evening.

Another friend is mainly west facing and it’s awful in summer, way too hot, everything needs tons of water. No morning sun either.

Ribb · 03/02/2022 20:18

North facing here and so far plants have survived, patio is lovely (not baking) to have brekkie or work, have egg chair positioned at end of garden but can lounge anywhere and it's been fine. About 75 ft garden. Not too wide.

Original poster

PamelaDoov · 03/02/2022 20:43

@NoJaffaCakesAreKeptInThisVan our current garden is west facing and we have no morning sun, and everything in the garden is just dry & dead, so I get where your friend is coming from!

OP posts:

Why2why · 03/02/2022 21:10

@cobblers123

I have North facing back garden and I get sun pretty much all day. It moves around so all of my garden gets a lot of sun during the summer.

During winter It doesn't come up to the patio and back of house and that end of the lawn can be quite wet.

I like it and that's being someone who compromised on the back garden being North facing when I bought the house. I wouldn't change it now as I love the shady part when it gets really hot.

On the upside, bedroom, hall and lounge bask in sunshine in winter and can get really warm even when it's freezing outside. 🌞

How is that possible given how the sun travels? Sun all day in the garden and bedroom, hall and lounge bask in the sun during winter so much so that these parts of the house are warm?

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