Optimum Potting Shed Layout?

[Kristen]

I am in the lucky position of being about to move in (probably literally if Mrs K has anything to do with it!) to a new potting shed. I've been mulling over all the things it needs to house, and some time & motion for potting on etc.

I've been giving thought to the best layout for tools and equipment, and all the clobber I need. For example: just to pot-on I needs pots, of course, and labels - + marker pen - and split canes, and tying Gun and/or string, plus a bag of potting compost and some Perlite to mix with it, and a sieve - make that a pair of sieves 3/8th and 1/2 inch - and then the pot carrying trays to carry the newly potted on trays - and somewhere to park the trolley to wheel them to and from the greenhouse ... and if I fill in the detail on that the list gets worse! "Labels" includes plain white ones but also the ones, written on but reusable for same variety, from last year, plus I use coloured labels - so White + 4 colours, so I figure I need some sort of rack-compartment storage for all those bits & bobs.

Does anyone else have that much "stuff" for potting? and how do you organise it all?

Perhaps I should make a list of everything I need, and then work out best way of storing it all close-at-hand when working. I pot-up thousands of plants a year, so a good working layout will save me a considerable amount of time over the course of a year.

I saw some nice tool racks at Chelsea last year on Sneebore's stand





and I will need somewhere to store my wheelbarrow outside the shed door?

[Alison]

Can't help with your query as mine is crammed and not really well organised although I have a good view down the garden from the potting bench. I do however need better more organised storage for my tools. However was more shocked by your photos as thought initially that was inside your new shed!


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[Greenleaves]

Mine is not very large but I find that hanging shoe holders are useful at conserving space. I buy the clear plastic ones from the £ shops so I can see whats in what. I have also cut one down and added ties so I have four pockets I can tie around my waist

[Kristen]

thought initially that was inside your new shed!

...although ... that is the plan ...

I was thinking of this type of oddment storage - its a galvanised louvre panel on which plastic storage bins can be "clipped"



I wonder if an apothecary's cabinet would be handy?

Crucial, I think, is that the work surface it is exactly the right height to prevent any stooping, and I need enough space for a tray to prick out / pot on from, an area for the potting compost, and enough space to put the resulting potted plants in tray carriers on the other side. That's definitely wider than your average table ... and my back aches from potting on today in a table that is too low, and not big enough.

Monty Don always has a mountain of potting compost on his, but I don't remember seeing a good viewing angle on the Telly to know whether he has much space for working at?

Things to hang from the ceiling? My sieves perhaps? That's where Mrs K keeps her sieve - and pots and pans!!

Some other photos from my travels:

[mothhawk]

I think pots are much handier to get at when stored on their sides -



If you're going to hang tools up in there (spades/forks etc) you can get a lot more along a wall if you stagger them so they are "top to tail" - hang a spade by the blade, then a little lower, a fork by the handle and so on, like this: -_-_-_

[mothhawk]

An apothecary's cabinet is a great idea. I remember my grandfather had something similar and everything seemed so handy in it - lots of space for everything he wanted, plus it looked so neat and tidy, he was a great man for tidiness, my grandfather

[Kristen]

I think pots are much handier to get at when stored on their sides

Interesting

All (bar just a few) my pots are plastic, and I like to have them the same size - when potting on 100 or more plants if all pots are the same size I think I am more efficient.

So I stack them rim-down as I think it makes it easier to work out what size-match the ones I am adding are.

When I use them I grab a column of as many as I can carry without them topping over and carry to the potting bench. And then a dozen or so at a time (still as a column stack) next to me taking off the top as needed.

I have quite a lot of pots, of each size and make (accumulated over the years where I bought a job-lot, a different one each time! so slightly different sizing), but for that I think stacking horizontally would get more into the available space.

I'll take a photo of my pot-store when I have a mo. Its a bit over crowded at present due to the need for the potting shed!!

[Kristen]

An apothecary's cabinet is a great idea. I remember my grandfather had something similar and everything seemed so handy in it - lots of space for everything he wanted, plus it looked so neat and tidy, he was a great man for tidiness, my grandfather

Can't make up my mind if the square-shape drawers would be better than the letterbox-shape ones?

[Bill HH]

I have a small potting shed, but then it seemed to fill with household stuff like chairs and a hoover and Christmas decs and a pressure washer and..... so now my face is pressed against the glass window as I try to pot things on behind my back!!! That is the problem of growing in our garden rather than an allotment, its to near the house and "stuff" keeps appearing. I suppose that's one of Murphy's (or Sods) laws "If there is a space, someone will soon fill it"

[Bigmallly]

That's not a potting shed Bill, it's a putting shed...........where can this go?..........oh, put it in't shed.

[Bill HH]

Yes we have a production line in our house, "stuff" accumulates, (Mostly things my wife buys and I say you will never use that!) Such as an exercise bike that has only done .4 of a mile in two years. My wife is reluctant to chuck them out for the very reason that I had predicted their demise. But eventually new devices appear and the pressure gets so great she looks toward my shed. The shed seems to be a holding area before it gets to the garage (Haven't been able to put my car in there for 10 years). The garage seems to hold stuff for a while until the door wont close and I can't get to any of my tools,then its scrap man time. The log Jam is broken and starts to flow once more. When "stuff" is sent down this production line we all know the eventual outcome yet I seem unable to convince my wife to short circuit the system and just scrap the "stuff" in the first place. If we got another shed nothing would change apart for the production line getting longer.

[veggiechicken]

I don't see a problem with your wife's logic, Bill. Its only when items get to the end of the production line that you realise that you can't live without them and they're returned to the house to start the "cycle" again.

[Bill HH]

I don't see a problem with your wife's logic, Bill. Its only when items get to the end of the production line that you realise that you can't live without them and they're returned to the house to start the "cycle" again.

Some time VC you can be pure evil.

[mothhawk]

Can't make up my mind if the square-shape drawers would be better than the letterbox-shape ones?

Depends what you want to store I suppose. I would choose square small drawers. Seeds, string, labels, pencils, tags, better to have a small drawer for each and enough that you can sub-divide stuff if you want, than fewer larger drawers where everything will shuffle together and get mixed up. Big stuff you can put on a shelf.

Or get one/make one with a mix of sizes

[veggiechicken]

Have one with see through drawers (Oooher missus) or you'll have to label every drawer with the contents - or open every drawer until you find the right one. Trust me, I have metal drawers