I love the cunning little potting sheds featured in magazines. They usually feature shelves stacked high with clay pots, furniture painted in vibrant colors, maybe even a few color-coordinated pillows scattered about. All in all, a totally inviting shabby-chic aesthetic. My potting area, by contrast, has consisted of upended buckets supporting old boards, piles of plastic nursery pots in all shapes and sizes and bags of compost, etc. folded over with a brick on top to keep the rain out.
No cunning shed for me, but at least it is protected from the heaviest downpours and hidden from sight by these low-hanging cedar boughs.
And progress is being made. Richard made me a table to go under there, and I invested in a few lidded plastic containers to hold potting soil, pot shards and such. I’m with Megan, over at nestmaker, who dreams of a little outdoor hangout where dinners and poker games can take place. I’m a long ways from that ideal, but just upping the convenience factor and getting rid of some of the more unsightly elements has made this quite a pleasant place to spend time puttering and potting.
Uhm…you had me wondering what you were growing out there with a post name like that! Those photo’s in magazines of fancy potting areas where it doesn’t look like a bit of soil has ever been spilled drive me mad! Your area looks like it actually does see real work. Good job! I dream of a real potting bench. Instead I plop down in the driveway….
Loree: Once one moves to the country, everyone seems to suspect those suspect crops hidden away somewhere. But who needs hallucinogens, when there are agaves…right?
Keep dreaming! If you talk in your sleep, maybe Andrew will catch on.
I don’t even have a potting area, so you are ahead of me! I just have unsightly piles of stuff lying around various places, I’m sure the neighbors are horrified! I like your table, that looks handy.
Hi Ricki~~ Everyone needs a place to putter. I like the way the cedar boughs bow down, as if they’re really happy to have a significant job. Through the years I’ve assigned various areas for potting. Rather than a potting shed, per se, I want a real, live glass greenhouse. One can dream…
Karen: Much effort around here has gone into screening the neighbors’ eyesores. Looks to me like your neighbors have more to be thankful for than not.
Grace: We must keep the dream alive!
Wendy: I am honored by the award (a first for me). Hope I can be half as interesting as you.
Now I know what I’m missing: a potting table. The day will come when I don’t want to bend to the ground to mix and mingle soils, plants, etc. This needs to go on my wish list. Kudos to you (and Richard) for making it happen, however basic it feels to you!
Jane: I can vouch for the pleasure it will bring, basic or not.
I wonder when you see neat and tidy sheds, how on early people keep it so clean. My gardening areas, inside and out, always have traces of muddy shoes, gloves, tools, etc. I’m impressed you have a dedicated potting area. Mine tends to be my knee, or the back steps, and I make quite a mess that way.
I saw a really fancy setup the other day on A Gardener’s Diary. In summer, it was an open air pergola kind of structure where they planted non hardy plants in the ground, and in winter they covered it in plastic to serve as a greenhouse. It’s not a potting shed, but it did get me thinking about the interesting possibilities of that setup.
Megan: I like the sound of that convertible pergola…especially since it sounds more doable than many of my schemes.
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