North Facing Garden - Urgent!

[lynda66]

oh and north facing gardens are better for evening BBQ's , my patio in the back is completely sunless by about 4pm. whereas the front has sun all evening

[BrideXIII]

my garden is north facing, always sun at the bottom end in summer, never had a problem growing anything including tomatos last year right up on the patio.

Its quite open too, so not at all gloomy even today.

[bluemoon]

Our garden is south facing. No housing at the back to block the sun at all and in a hot summer it's intolerable. I'm not sure I'd swap it for north facing, but you have a lottie now so all your veg can go there and the garden at home could be planted with shade in mind. Also, in a hot summer your lawns will survive.

[Eyren]

Our garden is south facing. No housing at the back to block the sun at all and in a hot summer it's intolerable.

Same here - I'd swap my tiny south-facing garden for a long north-facing one any day! Especially if it already had a greenhouse

(not a short one though - that would be dire!)

So, Rhona, have you decided yet?

[lynda66]

i do find with mine, as theres nothing round it at all, it's lovely and bright, and the house is much warmer at the front than the back in the afternoons, it really does depend if it's open or surrounded by trees or other houses, it's only winter where it doesn't get as much sun, but then i've only seen sun in the back garden about 3 times since september anyway

[jaykay]

We've a north facing back garden. From mid-October to mid-March we get very little direct sunlight as the house casts a shadow over most of it. Once the sun gets higher in the sky most parts do get the sun apart from the rear wall of the house. On a hot summer day it can be very pleasant to sit in the shade, and your little ones will benefit from an outside area that will protect them from the sun's rays.

Hope your offer is accepted and all goes well.

[vicky]

I have a north facing garden now and I hate it...but saying that I would have one again IF the rest of the garden compensated for it.

We get no sun on the patio this time of year and it's gloomy, but if the house is sound damp is not a problem.

We went to see a house today that I would kill for.... I have talked the OH into letting me offer on it....Did you put in an offer Rhona?

[Storming Norman]

I'm confused about this thread - which part of the garden faces north? Can the whole garden face north?

The long sides of my garden face north on one side and south on the other. The short sides face east [house/patio end] and west [veg patch end]. It also slopes towards the veg patch so accumulates frost at that end [and gets soggy].

My green house is on the north side, and shaded to a degree by trees - pretty cold in winter but the situation is really good to keep the heat and watering down in the summer. I like it that way - although it was a complete accident. Now I have planted suitable fruit trees/bushes that can cope with the cooler conditions on the north side. There are also some pretty hardy evergeens etc on that side so I think it looks better overall all year round than the hot side - which can be difficult in summer.

How sheltered it is from frost & wind exposure may be important to you as well. Also salad veg and runner beans don't like too much heat [if you like them].

It is too hot to work in our south border for long but I can work the other side for ages, so I am turning more of this area to veg. Also now I have a patio at each end of the garden there is always somewhere warm, and somewhere else to go to get away from the heat. This was constructed last year and really made a major difference. I had not only the veg beds but also the paths and patio raised by 6" to deal with the wet and frost in winter. I can now use the garden all year round - which I could not before.

If you love the house, and the garden is not too exposed, I think with time you will create your own micro climates to make the most of what you have. It's not a great time of year to see the best in a garden but I bet there is a lovely garden there just waiting to find an owner who knows how to make the most of it.

Ann

[lynda66]

I'm confused about this thread - which part of the garden faces north? Can the whole garden face north?

The long sides of my garden face north on one side and south on the other. The short sides face east [house/patio end] and west [veg patch end]. It also slopes towards the veg patch so accumulates frost at that end [and gets soggy].


Ann

so basically you have an east facing garden

[Rhona]

Thanks so much everyone. Your comments are all dead helpful. We're going back today, early afternoon to get a better look. We have made an offer, as houses in the area we want to live, as nice as this one, are pretty few and far between. The chap who lives there says that his wife was a keen gardner and she wanted to have a vegetable plot at the foot of the garden (tragically, she died last year). We'll see. As pointed out above, we do have the allotment now as well, and there's a piccie on the estate agent website showing the garden in almost full sun!

Anyway. Our offer hasn't been accepted yet, but we're going to chat to owner later. Exciting! This is nesting instinct gone mad!

[piskieinboots]

I missed this post.

My back garden is North West, I have no troubles* with it at all, it produces plenty of veg and ornamentals.

If you love the house, go with it - any garden can be made to fit in, erm can't it!

*apart from frost pocket, but that is how Benson is

[bobleponge]

So Rhona? Have you got a new nest?

[bluemoon]

Also, with you having the children, you might want to think about the desirability of shady areas. When they're a little older and want to play outside slapping sun cream on every five minutes is a pain and not always as effective as you'd like. They get hot, bothered and irritable too, much better to have a garden with a bit of shade.

[HayleyB]

Bluemoon has a very valid point there, also if you put the veggies at the bottom away from the house and lawn at the top then it's easier to keep an eye on the kiddies. In the Summer the sun will be high enough anyway for sun through most of the garden, it's only the lower suns of shorter days that you'll really notice it. And as a dreaded *gasp estate agent I'll just stop right there