Garden orientation guide

North, south, east and west-facing gardens, what works and what doesn’t

Every garden is shaped by light, water, wind and soil. But the factor most people underestimate is orientation. The direction your garden faces determines how sunlight moves through the space, which plants will thrive, where seating is most comfortable, and how the soil behaves through the year.

This hub guide explains how garden orientation affects planting, soil behaviour and design decisions for gardens in Kingston, Surbiton, Richmond, Esher, Cobham and across Surrey. From this page you can navigate to the detailed guides for each aspect, or use our free Sun Planner tool to see exactly how light will move through your specific garden across the year.

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In this guide

How to tell which way your garden faces

Stand at the back door of the house and look out into the garden. The direction you are looking is the orientation of the garden. A garden that faces south means the back of the house faces south, and the garden runs away from the house in that direction.

A compass app on a phone confirms this in seconds. Stand at the back door, hold the phone flat, and read the bearing it points to as you look into the garden. North is 0°, east is 90°, south is 180° and west is 270°. A reading of 200° means the garden is south-south-west facing; 290° means west-north-west.

Most gardens in Kingston, Richmond and Surbiton are not perfectly aligned to a cardinal direction. Many sit at an angle, such as south-west or north-east. This matters because the diagonal orientations combine some of the qualities of two aspects. A south-west garden gets late morning, afternoon and evening sun, which is often more pleasant for outdoor living than a perfectly south-facing garden that bakes through midday. A north-east garden gets gentle morning light without the harsh midday heat that west-facing borders endure.

North-facing gardens

A north-facing garden receives little direct sunlight through the middle of the day, particularly in winter when the sun stays low to the south. In summer, when the sun rises and sets to the north of due east and west, a north-facing garden will receive a few hours of low-angle direct light in the early morning and late evening, with bright ambient light through the middle of the day.

North-facing gardens are often described as difficult, but they have specific qualities that the other aspects cannot match. The soil stays cooler and retains moisture longer, which suits a wide range of beautiful shade-tolerant plants. The light is even and calm rather than harsh, which makes the garden a comfortable place to sit on hot summer days when south-facing gardens are uncomfortably exposed. And the planting palette includes some of the most reliable and rewarding garden plants available, from Helleborus and Sarcococca for winter interest through to Astrantia, Brunnera and Hydrangea for the growing season.

South-facing gardens

South-facing gardens receive sunlight for most of the day, with the sun moving across the sky from the eastern boundary in the morning to the western boundary in the evening. They are the most sought-after orientation in the UK property market and the most flexible for both outdoor living and ornamental planting.

South-facing gardens are not without their challenges. The soil dries quickly in summer, which can stress unprepared planting. The intense midday sun in July and August can be uncomfortable for sitting in without shade. Lawns can scorch on south-facing slopes during dry periods. And the planting palette, while broad, does need to be selected for drought tolerance rather than assuming any plant will perform simply because it gets the most sun.

East-facing and west-facing gardens

East-facing gardens

East-facing gardens receive gentle, direct morning light from sunrise to around midday, then shade for the rest of the day. The light quality is fresh and cool rather than hot, which suits a different planting palette to either north or south-facing aspects. East-facing gardens are particularly suited to spring-flowering plants that benefit from morning light to open their flowers, and to clients who use the garden primarily in the morning for breakfast or early-day outdoor working.

The one consideration with east-facing aspects is the risk of frost damage to early-flowering plants. A clear, frosty night followed by direct sunlight on frozen flower buds can cause more damage than the cold itself. Camellia, Magnolia and early-flowering Rhododendron are vulnerable in this respect on east-facing walls and should be positioned with care.

Read the east-facing garden guide for detailed design and planting recommendations.

West-facing gardens

West-facing gardens receive their direct sun from around midday through to evening, with the warmest period of the day in mid-to-late afternoon. The light is rich and warm rather than harsh, particularly in summer when the late evening sun has a quality that no other aspect provides. West-facing gardens are arguably the most pleasant for outdoor entertaining and evening use, as the warmth of the afternoon carries into the evening hours when people are most likely to be outside.

The planting palette for west-facing gardens overlaps significantly with south-facing schemes. Drought tolerance, sun-loving structural plants, ornamental grasses and Mediterranean species all perform well. West-facing aspects are particularly suited to evening-fragrant plants such as Lonicera (honeysuckle) and Jasminum officinale, whose scent intensifies in the warm late-day air.

Read the west-facing garden guide for detailed design and planting recommendations.

Wind exposure and garden orientation

Wind direction interacts with garden orientation in ways that are often overlooked. The prevailing wind in Surrey comes from the south-west, which means south-west and west-facing gardens receive more wind than north or east-facing aspects. In an exposed position, this can significantly affect comfort, the kinds of plants that will perform, and the moisture loss from soil and foliage during the growing season.

Cold easterly winds in late winter and early spring are a separate consideration that can damage marginally tender plants more than the cold temperatures alone. The “Beast from the East” weather pattern brings dry, freezing air from continental Europe that desiccates foliage. East-facing gardens are most exposed to this. Sheltered positions and windbreak planting can significantly moderate the effect on vulnerable specimens.

