North vs South facing garden?

[estebancolberto]

We are interested in two properties. One has north facing garden and the other south facing. What's more attractive to future buyers?

Given the extreme hot weather we are seeing and expect going forward in future years, will it be the case that south facing gardens will be difficult to maintain (grass burns out quickly) and too hot to even enjoy?

It depends on the size and shape of the garden. If the garden is large (or long) enough - the north orientation is not a problem, as even in the winter months the furthest end still would get sun (garden longer than shade from the house). If the garden is on the smaller side and more square than rectangular, or if the house is more than 2 floors high (townhouse or if you are purchasing a garden flat) - then it might be a bit dark, as it will be covered in shade from the house. Also bigger south-facing garden needs LOTS of watering, but a small south-facing plot could be fine.

Dont forget that if you have a south facing garden the front of the house is north facing - that means dark

South all the time. The North faced garden I lived in was a swamp all winter

South facing gardens appeal to more people than North facing gardens thus better for resale.

I know someone who will only look at a property if it has a south-facing garden. But as others have said, it depends on a range of factors. I can't see it being a deal-breaker for most buyers, and, as you suggest, as we get more heatwaves, possibly shady gardens will become more sought after.

The property I will move to has a large north-facing garden. It's a bungalow, so there is only a small part of the terrace that gets no sun. I'm no fan of the heat, so I'd actually prefer more shade. The bigger issue is the lack of light to the living room. The rooms nearest the windows are not dark at all, but the other end of the through lounge is quite gloomy, so I'm putting sun tunnels in. Also, assuming the kitchen is at the back of the property, having the boiler on a north-facing wall is not ideal as there is a pipe that freezes in very cold temperatures.

It's not as simple as that.
Is the garden overlooked? (ie - have tall buildings which will limit the sun)
Is the garden long (ie - with a decent amount not in the shadow of your own house)
What's on the west/east sides of the garden - plenty of morning/evening sun coming in from those angles

We have a north facing garden, but with nothing at the bottom of it, and also get plenty of sun from the west (no houses on that side). We have a shady flower bed, but also a sunny patio at the bottom of the garden, and a cooler patio by the house.

In the summer, I LOVE it. You have the choice to be in the sun or not, the flower bed is pretty, the few fruit and veg we grow flourish.
The bidfold doors at the back of the house are open whenever it's nice weather, and it's lovely.

In the winter - from about mid/late Nov to feb - we don't get sun in the back garden. But I don't want/need to be out there then, so I can live with it.

So many people would refuse a house with a north facing garden, but it's simply not that clear cut.

I have a small north facing garden. When we can finally afford to move, that will be my only definite deal breaker. Not a ray of sunshine in the garden for 4 months a year and sun all gone by 6.30pm in June is miserable.

I have breakfast outside in the sun in my north facing garden! And a glass of wine in the evenings. You can't consider aspect alone.

South facing garden is the more popular. However for me I like east and west best.

We have just moved to our forever home. A south facing garden was on our must have list. First job was solar panels - perfect south and our electric costs are minimal. We will be installing air con in time for summer!!

I love my north facing garden. It's wide and long and is not overlooked on the north, west or east side. Tons of sun.

My absolute dream is an east facing garden for morning light and to watch moon rise. I really dislike hot sun on me so don’t enjoy afternoon sun and figure I’m much more likely to be out of the house in the evening vs usually always at home in the morning - so I’d rather have lovely morning light in the living areas! Doesn’t answer your question at all but just throwing some different compass preferences into the mix 😉

Dont forget that if you have a south facing garden the front of the house is north facing - that means dark

The flip side is the back of the house is unbearably hot during the Summer.

Which means that if you have the kitchen at the rear (which often has large windows/patio doors etc) if the temp gets above mid 20s it can be deeply unpleasant if you have to use the cooker at all. In our case it also means the master bedroom is unusable even with blackout blinds/curtains and fans (we end up decamping to the living room!)

