Would you buy a north facing garden house?

[Notmyyearthisyear]

It’s in a lovely elevated position and feels very light and bright even on a gloomy day but worry it’s a mistake. I do like my garden. It’s bang on north facing but would get some evening sun in a corner if I knocked the garage down… the side elevation where the drive and access to the garden is located is west facing so the…
Is this the worst possible aspect or is there some saving grace to it?
PS live in an area which is a nightmare to buy in 😐

I have no idea which way my house faces. So yes.

I have done. It is absolutely fine. Most of my garden still gets decent sun at different times of day, after watching it for a year we’ve got ideal sites for a morning patio close to the house to catch sun at breakfast along the west border, and an evening deck about half way down on the east side to catch the evening/setting sun; end of the garden gets sun all day for the veg patch; the back of the house being north facing means we can have a big lantern roof light in the kitchen extension without it becoming a hothouse in summer, kitchen stays lovely and cool in summer but isn’t dark thanks to lots of windows and that’s before we put the roof lantern in!

I think the fact there is single storey extension on the back means by the time the garden starts, you’re already a bit further from the tall part of the house so already less shadow anyway.

Also means front of the house is south facing, where our large sitting room and main bedroom is, they are really lovely bright rooms even in winter.

Might make more of a difference depending on your latitude as well? We are in London.

Is that the only reason not to buy? If so I wouldn't let it stop me. We have a north facing garden and actually quite glad we have shade when it is blazing hot.

We also have a lantern roof in a rear extension which as pp says brings in light but not excessive heat. We have a picnic table by the back door which is fine for dining out and still needs an umbrella at times and have a lovely seating area at the top of the garden which is behind some tall shrubs so a bit like a secret garden room.

Remember as the days get longer the sun will reach more of the garden, only the very few feet by the back door never gets any sun.

Personally no, because I garden and I think growing seeds through winter and in early spring in a north-facing garden would be really tough. Also I like cottage garden style planting, and I don't think it would do well without some direct sun.

It does depend how long the garden is though - it sounds like @LemonViolet's is very long, which would be fine so long as you're not surrounded by tall buildings and you don't mind walking down to the sunny spot. My garden (and most gardens around here) is short and wide, so I wouldn't get much sun at all.

No, never. I love gardening and sitting out in the sun.

The back garden is probably the same length as the house itself and there’s no back extension so full height of the house would be casting the shadow.
Went to view today in terrible rain (in Yorkshire, btw) and surprisingly the grass was lovely and green in the back, do you think the elevated location might have something that I do with it?

My garden is North facing. I absolutely hate it.

I have a relatively small North facing back garden and it didn't put me off one bit. I get light in different parts of the garden at different times because it's on different levels. I have so many plants growing out there including fruit trees. The main gardening problem I have is attacks by slugs.

Because the front of the house faces South I get a lot of light streaming in to the living room.

Yes. I'm not remotely interested in gardening though!

Can't answer the actual question but when we viewed our house the small lawn was very green- turned out he had just re turfed it and did that every year as the grass didn't really grow! (We've paved it!)

Hello @Notmyyearthisyear, I have a similar dilemma, so reading with interest.

‘My’ garden is south of the house but slopes upward on a north facing hill, with trees at the top (not mine) so sunlight onto garden and back of house very limited. Obvs no sun on north facing front either.

With things the way they are on the market though, I’m trying to be pragmatic, rather than perfectionistic. The perfect house is out there - but who knows when it will come to market or whether I’ll be able to afford it when it does. If you like the house, I’d stick with it.

I think it depends on so many factors, like how big the garden is and how tall the buildings are that surround it. My garden is north west facing but long and we don’t have anyone blocking the light. So we get the sun all afternoon and it’s lovely in the summer until the sun goes down behind the trees early evening.

No I wouldn't - it's not just the garden that is lacking in sunlight but the back of the house will be too so if that's the kitchen it hardly get any sunlight.

We discounted houses we viewed because of this. Now have an east facing kitchen and garden so we get some sun in both in the morning - we've only lived there through winter and I imagine spring / summer will get a lot more.

It’s not just the garden but the rooms in the house I have a south facing garden the difference in temperature and light in the rooms in the north versus the south is so vast.

