# Does a Westerly Garden Get any Sun?



## Sunflower123

I Know this may seem an odd question but I know a south facing garden is what everyone wants, but Im looking at a house which has a westerly facing garden, and was wondering how much sun will the garden get. 

Thanks


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## theoneill

I would imagine a west facing garden would get the sun from midday onwards


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## Wisecom

Yep, gets some sun in the evening


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## ClubMan

Why not just pop down to see the property during the current sunny weather at different times of the day?


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## mf1

I have a southeast facing back garden. I would give my eye teeth for the same garden with a westerly ( preferably southwesterly) aspect so that I could enjoy the long summer evenings that I am hoping for this summer!

mf


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## so-crates

mf1 said:


> I have a southeast facing back garden. I would give my eye teeth for the same garden with a westerly ( preferably southwesterly) aspect so that I could enjoy the long summer evenings that I am hoping for this summer!
> 
> mf


 
you could get up early and enjoy the long summer mornings


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## theoneill

When we were purchasing our house my girlfriend and I had a heated discussion about the aspect of the back garden. I had previously lived in an apartment for the past 10 years and was not too keen to fork out the additional 10K for a south west facing garden. Needless to say she won and as much as it pains me to admit it, she was right.


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## Sunflower123

ClubMan said:


> Why not just pop down to see the property during the current sunny weather at different times of the day?


I would only that its not that easy to get to.  There was some sun when we were there on sat but I was interested to know how long it would last for.  Thanks for your all your feedback


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## batty

Just make sure that the back garden IS west facing and not just estate agent speak. I've been shown houses by the same estate agent on the opposite sides of the street and been told that both houses had south facing gardens

A west facing back garden will get the sun in the back garden later than any other aspect.


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## mf1

so-crates said:


> you could get up early and enjoy the long summer mornings



Oh I do do that - but it's not the same knowing I'm under pressure  to get to work!
Now, in the evenings...........

mf


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## moneygrower

West is best is a phrase of gardeners but that's more about frost damage that vino on the terrace. You garden will be lovely in the evening which is probably when you most want to use it I think it's a pretty good thing. If it's long enough the bottom will be east facing.


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## Sunflower123

batty said:


> Just make sure that the back garden IS west facing and not just estate agent speak. I've been shown houses by the same estate agent on the opposite sides of the street and been told that both houses had south facing gardens
> 
> A west facing back garden will get the sun in the back garden later than any other aspect.


 
Ive been checked it out on the map and it is west alright.  Although the same estate agent told me an empty room can look smaller then one with stuff in it, so I know not to trust them. Thanks


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## ClubMan

Sunflower123 said:


> the same estate agent told me an empty room can look smaller then one with stuff in it, so I know not to trust them.


Nothing illogical about that - an empty small room could easily look smaller than a larger one with stuff in it. Depends on the relative sizes of the rooms and the size of the "stuff".


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## batty

moneygrower said:


> West is best is a phrase of gardeners but that's more about frost damage that vino on the terrace. You garden will be lovely in the evening which is probably when you most want to use it I think it's a pretty good thing. If it's long enough the bottom will be east facing.


 
I am geuinely not being smart but how could a west facing back garden have a "bottom that is east facing"?


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## MrMan

> Although the same estate agent told me an empty room can look smaller then one with stuff in it, so I know not to trust them. Thanks



Your estate agent would be right on that one, why not look at a new development builders finish and compare with show house and you'll see what he means.


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## Whiskey

batty said:


> I am geuinely not being smart but how could a west facing back garden have a "bottom that is east facing"?


 
I think Moneygrower is an estate agent.


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## mf1

batty said:


> I am geuinely not being smart but how could a west facing back garden have a "bottom that is east facing"?



If you have a rectangular long(or short) back garden and the back of the house faces west, then your back wall as you look back up towards the  house will face in the opposite direction i.e east.

mf


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## ajapale

moved from Location, Location, Location
to Mortgages and Buying and Selling Homes.