Read the windy gardens guide for windbreak strategies, plant selection and design solutions for exposed sites.

Soil moisture and orientation

Orientation has a direct effect on how soil behaves through the year. Understanding this is essential to selecting the right plants and to avoiding the most common drainage and watering problems.

  • North-facing soil stays cooler and damper for longer. This suits moisture-loving shade plants but can lead to waterlogging on poorly drained clay sites in winter.
  • South-facing soil dries quickly under summer sun, particularly on slopes. Drought-tolerant planting and mulching are essential to prevent stress.
  • East-facing soil warms early in the morning but cools quickly in the afternoon, creating fluctuating moisture conditions that suit plants adapted to cool-temperate spring conditions.
  • West-facing soil retains heat later into the day and through evening, which extends the growing season and benefits warmth-loving plants but accelerates moisture loss during dry spells.

Surrey’s underlying London Clay magnifies these effects. Clay holds water and warmth differently in shade than in sun, and the combination of orientation and clay drainage characteristics is one of the most important variables in successful planting design here. Our managing a flooded garden guide covers drainage solutions for waterlogged sites in detail.

How orientation affects garden design

Orientation influences every significant design decision a garden requires. The aspect determines where the warm spots and cool spots fall, where shade structures might be needed, where seating is most comfortable at different times of day, and which materials and plants will perform best.

Hard landscaping and materials

Lighter paving and rendered surfaces reflect light and brighten a shaded north-facing space. Darker materials, by contrast, absorb heat and warm the air around them, which can extend the season for outdoor use in west-facing gardens. The wrong material choice can make a shaded garden feel even darker or a hot garden feel uncomfortably warm. The reverse of this principle applies for south-facing gardens that can become baked: paler stone and porcelain reduce surface heat retention, while dark setts or charred timber retain heat to extend evening use.

Seating areas

In a north-facing garden, seating is often positioned at the far end of the garden where it receives the most light. In a south-facing garden, primary seating may be closer to the house with secondary, shaded seating further down to provide an option during the hottest part of the day. In a west-facing garden, the prime evening seating position is wherever catches the late afternoon and evening sun. The Sun Planner tool is particularly useful for understanding exactly where these positions fall in your specific garden.

Planting design

Plant selection is the area where orientation has the most direct impact. A plant placed in the wrong aspect will fail no matter how well prepared the soil or how attentive the watering. The detailed plant guides in this cluster cover the species that genuinely perform in each orientation, with cultivar-level recommendations rather than the generic shade-or-sun categories that most gardening references provide. For broader garden style considerations including how the four orientations suit different aesthetic approaches, see our garden styles guide.

Frequently asked questions

How do I tell which way my garden faces?

Stand at the back door of the house and look out into the garden. The direction you are facing is the garden’s orientation. A phone compass app confirms the exact bearing in degrees, where 0° is north, 90° is east, 180° is south and 270° is west. Most Surrey gardens sit at an angle to the cardinal directions rather than being perfectly aligned to one of them.

Are north-facing gardens bad?

No. North-facing gardens are often described as difficult, but they have distinctive qualities the other aspects cannot match: cool, calm light through summer; moisture-retentive soil that suits a wide range of beautiful plants; and a particularly rewarding planting palette of Helleborus, Sarcococca, Hydrangea, Astrantia and ferns. The key is choosing species genuinely matched to shade rather than trying to grow sun-loving plants in the wrong conditions.

Which is better, south-facing or west-facing?

Both have advantages. South-facing gardens get the longest period of direct sun and the broadest plant palette. West-facing gardens get warm afternoon and evening sun that suits outdoor entertaining and evening use. For households that primarily use the garden in the evening, west-facing is arguably more pleasant. For those who want maximum flexibility and the widest planting choice, south-facing is the most versatile.

Does my house orientation match my garden orientation?

In most cases the back garden orientation is the opposite of the front of the house. A house that faces north at the front has a south-facing rear garden. A house that faces east has a west-facing rear garden. The orientation of the garden is determined by where you are standing when you look out into it from the back door of the property.

Can I change the orientation of my garden?

The fundamental aspect cannot be changed, but the practical effect of orientation can be moderated significantly through design. Shade structures, pergolas, strategically placed trees and tall hedges can create shaded refuges in a south-facing garden. Reflective light wells, white walls and pale paving can lighten a north-facing garden considerably. Windbreaks can shelter exposed aspects from prevailing wind. The right design works with the orientation rather than fighting against it.

Related garden advice

Planning a garden redesign?

The orientation of your garden shapes every meaningful design decision, from the planting palette to the placement of seating and the materials used in hard landscaping. Our design process begins with a thorough understanding of the aspect, microclimate and soil conditions of each individual site, which ensures that the scheme we develop will actually perform in the conditions of your particular garden rather than relying on generic principles that may not apply.

Our garden design and build service covers the full process from initial consultation through to construction, planting and handover. Our planting design and installation service suits clients whose layout is in place but who want the planting carefully matched to the aspect and conditions of their site.

Contact us to arrange a consultation and start planning a garden that works with its orientation rather than against it.