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Original poster

How bad is a north facing rear garden?

106 replies

bajanasinpajamas · 02/06/2025 22:01

We currently have a south facing back garden. Have SSTC, and are looking around but very little on the market. We (I) had my heart set on either west or south facing rear garden, but there is NOTHING!
We’ve seen a couple of houses that tick most boxes except they have north facing rear gardens. All I want is to be able to sit out in the evening sun after a day at work - is there going to be any chance of this ?

OP posts:
Doitrightnow · 02/06/2025 23:00

My previous garden was small and NW facing. It was lovely. Amazing roses, hedgehogs and birds.

My current front garden is south facing but quite short and wide, and there are massive trees all along the boundary (not mine). So 3/4 of it is always shady!

A neighbour opens her garden for National Garden visits. They have a small, north facing garden and it's amazing. They don't have a lawn, it's like a path through a tropical paradise, they've done an amazing job. Really embraced ferns!

On the other hand, my friend lives in a tall town house with a tiny North facing garden and it never has any light because it's always in the shadow of the house.

Message is - I think it depends on more than just the direction.

APurpleSquirrel · 02/06/2025 23:04

Good luck with your viewings.
Just to echo other PPs - it all depends on the length of the garden, width, alignment, location & the surrounding houses/fences/trees etc.
We have a north-facing garden, but essentially have parts of the garden that are south-facing, west-facing, east-facing & north-facing. So we can plant with most things.

Papricat · 02/06/2025 23:05

Rarely any sun on this island anyway. Much cheaper to fly Ryanair to Magaluf twice a year instead.

SeriaMau · 02/06/2025 23:10

Depends which country you live in. Australia - great!

FancyCatSlave · 02/06/2025 23:11

We had a wraparound plot in one house where the majority of the back was North. It was really sunny, but it was detached and in the arse end of nowhere surrounded by farmland so no other buildings to cast shadows.

I also live in a North facing semi in a built up estate and that was horrid. So the short answer is, it depends.

I’m not that fussed personally so I’d rather live in the right place and have the right space but appreciate other people use gardens in different ways. My hens and cats just like any old garden but they are pretty indifferent to sun.

moremoremores · 02/06/2025 23:14

I think you would struggle going from South to North

SabrinaThwaite · 02/06/2025 23:17

I have a townhouse with a north facing garden, it’s not a huge garden and it’s overlooked on the eastern side. But I have a great range of plants that do really well, so there’s always greenery with splashes of colour. Patio is at the southern end of the garden, and works well in the evening for sitting out for drinks or having a BBQ. I accept that my lawn will never be immaculate, but the birds make good use of the moss.

Wincher · 02/06/2025 23:20

We’re hopefully moving soon from a house with a small east-facing garden to one with a much bigger north-facing one. I’m pretty certain we’ll get a fair bit more sun in it! Our current garden is in the shade from early afternoon onwards which is a bit depressing other than on really hot days when you need the shade.

KnickerlessParsons · 02/06/2025 23:24

It’s fine. We were sitting out in our north facing garden until about 7pm this evening.
it’s quite cold and gloomy in the winter, but gets the sun all day in the summer.

SunnySideDeepDown · 02/06/2025 23:26

Having recently moved from a north facing garden to a south facing one, I would never buy north facing again.

moremoremores · 02/06/2025 23:29

it’s quite cold and gloomy in the winter, but gets the sun all day in the summer.

the average north facing garden wouldn't get the sun all day

Jsndidndnnd · 02/06/2025 23:30

I was totally against it, but we have ended up with a north facing garden. And it is really fine. Echoing other posters, what I have learnt is that it is about more than just the direction. Our garden is not very big, but has nothing impeding the sun from the east or west. I just think of it sideways as an east/west facing garden. It does have a very brief period in the winter when it barely sees the sun, but that period is very short and it is always cold anyway. It’s actually much, much better than our old west facing garden that was surrounded by the neighbours tall trees and was really depressing. Our north facing room has big (well double glazed) windows and is a light colour and is the lightest north facing room I have ever experienced. It actually makes a nice contrast from the garden in the summer.