Oh dear, not quite sure what to do now as the house is nice and the location perfect! I guess we shall see, it’ll likely sell to a slightly less ‚discerning’ buyer 😂

I have a north facing garden having come from a very long south facing garden and I actually prefer the north facing garden.

Disclaimer: I'm not a keen gardener but I am a keen sitter out in the sunshiner and we have a lovely patch that gets the full sun from mid morning till the end of the day where we've built decking and a patio near the house that's warm but never in full sun so not too hot to sit out in even when it's very warm.

If it's perfect in every other way I wouldn't dismiss it, there's apps you can get on your phone that simulate where the sun would be at different times of the day. Maybe it would be worth another viewing while standing in the garden using one?

I have a north facing garden but it is elevated so it makes the height of the house (an early Victorian with high ceilings) seem more like a bungalow.

The garden gets a lot of sun throughout the day and right now I’m lounging in the Summer House at the top of the garden: no heating on as it’s a mixture of sun and clouds today. I’ve got my washing out on the line (here in Dorset).

No problems growing anything in the elavated part of the garden and we do put down lawn fertilizer so the grass is in very good condition. We have a patio area next to the house where I have breakfast on hot days. There is another patio area in the elevated part where I have a garden table and chairs: we need to use a parasol all day in the Summer and love to watch the sunsets to the west whilst eating dinner or having a glass of wine.

I baulked at the thought of a north facing garden but honestly because it is elevated it has made a huge difference as there isn’t a shadow from the house.

The kitchen doesn’t get too hot (no refrigeration when the house was built!) which is ideal in the Summer, unlike my last house which was south facing and we had to have the blinds down in the kitchen all day.

I would go for it if I were you! Good luck!

Our back garden faces north. It is a smallish city garden so the time of year massively affects how much sun we get, but basically in summer we have sun in some point of our garden most of the day - we have created a couple of different seating areas so that we can follow it round.
I think aspect is more important than orientation tbh. We are fairly open from the west so get sun from there, and from either side of the house. Ironically our front garden faces south and should get masses of sun but because of the street trees it's basically dry shade 7 months of the year. So what is around your house is just as important as in which direction your garden faces.

I have quite a long north facing back garden and I'm a gardener. My garden looks lovely in summer with a variety of plants for both full sun and shade and variations in between.

I'm just a bit more aware of where to plant things in relation to how much sun is required but I prefer this garden to my last which was also quite long but south facing. It was just too hot with very little shade.

I've been mulling over the exact same dilemma! Viewing a house this week that has a North facing garden.

Not my ideal choice, but with the right planting etc it could still be lovely. If I love the house, I'm willing to compromise on garden aspect. The garden will mostly be for my son to play in anyway so I won't want it to be scorching!

North facing back means South facing front too - you could have lots of lovely bright plants out the front which you would see every day coming home :)

I love spending time in the garden though and it’s the ‘darkness’ of it that worries me, plus also the potential darkness of the back of the house. There’s different options I guess available to me, including opening up the entire downstairs to benefit from the south facing front… I guess 😊

I did twice and it has been fine both times. However, we have had houses with small gardens where I’m happy as long as I get a bit of guaranteed sun on a hot summer’s day. I’d have more of an issue with a large shady garden (I see loads of these on RM) as I’d feel I was missing out on a major feature of the house.

Btw, both gardens were tended by very skilful gardeners before I got my hands on them, and looked beautiful. So north-facing gardens are obviously picked by gardening enthusiasts who can make them look amazing. Just not sunny if small, except at the furthest point.

It’s large gardens with an expanse of shaded lawn and ringed by tall trees I’m not keen on.

I’ve had a south facing garden and a NW facing garden. I actually prefer the NW orientation; enough sunlight to grow things but not blazing hot, and we get gorgeous evening sun. At the height of summer, the southern orientation was so hot from about 10am onwards that it wasn’t enjoyable to sit outside until the sun had gone down.

A friend has a north facing garden with nice patio, grass, hardy shrubs and some flowers in pots. Her family mainly use it for sporty stuff.

It looks good but I dislike it because it’s cold all the time!