Scott, all that matters is which parts get most sun. Spend time on your patio and watch where the sun rises, does it shine on part of the garden if yes then that part is East facing. does the sun then pass behind the house with no sun reaching the garden then that is North facing. Once around the house does the sun then shine on the garden until sunset, then it is west facing. If it shone on the garden all day it would be South facing.
Think of your garden as a diamond with facets, each facet will have a different aspect, houses are built on every point of the compass all will differ as to what sun they receive through a day, (when we get sun) and most gardens will have parts in full sun some partial shade and some shady parts which is why we can grow such a variety of plants. Sit and take stock you may be pleasantly surprised at how much sun your garden gets in a day.
Thanks Frank. When I moved here a couple of years ago, I did the vital task of sitting in the garden with a beer in hand observing which borders were in sun or shade at which point of the day. As a result I've planted one cottage style border and one which might loosely be described as a more prairie style border. Having done all of that I just wanted to get my head around the terminology because I love to know stuff like this.
Scott, Garden terminology can be very frustrating more so with plant names, I was brought up with all the old names, then it all went posh. Latin names were the vogue until some one discovered many separate plants were actually of the same genus so it all changed again. By then my brain said enough, I am back to all the old names and terms I knew of old. My garden is South and West facing apart from a section behind the Southern fence which gets little sun so you could say North facing, my front is East facing and partly South facing, confused?? well I am so I ignore the lot and say, sunny, very sunny, sometimes sunny, and wear an anorak, works for me.
Just to confuse the issue and refer to what Bob has said, I stand outside my back door and face North and beds by the house are in shade except in high summer. The bed in front of me 4m away, is south facing and in summer as dry as a bone, the rest of the garden to my right is west facing. Great fun gardening isn't it!
I'd have an awful long wait if I had to watch the sun tracking Frank - it doesn't usually appear for long enough here...
Dave's right - it can depend on the size of the plot as different areas will have different aspects within a space if it's large. All sorts of factors have a bearing - neighbouring buildings or trees, removal of a large shrub etc.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Fairy Girl, I can see I will have to come back up to Inverness, the sun shone hot and bright on my last holiday, rained when I got home.
Why worry count our blessings that we can grow almost anything in this country, my Herb Bed hot and dry would be classed as North facing yet it gets more sun than most. I rest my case.
Ah thanks for this. I now am totally confused!!! I am a novice gardener and have plonked things here and there. Some have thrived some not. I recently removed (well him indoors) removed a raised bed from the back garden which was happily growing heathers. They failed miserably in the front garden years before. I now have them in pots trying to decide where to replant them. They are still doing well.
So I have a south facing back garden. They were in the left border with my back to the house is that east facing? I want to put them on the opposite bed (west facing?) they have been in pots there for about a month and seem fairly happy. I take it that my North facing? Front garden is not ideal for heathers? Any help gratefully accepted! Julia
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Scott, all that matters is which parts get most sun. Spend time on your patio and watch where the sun rises, does it shine on part of the garden if yes then that part is East facing. does the sun then pass behind the house with no sun reaching the garden then that is North facing. Once around the house does the sun then shine on the garden until sunset, then it is west facing. If it shone on the garden all day it would be South facing.
Think of your garden as a diamond with facets, each facet will have a different aspect, houses are built on every point of the compass all will differ as to what sun they receive through a day, (when we get sun) and most gardens will have parts in full sun some partial shade and some shady parts which is why we can grow such a variety of plants. Sit and take stock you may be pleasantly surprised at how much sun your garden gets in a day.
Frank.
Thanks Frank. When I moved here a couple of years ago, I did the vital task of sitting in the garden with a beer in hand observing which borders were in sun or shade at which point of the day. As a result I've planted one cottage style border and one which might loosely be described as a more prairie style border. Having done all of that I just wanted to get my head around the terminology because I love to know stuff like this.
Scott, Garden terminology can be very frustrating more so with plant names, I was brought up with all the old names, then it all went posh. Latin names were the vogue until some one discovered many separate plants were actually of the same genus so it all changed again. By then my brain said enough, I am back to all the old names and terms I knew of old. My garden is South and West facing apart from a section behind the Southern fence which gets little sun so you could say North facing, my front is East facing and partly South facing, confused?? well I am so I ignore the lot and say, sunny, very sunny, sometimes sunny, and wear an anorak, works for me.
Frank.
Just to confuse the issue and refer to what Bob has said, I stand outside my back door and face North and beds by the house are in shade except in high summer. The bed in front of me 4m away, is south facing and in summer as dry as a bone, the rest of the garden to my right is west facing. Great fun gardening isn't it!
Observation ............. that's the key!!!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I'd have an awful long wait if I had to watch the sun tracking Frank - it doesn't usually appear for long enough here...
Dave's right - it can depend on the size of the plot as different areas will have different aspects within a space if it's large. All sorts of factors have a bearing - neighbouring buildings or trees, removal of a large shrub etc.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Fairy Girl, I can see I will have to come back up to Inverness, the sun shone hot and bright on my last holiday, rained when I got home.
Why worry count our blessings that we can grow almost anything in this country, my Herb Bed hot and dry would be classed as North facing yet it gets more sun than most. I rest my case.
Frank
Ah thanks for this. I now am totally confused!!! I am a novice gardener and have plonked things here and there. Some have thrived some not. I recently removed (well him indoors) removed a raised bed from the back garden which was happily growing heathers. They failed miserably in the front garden years before. I now have them in pots trying to decide where to replant them. They are still doing well.
So I have a south facing back garden. They were in the left border with my back to the house is that east facing? I want to put them on the opposite bed (west facing?) they have been in pots there for about a month and seem fairly happy. I take it that my North facing? Front garden is not ideal for heathers? Any help gratefully accepted! Julia
Last edited: 05 July 2016 17:42:12