Could you use points in the local area/a map as a guide to figure it out? For example, we live in North Kent and when you step into our back garden, you can see the skyscrapers in Canary Wharf, London. London is West of Kent, therefore we know our garden faces West. It's also the direction in which the sun sets in the evening
That's really interesting @Balgay.Hill. I've never heard of that one
@shazza 3 - there's no point in describing the shadows in your garden if we can't see how any of it's laid out! There are also several seas surrounding the British Isles, so again - we'd need to know which sea you're talking about. However, if you have sun in the front garden of your house at around 3pm, then that garden will be approximately south to south west facing, assuming the sun is roughly in the middle of the plot. Impossible to be any more accurate than that. The back garden will therefore be approximately north to north east, assuming the plot is roughly rectangular overall. That's yet another factor which would have an impact, as not all gardens are that straightforward in their shape. Decide which garden you want to know the aspect of, then just track the sun - just look at where it rises and sets. Doesn't need to be 100% exact - look at where it is when you get up, and when it's disappeared in the evening. That will determine east and west reasonably well, and the nearer you are to the coast, the easier it will be
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Do you have an iPad? You can load a simple compass app which will show you the direction you are facing. I’m sure there must be something similar for a smart phone.
Note, if I am in my house looking out of the back window at the rear garden I am looking North. If I go into the garden and look back at the house I am looking South. It is a South facing garden.
I would say precisely the opposite. If you are looking North away from the house, that is a North facing garden. A south facing garden gets sun on it for almost all the day. A north facing garden gets comparatively little. The direction the garden 'faces' obviously only matter if a building or trees blocks the sun during part of the day.
A small North-facing garden will get little sun. A larger one will get sun where the shadow of the house doesn't reach, if it's not shaded by other structures.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
@KT53 is right - the direction you look in, from the house, is the way the garden would be described. I think I may have misread @BenCotto's post, and missed what he said at the end - which is the wrong way round. It's misleading to judge a plot just by the aspect of course, because of all the other things that affect a garden, which leads me to the question- why do you need to know @shazza 3? If it's to make choosing plants easier, there are a lot of other factors to take account of, which we've added in our comments - ie buildings, walls, fences, size, soil type, climate, other planting etc.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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@shazza 3 - there's no point in describing the shadows in your garden if we can't see how any of it's laid out!
There are also several seas surrounding the British Isles, so again - we'd need to know which sea you're talking about.
However, if you have sun in the front garden of your house at around 3pm, then that garden will be approximately south to south west facing, assuming the sun is roughly in the middle of the plot. Impossible to be any more accurate than that.
The back garden will therefore be approximately north to north east, assuming the plot is roughly rectangular overall. That's yet another factor which would have an impact, as not all gardens are that straightforward in their shape.
Decide which garden you want to know the aspect of, then just track the sun - just look at where it rises and sets. Doesn't need to be 100% exact - look at where it is when you get up, and when it's disappeared in the evening. That will determine east and west reasonably well, and the nearer you are to the coast, the easier it will be
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Buy or borrow one and Google 'How to use a compass'.
I would say precisely the opposite. If you are looking North away from the house, that is a North facing garden. A south facing garden gets sun on it for almost all the day. A north facing garden gets comparatively little. The direction the garden 'faces' obviously only matter if a building or trees blocks the sun during part of the day.
It's misleading to judge a plot just by the aspect of course, because of all the other things that affect a garden, which leads me to the question- why do you need to know @shazza 3?
If it's to make choosing plants easier, there are a lot of other factors to take account of, which we've added in our comments - ie buildings, walls, fences, size, soil type, climate, other planting etc.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...