Sloping gardens

I love looking at house details and pretending that I'm thinking of buying it. So I've had a look at the other house too. The garden looks interesting but very shady. Look at the shadows across the grass. Growing veg might be a problem without some heavy pruning of those trees.

That garden was largely south-facing too and most of the shade came from within the boundary rather than outside, so there was decent scope to get a lot more light in with some determined pruning. It would definitely be nice to start with a garden that was already unshaded though!

One of the problems is that privacy often comes from things that cast shade, so you can't always have both together without being a long way from your neighbours. I don't mind being a bit overlooked by immediate neighbours but the house I'm viewing on Sunday appears to have a garden overlooked by the entire stretch of road, plus the houses on the road running perpendicular. I know some people wouldn't care at all (and really, nobody is actually going to be watching!), but I'd feel very self-conscious if I felt that exposed. However, I will see what it actually feels like in person. The estate agent said they'd had a lot of interest in the house (and I believe them, for once) so I'm sure it will sell this weekend (they appear to be having back to back viewings all of Saturday and Sunday, with me securing the penultimate slot 24 hours after the listing went live!) I think I will have to know by Monday morning if I want to make an offer, so I had better get cracking with my pre-viewing research!