Question

Hi im new looking into buying a house it's garden is north facing. Do they get any sun? Anyone north facing please

Answer 1

I live in a 3 story flat, back garden gets the sun in the summer, half the day in the spring and autumn and not at all really in winter

Answer 2

It depends if the garden is long enough for you to get sun over the top of the house. If not, I don’t think I would buy it but I’m a really keen gardener so it would be important to me.  

Comments

@mooncalf3 I agree, my garden is fully north facing but is quite long, the level is important too. Mine started as a fairly steep slope which is now on 3 levels so gets some sun. The top section closest to the house only gets full sun from about 5 pm in summer though, so if I just had that section I think I’d have to move  

Answer 3

I would like to move in to new house because we have garden and 2 bedrooms north facing, garden horible in rooms all the time dark

Answer 4

I have a north facing back garden and living room- i agree the grass didnt grow well but i put gravel down and bark as a play area. each part where iv put plants gets a bit of sun throughout the day and they have all survived and are doing well. at first i thought i wouldnt be able to make a nice garden but i think im getting there and was suprised how well everything has done over the last 2 years since i planted them.  

Comments

@lemniscate909 Looks lovely!  

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@thew96537 aww thanks  

Answer 5

We're North East facing. At this time of year the grass is really mossy so I've ripped a load of it up and made two huge flower beds with box, hydrangeas and roses in as well as foxgloves, astilbe and bleeding hearts. There are bulbs in there too (hoping for some tulips to come up soon) and snowdrops at this time of year. Its about working with what you've got. Good luck!  

Answer 6

Know someone who has a North facing garden and they need the light on all day gets no light at all

Answer 7

Depends where the house is We have a long north facing garden and we get the sun from about 12 then it comes round and we have the sun till about 7/8pm in the summer but it never touches the back of the house. we have a field out the back and no houses to keep the sun out. Love my garden.  

Answer 8

We have a north facing back garden and its lovely. Warm enough to laze when its sunny. Just choose plants carefully. Our lawn is fine. Biggest problem is the dreaded huge trees belonging to neighbour. We had a patio built at the bottom of the garden in the full sun but now its so gloomy we've built a small patio nearer the house. It's not a large garden.  

Answer 9

We moved from a south-facing rear garden to a north-facing one. It's a new build & I'm enjoying the challenge of making the garden - flowering perennials where the sun gets on the West-facing fence, & shade-loving plants where the sun only reaches for a short time in the Summer. The end of the garden is South facing & is a sun trap.  

Answer 10

Used to rent house with North facing garden, no lawn but gravel with only shade loving shrubs. Never sunny and always felt cold, barely spent time out there. Living room and kitchen was always dark and cold. You can make it work if you have to but if you have a choice I'd keep looking.  

Answer 11

Mine is south rear. Perfect but blinding. Go and visit during various times of the day . Good thinking xx

Answer 12

Always shady, damp n cool even in summer

Answer 13

It all depends on the length and width of the garden, how tall neighbouring fences and walls are and also if you're in a house or a bungalow. I had a narrow and short North facing rear garden in a house, no sun at all in the winter!  

Comments

@danaedanaher Curtis yes absolutely right. Also depends on what trees the neighbours have. Ours have a great conifer that blocks a lot of our light. Our garden is north facing. The bottom gets some sun in the winter. But we still manage to have a lawn.  

Answer 14

Mine is north-west facing. We get sun at the end of the garden. Directly to the back of the house is deep shade. It is lovely though! There are lots of plants that like partial shade. You need to take into account the buildings or other structures/trees around it that may block light. We are on a steep hill so our upstairs is level with next door's downstairs. That means their hedge blocks some light from our garden. It is nice that it doesn't get too hot to sit out in.  

Answer 15

I’m east and we have the sun in the morning and then in the afternoon it’s in the end of the garden x

Answer 16

My back garden faces north. Still plenty of sun in summer when the su is high, but mainly in shade during winter months. My grass is often wet so I have to plan mowing carefully. Avoid decking - never dry in winter and will eventually kill me I'm sure! My garden is mature and contains lots of trees, bushes shrubs that like wet (and help suck it up). Put stuff in pots too as you can move them to sunny spots

Answer 17

Ours in theory is north west facing and gets loads of sun . I do very well with south African plants . But we are at the end of the row with nothing on the west side and it’s well over a hundred foot long so it dosent matter . People still get hung up about it when viewing my house for sale and there’s just no need. It really depends on the size of the garden and what next door to cast a shadow

Answer 18

Many factors will impact but I would say the main factor is the HEIGHT of the house; Obviously you know that winter sun is way lower on the horizon due to the inclination of the earth to the sun's orbite. long story short I would say YES you will get sun in the garden BUT ONT all year around

Answer 19

Mine is north facing and we get more and more sun as the year goes on. You can always find a sunny spot but being the temperatures last year we were also grateful for the shady areas. Just put seating areas in the sunny spots