LLL is for discussing what its like to live in particular locations/developments.

Please post in the correct section.


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## Hillsalt

I would have never considered the angle at which the sun faces my garden as an issue when buying a house. That is, until now. My current house has a west facing gardenand it is blissful in summer evenings. Today, we had a BBQ at 5pm. 

We hope to trade up whenever the market changes and it will be vital to have a south/west facing back garden.


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## poorrelative

Hillpost..surely if you are serious about trading up then now is the time to do it not when the market changes.


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## poorrelative

sorry I mean Hillsalt


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## groom

batty said:


> I am geuinely not being smart but how could a west facing back garden have a "bottom that is east facing"?



Walk west until you reach bottom of garden. Turn 180 degrees. What direction are you facing?


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## groom

poorrelative said:


> Hillpost..surely if you are serious about trading up then now is the time to do it not when the market changes.



Why? Wouldn't basic logic suggest that its better to buy something when it is cheaper than more expensive

By 'market changes' Hillsalt means when prices have stopped falling


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## poorrelative

groom said:


> Why? Wouldn't basic logic suggest that its better to buy something when it is cheaper than more expensive


 

Absolutely, if you are only buying like a FTB then sure wait and see and hope you can guess when the market bottoms out but if you are trading up then I would prefer to do so in a downward market for several reasons

1) If housing market down 10% then the 10% drop in the value of your house (lets say it was worth 350 at peak and now only 315 therefore you seem to lose 35) will certailnly be less than the 10% drop in the trading-up house (lets say it was worth 550 now 495 therefore 55 less)...not to mention the slightly less stamp duty to pay.  This seems like a saving of about 20k but in reality is probably more because if you were to buy when the market turns then the opposite situation of the above means that trading up would likely cost you an extra 20k

2) Also much less likely to be involved in a bidding war and potentially paying more than the property is worth...also the comfort of having the time to make sure you are choosing the correct property is a luxury

Of course a trader-upper could sell and rent for a while before buying another property and likely make even more money.


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## Luckycharm

Have a west facing garden sun comes in about 11am and is there for the whole day it is great


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## minion

The truth of the facing gardens myth is that all gardens get sun.  apart from the postage stamp sized gardens that have been sold with houses recently.

The rule of thumb would be that if your garden is longer than the height of your house (Bungalows win here) or fence then you will get plenty of sun on it apart from the dead of winter (when you'll be lucky to see the sun anywhere).  

The biggest issue with directions that gardens face is definitely the length of the garden.  If you buy a 2 storey house with a garden 20tf long then you'll have issues alright.  My opinion is dont buy a house with a small garden if you intend to use that garden for anything other than storage.  If the garden is longer and wider than 20ft then you'll be fine.


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## iguana

minion said:


> The truth of the facing gardens myth is that all gardens get sun.  apart from the postage stamp sized gardens that have been sold with houses recently.



Indeed, my parents garden is north facing, but as it's 300ft long the vast majority of it gets sun.  (On the rare occasion the sun shines.)  And as the rear is north facing, that means the front garden also gets the sun.


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## ang1170

Ours is actually just west of north facing, and it gets plenty of sun in the summer. The "just west" bit makes a huge difference, though.

In this country (i.e. with a high latitude), aspect *does* make a significant difference, particularly in the winter months, but also throughout the entire year. 

By far the best aspect to have is west-facing, as this corresponds to maximising the time gardens are actually used (i.e. mid-morning to sunset).

Somewhat counter intuitively, I'd rank from most to least preferable as west-south-north-east. If you don't believe me, just ask someone who lives with each of these.


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## MandaC

Totally agree,  my previous house had south west back garden, got better sun than my current one which is south east. Still lovely bright house though.

 Having said that before that had north facing back garden - despite the garden being big enough - 60ft and sun being at the end, the back of the house (kitchen, sitting room) rooms which were most used had a constant chill about them and remember having to have lights on a Saturday morning at 11am.

For me, south west is best!


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