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Garden facing west north west

annaspencerannaspencer Posts: 3
in Garden design
hello, 

We are considering buying a house with a garden facing west north west, the garden is long, 115ft by about 40 ft, hoping this makes a difference to how much sun we can hope to get. As we want sun in the afternoon and evening ( in morning a bit too if possible) wondering whether we’ll be able to get it with this house... could anyone advise on what the sun will be doing across the day? It is not overlooked to the back or sides. Picture shows exact direction. Thank you.  

Posts

  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    edited June 2018
    Rather a lot depends on whether or not there are tall ‘things’ in or around the garden (mature trees, buildings etc).

    Assuming there is nothing tall (except the house) much of the garden will be in sun for much of the day and you will even have sun on the back wall of the house in the late evening in the summer.

    In the depths of winter the back of the house (and about 10 - 15m out from it) will probably be shady - but there should still be sun in the rest of the garden.

    Any tall structures in or around the garden will cast additional shade year round. Shadows are longer later in the day and in the winter. Tall trees in particular can cast very long and rather dense evening shadows.

    Our north facing garden has a patio across the back. Surprisingly, it gets a lot of sun from beginning of May to the end of August during the day. However, the garden is quite heavily shaded after about 7 pm because of trees in our neighbour’s garden on the west side. At this time of year the sun sets in the north west and is high enough that we get another late burst around 9pm but it doesn’t last long.

    Our rear garden is approx 90’ long by 45’ wide.
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • annaspencerannaspencer Posts: 3
    Thank you so much Topbird, your detailed message was really helpful. Best wishes 
  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    My garden faces north west also. All of the garden gets sun for most of the day. Exception being right along the back of the house - but only for about 3-4 feet out from the house. I have a shady plants border there. And I have a bit of artificial shade along the western border as I have a 6 ft hedge there but again that is only 3-4 foot of shade out from the hedge. Rest of the garden basks in sun. 
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • annaspencerannaspencer Posts: 3
    That’s brilliant to hear / thank you! Much more positive than expected 
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    Very good answers so far. I once had a North West aspect. Never a problem. In terms of garden, like all aspects, you will work out where the sun is, where the semi shade is eventually. Being it is such a long garden, the aspect is really not an issue at all, because ultimately, it's all about the neighbouring trees and buildings that can determine how much sun/shade you get anyway. Then there is the soil condition to also take into account.
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