Q: How much sun should it get? I love sitting outside in the afternoon / early evening. Would hate to have gloomy.
Our previous house had a West facing garden which was great as we had the from late morning until it set, and perfect when having bbq, or you wanted to sun tan, etc..
Our new house has south facing which has sun from morning until it sets, which again, for us, is perfect.. I know some people like east facing because you get the shade, but the problem is that you ALWAYS get the shade, with south/west facing garden you can atleast create your own shade if you wish to, and sun if you want.
My mother in laws garden is east facing and to be honest it is terrible, as she looses the sun late morning, and the garden is dark and alot colder the rest of the day..
We only viewed houses with South, Southwest or West facing gardens, I wouldnt even consider a north/east facing garden.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg/module1/light1.shtml
* North-facing gardens get the least light and can be damp
* South-facing gardens get the most light
* East-facing gardens get morning light
* West-facing gardens get afternoon and evening light
The problem with the new build is that if your neighbours all start growing trees/large ferns in their gardens even if you have good light now you may not in a few years time.
BTW the front of my property is is East facing. My back and garden is west facing. The front loses light by mid-day. And is quite dark and gloomy which will be good in summer as I won't get too hot as my bedroom is at the front.
The back, west facing which includes the kitchen and garden doesn't get "nice" light until about 11am However it is light all day even though I'm surround by large trees.
Strangely all the properties I've lived in with gardens have only ever been South or West facing.
We have just moved to a house with an east facing garden. TBH the garden was the most disappointing thing about the house when we viewed because it's smaller than we would have liked, but the house ticked all the other boxes & had a great location so we figured we had to compromise somewhere.
The top and one side of the garden get sun till about 16:30/17:00 at this time of year. Earlier in the year when the sun was lower it only stayed till about 15:00. If our garden was longer the sun would reach it till later. My DH likes it because it's cool in the evenings but I have to admit it would be nice to have the sun more in the afternoon or evening.
Overall would I go out of my way to pick a house with an east facing garden – no. But if the house matches or exceeds all your other requirements, and you don't think it will affect resale value, then it would be something I would compromise on.
Last summer I was rather glad the back of my house was in shade later in the day, it kept the lounge and bedroom bearable. Hmm, the only other downside for me is blazing sun through the rear bedroom window, making me wake up too early :rolleyes:
Keep your experiences coming east facers!
If it's a new build I assume it has small garden. Unless it's a corner plot, which may extend your options (depending on where other houses, garages are), I wouldn't buy it.
Running horse – the location (i.e. good area) and way the garden faces are equally important to me. As is a very quiet situation for the house. If all 3 are not ticked I won't even view (unless the garden is v long or a corner plot). That's why I'm still here :confused: .
Keep your experiences coming east facers!
Mine's got a small weed patch on the East side and a slightly bigger one on the west side – the eastern side get sun until about 2pm in summer (house is only 1 1/2 storeys high though) and the wall on the other side of the drive adjacent to the Eastern side garden gets sun all day long.
we have a patio by the house which by 2.30 is in shade- which is great when the sun is blistering down. It also keeps the house cool all day.
we have another patio further down the garden, about 90 feet from the house which is in the sun all day and has the garden chairs, table, parasol etc.
Barbeques are no problem-the chaps can barbie on the top patio in the shade and we can all sit and drink our glass of something in the sunshine.
so my answer would be- yes go for east facing but make sure that the garden is big enough to take advantage of the afternoon sun if you want to.
the back of the house is cool all afternoon because it is in the shade, we mostly use the bedrooms at the back of the house for us and guests. and in the summer they are still pleasant instead of being boiling.
No, the garden is part of the house.
Now I've got a SSW faing garden, which is just great – however the living room at the front of the house gets no sun in the evening and does feel a bit dull. The ideal may be a West facing garden so the front of the house gets sun in the morning & the back in the evening.
I have to be honest, I dont think Id want an east facing garden.
im all up for growing my own veg and here in london where the weather is perfect for it, we are getting very little growing indeed. We get sun from about 8.30 am to about 11.30 am otherwise its completely shaded.
Washing takes about 3 days to dry too :wall: