North-East Facing Garden Sunshine

helptips

Let me thank everyone for their replies.

@ AdrianC - Other than the neighbouring buildings, I don't think there are any large bushes that I know of. Although further up/down the road there are some trees.

@ RunningHorse - He prefers direct sunlight or at least a bright natural light area. The reason for this is because he has been diagnosed with SAD & hypothyroid, so tends to feel colder than the average person.

@ G_M - Thanks, I knew it was N/E, although more E than N/E and yes it might have been worth doing a heliostat project which may help him.

@ bouicca21 - That's a good idea, thanks

@ Boler1985 - The road looks busier than it is and no they are not too bothered about the road because where they currently live is a mega-busy ring road, so it won't affect them.

@ Davesnave - Is there any way of re-directing sunlight into the garden, i.e. heliostat? reflective garden/garage walls etc?

@ glasgowdan - easier said than done when the person suffers from SAD.

@ lushwalrus - Yes the back of the house maybe more darker as the sun will go to the front of the house, however as said before, road noise is not an issue. He does like basic gardening, but as said before he has SAD, so sunlight would be preferred if possible.

essjae

Hi helptips,

I have a NE-facing garden. It is nice and sunny in the mornings, but is in shadow by 6pm in summertime, earlier in winter.

I did actually consider using a couple of large mirrors to try to reflect the sun a bit in the evenings, as I had some I was getting rid of anyway, but its not really particularly effective.

What does make a difference is painting all the walls white / cream (and re-painting every few years to keep it bright), and adding in some bright colours - I have some nice big colourful pots, and the shed and door at the end of the garden is bright green!

In terms of growing things, I haven't had a problem with strawberries, tomatoes, and all manner of vegetables, just be sensible about where to plant them - I have made a long vegetable plot along the northern wall (ie- facing south-west-ish)

Hope that helps.

helptips

@ essjae, that's extremely helpful, thank you. You said paint the walls white, which sounds like a great idea. The owner has already built a breeze block boundary wall most of the way around the garden.

What sort of paint would you recommend? White Gloss or Exterior?
Would it be able to reflect light?
What about instead of paint, he used large mirror steel sheets which don't reflect direct sunlight but would be reflective nevertheless?

...Something like this?:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/99-Reflective-Flexible-Bendy-Mirror-Sheeting-61cm-x-100cm-or-longer-/261261443250?hash=item3cd46540b2:g:PiAAAOSwHPlWdCMl

PasturesNew

If we take a step back a moment, yes, it's said that S/SW is best, but the reality is that if you're limiting your search to only be houses that face that way then you can sit and wait forever. You'd think that 1-in-4 houses would give that, but they don't. Many layouts of estates mean that no houses have good orientation by that rule.

Then, of course, if they are that great, then those houses will be for sale less often.

So, the buyers need to ask themselves whether they're chasing an unrealistic dream orientation, and whether this one tick list item will simply have to be dropped in order to get a house to live in.

You can also use reflection in a garden to redirect light. If a wall catches all the sun, paint it light cream/white to reflect the light back. If there's a patch where you can fit a garden mirror to reflect any back then that's quite cheap to do too.

essjae

If painting then use exterior paint - its what it's for after all!
It will certainly make bare breeze blocks look much better, and will reflect some light (not directly like a mirror, but the whole area will appear lighter).
On woodwork and metal use exterior gloss.

Those mirror sheets look interesting, I've never seen them before.
Personally, I think paint generally give a softer look, and would be far cheaper, but if your friend likes an industrial or super-modern style then perhaps these might work too.

Its important to get some colour in there too, otherwise it could all look rather stark and bare.

helptips

Thanks again for all your advice everyone. I will let both of them know and let them decide what they want to do. If it was me, I wouldn't be much bothered, but I guess it's each to their own.

Doozergirl

G_M wrote: »

In one of the James Bond movies, the baddy built magnifying mirrors in space to reflect the sun. You could try that?

Best. Post. Ever.

AdrianC

Doozergirl wrote: »

Best. Post. Ever.

You laugh, but...
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/take-a-look-at-the-worlds-largest-solar-thermal-farm-91577483/?no-ist

kinger101

G_M wrote: »

In one of the James Bond movies, the baddy built magnifying mirrors in space to reflect the sun. You could try that?

This sounds far too complicated. If you prefer afternoon sun, the best thing to do would be to alter the rotation of the Earth. It only takes one person to do this rather than a whole construction team (according to Superman II).

If the garden is north facing though, you could just flip the Earth at its poles instead.

helptips

kinger101 wrote: »

This sounds far too complicated. If you prefer afternoon sun, the best thing to do would be to alter the rotation of the Earth. It only takes one person to do this rather than a whole construction team (according to Superman II).

If the garden is north facing though, you could just flip the Earth at its poles instead.

LOL! It's actually Superman 1.