North facing garden

davilown

Garden will get sunlight - the sunlight you may miss will be the midday stuff. That will be a bonus as the back of your house will be cooler (assuming it’s a living room).
we have a North facing garden, admittedly about 40m long, but we are ever so grateful for the shade from the house in the summer

K_mounty

Thanks everyone! I have just been round as it’s sunny here today but no sun in the garden! Is this because the sun is too low?

Drawingaline

We have moved to a house with a north west facing garden. It is also a row of townhouses so that shades it too. So far we have seen that the far end of the garden gets a good amount early in, then it moves up the fence about a metre into the garden and ends with one end of the patio in sunlight. 

We are not keen gardeners so didn't give it a thought. Now I am looking at moving the trampoline so it is shaded, cutting back the bushes at the end and putting a small seating area at the end for the morning. We have a patio set and tbh will probably be glad of the shade on the days we may want to sit out there. My sisters garden gets full on midday sun and she said last summer it was unbearable. My mil is a keen gardener so will pick her brains for any suitable plants. 

Scotbot

Singlespeeder said:

As previously pointed out, the length of the garden is the most important bit ... if you have a long garden, it's irrelevant which direction it faces.   

Yep. My north facing garden gets sun all day once the clocks go forward. Even today it had sun most of the day over half the garden
The bigger consideration for me is light inside.  I have a through living dining room with the living area at the front.  It is fantastically light, gets sun all day and on a sunny winters day I don't even need heating. My mum's  house which is south facing also has the living area at the front and it is positively dingy by comparison.  It is usually the first thing people comment on, how lovely and light my house is. I love it.

tealady

I have a North facing garden and it's perfect for me. Don't use it in the winter and get shade from the house when its summer (and hopefully sunny). 
I also have the sun on my living room every day (as long as it's not cloudy). It is a light bright room.
Friend has a South facing garden with little shade. It can be too hot to sit in during the Summer.
I wouldn't swap my house for theirs.

AnotherJoe

K_mounty said:

Hi,
I am buying a house that is north facing, slightly west. I have spoken with the neighbours and they said they get the sun in the morning at the back of the garden and then late afternoon/evening on the patio. I always thought north facing gardens didn’t get any sun!? Can anyone help me please. Thanks 

I just moved into a house with a  N facing garden (almost due N). The very back of the garden gets sun now (what little we've had) most of the day and I can see as the sun gets higher in the sky eventually half the garden will get it whilst the half near the house never will (Its a fairly wide but shallow garden, the opposite of yours). Doesn't bother me because in my last garden, i never sat in the bit that got the sun (some parts of which was all day).

My lawn is very lush though despite another post saying it wont be.

I once lived in a house with a N facing lawn maybe double yours in length and again near the house never got sun but we just put a patio area towards the end of the garden which was always in sun.

frogglet

We lived in a house with a south facing garden for 30 years. We bought it as we were told south facing is the best. 
The rooms facing that way got so hot, also it was unbearable to do gardening on sunny days.
We now have a North facing garden, not by choice but because we really wanted this house. 
Its far more bearable to do jobs in summer.

Gambler

Could anybody help with this north facing garden quandary please.
I've seen a house in a lovely peaceful location. I've managed to get my head around:

• £500 annual charge
• Renewable energy
• Ditch along the back garden to collect surface water from the fields

But I do like to be able to sit in the sun. These pictures are from a viewing last week at 2pm. Plenty of sun in the front but nothing in the back apart from the top right hand corner. Not sure there will be any later on either 

Thanks

teachfast

Gambler said:

Could anybody help with this north facing garden quandary please.
I've seen a house in a lovely peaceful location. I've managed to get my head around:

• £500 annual charge
• Renewable energy
• Ditch along the back garden to collect surface water from the fields

But I do like to be able to sit in the sun. These pictures are from a viewing last week at 2pm. Plenty of sun in the front but nothing in the back apart from the top right hand corner. Not sure there will be any later on either 

Thanks

Don't forget it is spring and the sun is lower than it will be in the summer and at midday. As others have said, get an app and it will show you where the sun will travel. Remember shade is cast by an object so see what objects are between the sun and the garden at what times. 

robatwork

This website/app is pretty amazing:
https://www.suncalc.org/