When we move I'll be looking at anything but south facing 🤣

All other things being equal and unless it is very small or overshadowed:
S-facing, house and garden gets the sun, some flowers (esp. bulbs) tend to turn away from the house, garden can be hot, as can rooms on that elevation, and a conservatory can be a furnace if it has lousy ventilation and poorly chosen roof materials. Nice for a patio up against the house quite a lot of the year.
N-facing, conservatory is ideal for this orientation. Flowers will turn to face the house. Rooms facing this way will be cooler in summer. No sun up against the house to sit in except at midday in high summer, when it can be too hot.

For me it’s not just about the garden but about the kitchen, which is generally at the back

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen (ours is a big kitchen/diner/sofa ) and I want it to be light and sunny. A N facing kitchen isn’t sunny - even if the garden is huge and has sun in most of it, the bit near the house and the back of the house itself is in shade.

We have a S facing garden/kitchen. We do boil sometimes in summer, our own fault for putting in too much glass and creating a greenhouse . But I’d still choose it 100x over N facing. Today for example the weather was freezing but sunny, kitchen was light and warm without the heating on.

As a pp says E /W may be the best all round option.

I'd only want South facing unless it was huge. I want my living room sunny and my garden sunny. I wouldn't buy a house with living room at the front either so has to be south facing garden.

Our house has a 50ft long north facing garden. It's 30ft wide. I was very concerned it would be shady but it isn't. The bottom of the garden is a sun trap for much of the year. Our greenhouse is there. One side of the garden gets the morning sun, the other gets the afternoon sun. There isn't much sun in mid winter but that doesn't bother me. We have three patios- one down the bottom of the garden, the others at the top. That way, we can choose to sit in sun or shade throughout the day.

One thing to consider is the position of the house on the plot. Our roof ridge is parallel to the side boundaries, ie the gable ends are on the front and back of the house, if you see what I mean. I think it helps create a smaller shadow. But it is a tall house as two storey houses go.

I'm a keen gardener, sun loving plants thrive. I wouldn't change my garden for anything.

We have quite a large north facing garden, with nothing much to the west to block sun from that angle - I love it! There's always somewhere which gets the sun but it stays so much cooler. We have a little courtyard bit also, which faces south, and you can't use it for some of the summer as it's so hot, and as you say with what's happening with summers recently, I think that will only get worse.

I was going to say pretty much this.

If the north garden gets some light great but if you want to sell between September and March you’d be better off with a sunny south facing one.

It depends on so many factors as PPs have pointed out. Your own preference for sunshine, the size of the garden, the surrounding buildings and trees.

My previous garden was a north facing mid terrace "yard". The bed furthest from the house got sun, the rest didn't, ever. Simply because it was so small. We moved to a semi with a big south facing garden, and I love it.

There are a few largish trees around in our garden and NDNs' which provide shade in summer. A garden can be designed to be drought tolerant which can reduce the need for watering as well. Lawns can be allowed to go brown in summer, they will recover and green up again. Parasols and sail shades or awnings can be installed.

A north facing garden will have the sunniest spots further from the house. South facing, you can set up your patio furniture near the back door. Much more convenient.

I've had a South facing back garden. The back extension and where the kitchen and dining room was, where we did most of our living, was too hot in summer and too bright! Also made watching TV etc difficult.

Our house now has an NE facing garden, I much prefer it. For most of the day, in the summer, on a sunny day, there is sun at least somewhere in the garden but not usually on the patio nearest the house.

The houses facing on the other side of the road (i.e front of the house N-ish) all have moss visible on their roofs, for some reason on our homes it looks really bad. We have moss at the back of the roof that no one can see, as the house isn't overlooked.

Overall, for us, an NE facing back garden works better than full on S. I wouldn't have thought that 10 years ago!

I think conventional wisdom is that people don’t want north facing gardens but this may well change a bit with hotter summers. I wouldn’t buy a south facing one personally as don’t do well with the sun and need shade.

Our new garden is north facing and works well. It is reasonably long and there is sun in the middle all day where I will be growing veg. As others have said it does depend on a variety of factors.

This is such useful information. Sorry to hijack OP but we've been debating this. You've just settled our agreement! (Whilst up at stupid o clock in the morning with young DD)