Plants suitable for front gardens which face a certain direction 

North, South, East or West

Sometimes we just like a certain plant and don’t give enough thought to which direction that plant would prefer to face – what conditions would suit it best.  If you put a shade loving plant in full sun it may grow a bit but not thrive.  And if you put a sun-loving plant in a lot of shade it won’t do well.  So work out which direction your garden faces and plan accordingly. 

• If your garden is in shade for much of the day, it’s probably north-facing. 

• If your garden gets sun and light for much of the day, it’s probably a south-facing garden. 

• A garden which gets sun in the morning will be east-facing. 

• If your garden gets sun in the evening, it’s probably west-facing. 

A few more things to think about - how much rainfall does your garden get?  If it’s in the shadow of your house, garage, shed or a building or block of flats it probably won’t get as much rainfall as a garden which is open and not overshadowed by buildings.  You’ll need to plan for that.

Also, if your garden is exposed to occasional high winds you may need to grow lower plants and not tall thin ones which might get blown over. 

When you’ve worked out which direction your garden faces, what sort of rainfall it’s likely to get, and whether it gets high winds, then here are a few ideas for plants for gardens which face different ways.

Remember plants do best when you’ve got the right plant in the right place! 

Plants suitable for north-facing gardens

A north-facing garden may have little or no sun on it in the day.  Yellow or cream leaves and flowers help to brighten up a shady garden. 

Plants suitable for south-facing gardens

South facing gardens can enjoy lots of bold summer colours such as oranges, reds, pinks and yellows so you can plant:

• • Dahlias 

  • Lilies             

  • Sunflowers

Plants for hot walls need to be tough, drought tolerant plants that can withstand full sun – think ‘Mediterranean planting’ and use plants with pale green leaves such as:

• • Lavender 

  • Rosemary      

  • Olives

Succulents, such as agave, aloe, yucca, bromeliad, and cactus, are some of the best plants for hot locations in the landscape. 

Plants suitable for east-facing gardens

An east facing garden will get morning sun and then will be plunged into shade in the afternoon.  Choose plants that prefer morning sun and cannot tolerate afternoon heat, and this includes many varieties of vegetables, flowers and herbs.

Plants suitable for west-facing gardens

West facing gardens get no sun in the morning and then enjoy hot sun in the afternoon and evening.  You can grow camellias, daphne and verbena Bonariensis in these conditions and tomatoes, squash and peppers will thrive in afternoon sun.

Plants to grow between paving stones

You may want to pave over some of your front garden, but you can still grow low plants in the cracks such as: