How much do you actually use your garden in winter?

[2Magpies24]

We have put in an offer for a house which is a bit on the small size, but has a huge beautiful garden. First offer was declined but we’re debating how high we really want to go.
the house itself is a bit of a rarity in this location, they do come up but not often. It’s outskirts of city. DS is 9 and we have lived in a flat all this time (no garden) so this is a big draw.
The issue is that right now, the garden is in full bloom and looks stunning. We can imagine ourselves doing loads of alfresco stuff, as well as putting in a log cabin and just silly things like being able to dry laundry. But realistically, by the time we get in it will be autumn/winter and obviously we will be able to do a lot less out there.
The house itself is small but bigger than our flat and is perfectly fine, but having never had a garden, my question is do you actually ever use yours in the winter months? And if so, how much? Thanks

Not much in the winter, apart from letting the dogs out. However, it is lovely in the summer! It also makes a huge difference having a green space of your own to sit in. Mine isn’t very big and is very overlooked, but now that I’ve got at least part of it looking nice (draws veil over patchy grass and weedy edges) it makes me happy to look out at it even on rainy days.

Lots.
It's a time for pruning (somethings) and planning, for hedge cutting and repairing, for sowing sweet peas and painting sheds, browsing seed catalogues and dreaming.

I have never used my tumble dryer- ever- with judicious use of weather forecasting.

I'm out every single day in mine, all year.

But I'm a keen gardener.

My H is often out there if it’s not too wet, as he’s a keen gardener so he’ll be doing whatever gardeners do in winter (don’t ask me what but he’s always got some project on the go).

I tend to only go out there to put the kitchen waste on the compost heap but I sometimes have a little walk around while I’m doing that. I enjoy the view from the windows as well so even if I’m not in it, I’m getting something from it.

It depends a bit what you do to make it a place you might want to be in Winter. You can get a firepit or a chiminea, put up fairy lights, have a pergola/gazebo for shelter etc. We've done all these things and on milder winter nights (realistically nobody wants to be out there in -5 or in a howling gale and torrential rain) it's nice.

I also depends slightly where you are in the country. Where I am in the SE, the seasons are all over the place these days. It's not that unusual for it to still be nice enough to enjoy the garden in late October or early March.

It's quite personal though and I could never be without a garden now. I lived in a flat without one for three years and hated it.

ETA: and yes agree with pps that there's always jobs to do out there year round, if you're into gardening.

We don't use it much in winter but there are things tonadmire and the changing of the seasons always offers some joy. Sweeping leaves in the autumn, not so much joy.

Not much in the winter, but the fact that we have it to use in the summer more than makes up for the fact that it’s not used in the winter.

I love my garden and a decent sized one is a deal breaker with any house move.

It can still look nice in the winter if you have a few evergreens and/or winter flowering plants. It is my own little piece of nature and come winter or summer, I love looking at it and knowing it was all mine & OH's work.
I put the washing out to dry if the weather is fine, any time of year can be drying weather.
It is a safe space for the Ddogs to roam, not just popping out for a wee but mooching, sniffing etc.
I love my birds so cleaning, restocking the feeders & water bowls is an everyday occurrence, moreso in the winter as they depend on us so much more. On really cold days it is a constant battle to keep the water from freezing over but they love a bath in slightly warm water.🙂
We have a covered patio so can happily sit outside for a drink if the mood takes us.
On the early dark evenings, it is nice to leave the curtains open and see the garden lights on.

Lots. DSs are cricket mad so we’ve set up a cricket net (on patio tiles down one side of the house) and they’re out in it when it’s not wet (so about half the winter, I guess). Laundry can also be dried (especially sports wear that dries easily) if it isn’t raining.

We don’t use ours at all in winter because it’s floods, but I love it in summer. I do really like gardening and would totally get a smaller house with a big garden because for me it would be worth it. Even in winter i like the sense of privacy and watching the seasons change. It’s the view I look at the most.

Almost never in the winter, except to hang washing if it’s sunny. But constantly in the spring / summer.

My dog uses it year-round though!

We are mainly out there when the weather is not raining so bias towards summer/ spring / start of autumn.

