Advice on position of garden

Davesnave

Hoploz wrote: »

I didn't realise what we were missing out on until we moved. We have a nice sunny patio now. The main difference is if you like to sit out after work in the evening. If you have afternoon sun then you can do this, but in the north facing garden it's very cold by evening time as the warm sun has gone off hours earlier.

In the months when one sits out in the evening, the sun is actually in the western part of the sky, so it's what lies to the west that's most important to a north facing garden at that time.

My friends at our last house had a spot at the end of their north-facing garden for sitting out after work. Right now, at 17.40 my north facing front garden is full of sunshine.

Cakeguts

I don't think this house will have very much sun on the back garden at all. For a start in the east the top of the garden there is a garage on the plans. Then the sun would be on the front of the house for most of the day and in the evening it would be blocked out by the terrace of houses to the west. The garden appears to be wider than it is long on the plan. If this is the case when the house is built you won't get sun at the far end of the garden because it will be too short.

Is this plot cheaper than the other houses of the same design because of the back garden orientation? Have the others of the same design all sold?

I have just looked out of my front window here and there is no sun on the front garden now while the back is full of sunshine. The front garden is completely in shadow. There is nothing obstructing the sun in the east or west because that is where the road is. I am not sure what would happen if it was surrounded by buildings with one on the boundary.

Richard_Webster

there are no other houses close by that i could see that would shadow it.

But how do you know there won't be any in the near future?

Davesnave

casson2006 wrote: »

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Its a detached and there are no other houses close by that i could see that would shadow it. The kitchen is very open with patio doors.

Nos 68 - 70 and 74- 76 will have some influence on later afternoon & evening sunshine; how much depending on their height and the time of year.

What trees they grow at the end of their gardens could be even more significant!¬

danielley

If you are a 'sun person' I think ignoring garden aspect is only a mistake you make once. If in doubt, I would reconsider.

Mickygg

My 2p. I will reinforce what someone said. My most important thought would be layout of house. Of course having sun in garden is important but how much will you actually use the garden against actually being in the house.

My thoughts on looking for sun facing is where is the lounge, kitchen and if applicable conservatory located and facing in the house. Having owned several houses all with different facing gardens, this is my no. 1 thing.

I have found I want the lounge facing South (warm spring sun shining through and heats up room) conservatory North (had one facing south in previous house and I couldn't use it atall in the sunny summer months as too hot) and kitchen North (out of the sun, keep food and cupboards cool). That for me means a North facing ish garden suits me but only as long as the garden gets some sun most of the day as well. For this reason I would never consider a townhouse with tiny garden facing North as you would have no sun all year round.

EmmyLou30

We have a North facing garden on our detached house (11m in length from the house, about 13m wide, houses around are similar) and the house does cast shadow to some extent but it works perfectly for us. The growing part of the garden, lawn, flower beds, veg plot are all in full sun most of the day due to the distance from the house (it can't possibly cast a shadow that big!) and the patio remains in shade near the house to sit in and cool off. The sun comes between the houses (only a small path) enough to light up half the patio so you can choose to sit in sun or shade, it really has worked out better than we could have hoped.

If you're a sun lover you just put the patio/deck at the end of the garden instead. Make sure the washing line is in the middle of the lawn to get sun etc.

As for the house, it is darker in the dining room as it's set back compared to a single story kitchen sticking out and the pale beige we chose actually looked blue due to the light so we had to go for a warmer toned beige. I never thought it'd make so much difference to a paint colour - but the quality of light is different. Bedroom above the dining room though is fine. Kitchen is also fine as there is a single window facing west which brings in the light as well as the north facing double window.

So down to personal choice, but I wouldn't let a north facing garden be the deal breaker personally if the other houses are far enough away from you.

We had south facing at the old house, conservatory was unusable half the year, garden was unbearably hot with no shade at all and so we never used it.

Davesnave

EmmyLou30 wrote: »

We had south facing at the old house, conservatory was unusable half the year, garden was unbearably hot with no shade at all and so we never used it.

Where was that? I don't recognise this description of the British climate! Maybe the south-east heat island isn't a myth after all.

In our last south-facing garden, we planted trees, so when that odd yellow thing rose above the row of houses at the end of the garden, we sat under them. It happened occasionally.

benson1980

Garden unbearably hot in the UK- first time I've heard that one. We have a sout-west facing garden. I guess it's the old adage of you don't miss what you've never had but we are looking to move and we are not even bothering to view houses which have north, or east facing gardens which would be in the shadow of the main house. It is so nice having a sunny aspect on the lawn/patio and sun bathing the rear part of the house in the afternoon and evening when we actually use it/get home from work.

If a garden is important to you (which I'm guessing it is or you wouldn't be asking) I would suggest it might be worth giving it a miss.

franklee

benson1980 wrote: »

Garden unbearably hot in the UK- first time I've heard that one.

Our old house faced NNW at the back with open space behind the back fence so nothing to block the sun. In summer the sun set directly behind the back fence. The patio by the house was in sun all afternoon and evening. It was pretty but in summer I remember stepping out on the patio at 5pm or so and it being too hot for me to sit there. We kept the patio door curtains closed to keep the house cool. It had a small kitchen looking onto the garden which got very hot in the evenings. Ideal for someone who likes to sit in the sun and bake but I can only stand five minutes of that.

Here we are East facing at the back so morning sun and then shade by the house from early afternoon. This would be too shady but luckily we have some garden at the side that gets sun till 6pm. I can't garden for long in the sun so work in the shade. Would prefer a bit more evening sun really. OTOH the front of the house e.g. lounge window is sunny all afternoon but in summer we keep those curtains shut. The patio doors in the same room are in shade so we can keep those curtains open and see the garden.

My ideal would be to have open skies to the West regardless of if that was front or back of the house.