TipsyRobin · 02/06/2025 23:31

My garden faces due north and it gets plenty of sun, the washing dries and all the plants are thriving, even near to the house. It wouldn’t bother me.

Budget37477483 · 02/06/2025 23:33

Depends how big the garden is.

North/south and south/ north are bad aspects. No idea who and why anyone thinks south facing gardens are a good idea.

East/ west and west/ east are the best homes. Sunrise and sunset light. Shaded in the day. Gardens with light all year round.

Vikingmama79 · 02/06/2025 23:34

NNW facing and we have well over 50% of garden in sun all day from March to October with it hitting the patio area next to house around 4pm until sunset. It’s so much better than I thought it would be coming from a WF previously. What is to your west is so critical. We are detached and nothing obstructing western light, in last property we lost evening sun much earlier due to neighbouring trees and houses to the rear.

MH0084 · 03/06/2025 06:57

I have a north facing garden and it's thriving! It does not get any sun during winter but during spring/summer all parts get a few hours of sun everyday... Knowing what plants thrive in the shade and where the sun hits in spring and summer makes a huge difference. I even have a vegetable patch now (I know it won't survive the winter...). The only issue is the grass, it would've been a headache given the shade and soggy winter. I have astro and have raised flower beds and lots of pots around. It's a small garden (London) so it's not really an issue with the astro.

Snakeandladder · 03/06/2025 06:59

Gingercar · 02/06/2025 22:06

It depends how big it is. Our house is north facing but easily big enough that the sun hits the bottom half of the garden until it goes down, so plenty of room to sit out in the evening.

This. Our garden is 6 times the size of the house at least so while the bit near the house is (lovely and) shady the rest of the garden gets full sun most of the day. Tbh I would prefer it if it was shady all over. I spend all summer trying to create shade and cover everyone with suncream rash vests and hats.

CornedBeef451 · 03/06/2025 07:02

It depends. The houses opposite us have north facing gardens and they are damp and mildewy but it’s because they’re tiny so there’s hardly any space far enough away from the house. My front garden does get sun at times though.

XVGN · 03/06/2025 07:02

We went from South to North. And worse, it was small with large trees at the back.

I have to say that it didn't bother me. We got lots of great wildlife and I'm not a sun-lover.

But it will make the home harder to sell if you want to move on so make sure you do not over-pay.

Gettingbysomehow · 03/06/2025 07:03

I loved my north facing garden in my last house. I had lots of mature trees and was able to plant all the shade loving plants I love like ferns. It was an Oasis in a hot summer but there was still sun if you wanted it.

IPreacts · 03/06/2025 07:08

Also depends on where in UK you are. We lived in Scotland and when we moved to south in UK I really wanted a garden with sun in evening. The garden we got does not have sun in evening but that’s a relief. It’s so hot down here that I am glad the sun is gone in the evening. It’s lovely sitting in the shade after a hot day.

honeylulu · 03/06/2025 07:37

We have a north facing garden and I love it. We are lucky enough to have a patio near the house which catches the sun up to lunchtime and a second patio at the end of the garden which catches the afternoon and evening sun and it's lovely and peaceful too. Don't forget in the UK summer days often aren't sunny anyway and if they are then you often fancy a bit of shade anyway. Between October and April I rarely set foot in the garden.

Our last garden was south facing but small so if the weather was good we tended to go out instead so it definitely wasn't "all that".

Thingamebobwotsit · 03/06/2025 07:42

Just to echo others it depends on what you have around it and how big it is. Our back garden is South facing and has sun on some part of it all day. Only Shadows are trees and the shadow from our neighbours house which is off set.

Our front garden is north facing. It has relentless sun on it all day as it is far enough from the house it gets no shadow from that and there are no other immediate neighbours over looking it. Both gardens are quite sizeable though. It would be very different on a new build estate with smaller gardens.

Goingawayistricky · 03/06/2025 07:42

Mines south facing.

I don’t get evening sun because the oak tree to the west has grown massively in the last 20 years. It’s a lovely tree but I do wish it was just a bit smaller.

theclampits · 03/06/2025 08:19

North west facing, we only don’t get sun into the bottom of the garden in winter/early spring. Height of summer we get it all down the bottom just apart from the left fence where the sun starts to dip below

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