I love looking out of the window and seeing the garden and the birds all year.

It is a fair amount of work though to keep it looking nice so worth considering if you have enough time and enjoy gardening. Its good exercise and we enjoy it.

I love our small? garden and in spring/summer/autumn it gets used as it has veggie beds as well as lawn/flower borders. I enjoy seeing out in winter but hibernate inside tbh.
I like choosing flowers and veggies and so on, but the OH does the graft. It can be a lot of work to keep a garden nice, so I suppose weigh up whether although you want a garden might too big a one be too much work?

It depends what you mean by ‘using it’. I’m only a novice gardener trying to put some order on a big building site (bought a wreck, renovation just about to enter a final phase), so I don’t have much experience of actual gardening in winter, but what I can see from the windows in the depths of winter is hugely important to me, as is making a generally wildlife-friendly space, feeding the birds. I have made a sheltered courtyard outside the back door, with some evergreen and winter-flowering climbers, and I do sometimes sit there in winter.

We don't use it that much in the winter. This year, we bought a greenhouse, so that might entice me outside more when its colder though. If you have a large garden, would there be scope to put an extension on the back/side?

4yrs ago, we moved from a flat to our current house with a large garden. The house and garden was completely derelict, so its been alot of work just to get the garden flat, grow grass, put borders in etc. I've suddenly turned into an avid, although novice, gardener. In particular, I love growing vegetables. 5yrs ago, I wouldn't have thought a garden was a priority, but I love it. I'm still learning what needs pruning in the winter and the list grows.

As a side note, we have a night vision camera and feed/film hedgehogs. In the day, I love watching birds on the feeder and blackbirds bring their babies to ground feeder. Every year I take part in the RSPB butterfly count and also the bird count. I'm also part of a blackbird count Taking part | BTO

I feel so much more relaxed than when we lived in the flat and alot more part of nature.

If you don't like gardening or don't want to learn, and aren't prepared to put in time and effort, please don't take it on. It will become a millstone round your neck, and an untended garden will annoy your neighbours too.

It has to be a labour of love.

A nine year old and his friends will use the garden all year round. It's almost easier if you're not into gardening because they can make dens or play ball games without having to worry about precious plants. You can rewild it.

I disagree, she has a child who is the perfect age for using a garden all year round and just having the grass mown regularly will be enough.

I don’t personally but the DC will go out there any time of year if it’s not wet. And ours is tiny - if it was large enough for sports practice or proper play equipment they’d be out there even more.

Have to say they use it a lot more now we have plastic grass and it isn’t a mud bath <ducks and runs>

She's described its current state as being " in full bloom", so it's a bit more than grass, hence more work.

I enjoy looking at it even in the winter
lots of evergreen bits and spotting birds and such

Only pegging the washing out and birdwatching in the mid November to mid February stretch, really. Picking some winter veg as needed, but mostly not using it much.

But the other 9 months of the year I use it constantly. It’s the very best thing about our house.

The garden is a multi sensory environment all year. You can hear it, see it and smell it from inside, when you have the windows open and when you arrive home.
There is nothing like standing barefoot outside and listening to the birds and the rustling of the leaves it is your sanctuary however big it is.

In our last house we used to sit outside when it started to get dark, covered in blankets, to watch the bats swooping at night, until I suppose, December.

In the current house, like a PP, we feed the birds and make sure the bird bath isn't frozen all through winter; our bifolds face out onto it and we sit and watch them, it gives us a lot of pleasure.

It's not always a matter of how much you use it in winter, but more what you can see happening out there and whether that gives you pleasure. Some folk are lucky enough to also get hedgehogs and foxes!

It really depends on the family.

We do use our garden - mostly for football and badminton - but to be honest the flat we were in before was better, right over the road from a small park so we could do the same things but without having to do the gardening

But unlike most of Mumsnet, I really don't care about privacy in the garden, happy for anyone to watch us play football or sit and read a book!

Most of the year for drying clothes.
In the winter it’s feeding birds and getting ready for Spring and Summer.

I guess if you’re in the north west you may use it less than in the south east in the winter. We can sit round a fire pit with friends most of the winter here (I don’t because neighbours are too close but would if I had a bigger garden).