The site is attached to the front of a 2 bedroom privately owned house in the small market town of Richmond North Yorkshire. It is situated three quarters the way up a steep south-facing hill, 177m above sea level. The top of the hill reaches 226m above sea level. The front of the house is east facing looking out onto a small parking area for residents, this is surrounded by large hardwood trees.  

The site is in a sheltered location, with the morning sun hitting the garden around 8.30 in summer. In midsummer, the garden starts to shade next to the house from around 2 pm moving to the top of the garden around 5 pm. The large trees provide dappled sunlight at the start of the day, then as the sun moves around the sunlight hits the garden direct. The wind predominantly blows from the west, making the garden mainly sheltered, often we do experience strong whipping winds. The micro-climate in the garden is much warmer due to the painted white wall of the neighbour's house which runs half the length of the garden. Due to the garden being 177m above sea level, there is a higher percentage of snow in winter, but frosts are not too bad due to the slope.

The local average temperatures are 20.8 C maximum and 11.7 C minimum for July with 10.9 C maximum and 0.9 C minimum for January. The average monthly amount of precipitation for July has been recorded at 51.3 mm and 55.5 mm for January with an annual rainfall of 641.9mm. The frost-free growing season starts from around April 1^st until November 1^st totalling 214 days. 

The soil type on the site is heavy clay with a depth of up to 30cm before hitting a stone shelf. There is also a lot of stone in the soil, including building rubble. At present, the soil is low in organic matter.

The site has a paving slab path running the length of the garden up to the front door. Each side of the path is a lawn that is mostly moss.

Due to the slope of the garden rainwater runs off the site. There is also run off rainwater from the above neighbour's garden which is gravel. There is an outside tap connected to the mains water. The mains water is not metered. There is a down-pipe from the roof gutter.

Fifteen different kinds of birds have been observed on the site (see appendix) but due to a local population of cats, there are no suitable nesting sites for birds. The cats could become a problem once the soil becomes worked. Several hedgehogs visit the garden on a night

Looking from the house the right-hand side of the site has a new 1.5-meter wood panel fence, the left-hand side has a post and wire mesh fence that is in average condition. At the top of the garden is a beech hedge. Access to the site is directly off a footpath into the garden, there is no gate. Vehicles can be parked close to the garden in the car park.

There are no storage sheds or buildings on the site, the wheelie bin for household rubbish is stored in the garden. 

Path of the Sun

Below are three images showing the path of the sun over the garden during the summer and winter solstices and the spring and autumn equinox.