Hardy Tropicals UK

I have a garden which is south facing with a slight south facing slope as well, best of both worlds! The difference between the front and back garden can be as much as 14c on a sunny day . Ive often thought a south east garden would be better in a cold area as the sun would melt the frost quicker and you could eat breakfast out side on a warm day. However if you are a barbecue person then south west may be a better bet.

this is something which still confuses me ....

the way I see it ....

the garden has 4 walls/fences/boundaries .... one will be south facing, one will be north facing, one will be east facing and one west facing

assuming that there are no huge buildings or trees that overshadow the area/bed, I plant accordingly to the aspect that the bed to be planted faces

Dim wrote:this is something which still confuses me ....

the way I see it ....

the garden has 4 walls/fences/boundaries .... one will be south facing, one will be north facing, one will be east facing and one west facing

assuming that there are no huge buildings or trees that overshadow the area/bed, I plant accordingly to the aspect that the bed to be planted faces

Dim if you have a big garden, or a square garden then Its not very important. If you live in a suburban garden on an estate or in a town most are long and narrow. If your garden is oriented east to west a large part of your garden is in shade for most of the day due to neighbours trees, shrubs fence or sheds. If the garden is oriented north to south there is much less shade. Simples eh.

Slight update: I got a decent compass on my rear garden just now & the reading standing against the house & looking down the garden is showing 330 degree's northwest, in real term's this is only a fraction off the original west facing rear garden I thought I had!! . karl.

Back garden is south facing but due to the position of the house the patio is east facing and so is the greenhouse so they get a good battering in the winter.

The back garden is South East facing.

North

grub, out of interest what's the main downside for your garden's aspect?, how long is your garden & on a typical sunny day what parts are the hottest & do any area's see no sun!. karl.

I get no sun at all in the winter Karl, in fact I get none now. It would hit the far end of the garden I guess if the bamboo wasn't 7M tall

Just look on google maps to see which way your garden faces.

South

The house wall is SE, but I also have a long SW facing border.
However, there are 2 trees that steal much of the low sun, one of them a conifer (in my garden, which I can't get rid of), the other a deciduous sycamore (?) next door which stays in leaf pretty long.

Mine is south, it was one of the reasons we bought this house 5 years ago