The Long Awaited Potting Bench

When it came right down to it, I found myself questioning whether I really needed one. I had lived without one for so many years. Gardening for over 30 years without a potting bench is akin to lacking sufficient counter space in the kitchen. You make do. You improvise. You adjust. And you stay grateful for what you have. Somehow everything turns out for holidays and dinner parties anyway.

The driveway or the back patio or simply a pathway in the shade was my potting place. Squatting or sitting crossed-legged or on an over-turned bucket worked as I bent over pots and plants. That's how I started new seeds, potted up slips for rooting, divided rhizomes. I'm sure you can relate. A potting bench is not an essential for accomplishing a whole lot of successful gardening.

Completed pergola in December before the potting bench was added.

But sometimes a fanciful dream just won't let go. Sometimes the timing is just right. Somewhat like my new pergola. This lovely space is now the multi-purpose central station that it was intended to be for all my cuttings and seedlings and work. And it turned out to also be the perfect spot for my long-awaited potting bench.

As soon as the pergola was completed (last December) I painted a couple of ladders to re-purpose as a temporary shelving unit.  I utilized two different size ladders and painted some boards that fit between the rungs for shelving.

I've decided not to have permanent shelves built. The ladders add a whimsical touch and function just fine. The covered pergola allows me to control the amount of water and sunlight according to the needs of the particular varieties of cuttings and seedlings. It is also a place for all my hopeful new plants to be corralled in one place. This set-up is so much more convenient than trays of grow-pots scattered about and tucked under shrubs and even sometimes forgotten. That's how it seemed to go in my old garden.

I hired a very handy man I trusted to follow my precise directions for building my custom potting bench.  He's done a lot of work for us in this house.

For a while I hesitated to get started on the bench once the pergola was completed in December. I guess I had a fear of 'junking it up' with too much gardening stuff. It is open to the back garden and in full view when you round the corner from the driveway/garage.

After looking at lots of photos and ideas (on Pinterest and Houzz) I came up with a combination of features to fit the space and one that would help me accomplish the tasks I had in mind,

The working top is 8' long, 22" deep and 36" high. It attaches to the back wall of the pergola which is actually the outside wall of the garage. See the slanted side braces? Those keep the entire structure off the ground which actually gives me more room. The bottom shelf is shorter leaving an open end as a parking garage for my garden wagon. It is only 20" deep so I don't knock my shins on it. The 4" wide boards that cover it are placed vertically (opposite of the horizontal 8" boards tightly fitted on top) and have a small space between them for easy cleaning. The shelving above has beadboard in the background and corbels underneath to give it a cozy, homey look and feel.

Somehow I got stuck with the painting job. I used the same color of stain we chose for the pergola. The beadboard is Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (Provence).

Electricity along with an outlet I can easily access and lamps on each post are additional helpful features to make the pergola an even more convenient and usable space.

Ta-Da! The reveal of the completed bench.

The bottom shelf has proven to be very handy. I left a foot of space all the way around the perimeter of the pavers to add rocks. They give me better drainage for watering plants.

Call me the bucket lady. I use lots of buckets while gardening. A bucket for weeds, a bucket for my hand tools, a bucket for soil, a bucket for whatever you need. Buckets are handy. Can't be without buckets.

It was easy to equip this area. I didn't have to purchase anything to make it look cozy. It was a matter of gathering things from around my house.

It's the same thing I do in my home. "Shop the house" I think it's called. Use what you have, re-purpose items, and move things around for a brand new look.

My bench is so convenient. The whole space has worked out so well for meeting my needs. I enjoy puttering in my work area in the cool of the day.

With the potting bench on the back wall it can be used as a side table for food and accessories when we eat outside. We do that a lot. The antique motel chairs are in just the right amount of shade mornings and evenings to enjoy a cup of coffee and a chit chat.

As the sun comes up this part of the garden is my favorite place to be. It's peaceful and relaxing to start my day here. We really enjoy the birds and butterflies and all the buzzing critters that come alive as the new day dawns.

My new garden is turning out to be a great source of strength and inspiration to me. I can hardly believe we have been here a year this month. I couldn't be happier and more contented. The long awaited potting bench is just one more piece in the puzzle.



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If you've just arrived to this page as a new gardening friend or perhaps missed the back story about how we moved from our home and garden of 30 years to the house next door you can catch up here... http://www.hoeandshovel.com/2014/07/a-new-journey-bitter-and-sweet.html

All material © 2007-2015 by Meems for Hoe and Shovel Gardening Blog. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Structure in the Garden :: Pergola Dreams

Dreams for the garden. We all like to dream. Dreams really do come true. Sometimes. If you wait long enough. In my story, I just couldn't seem to let go of my idea of adding a potting bench to my garden. A potting bench never really seemed practical or possible in my old garden. Not the bench I wanted anyway. I looked at so many styles and configurations over the years. None really suited what I had in mind. Little did I know I would have to move from my dream garden to actually get a potting bench. (More on the bench in another post.)

An even bigger dream all along had been to install a pergola structure. There was that perfect spot just outside of the pool cage at my previous house/garden. It is a good-size brick paver patio that transitions the screened lanai to the yard. It is the perfect setting for a pergola. I dreamed about it. I talked about it. I could see it in my mind. It didn't happen. Now I don't live there anymore.

It didn't take me long to start dreaming of gardening structures at my new house. I'm hardwired to create. It's in me. It happens. There's no stopping it. Visions. Ideas. Designs. They swirl in my head and they nag my thoughts. It's a gift. I don't fight that anymore. Regardless, all my creative ideas would cost a fortune to accomplish. Since I don't have THAT luxury, I improvise.  I scale back. I find ways to makes things work with less money. I've become a DIY project girl. I've enlisted patience and I come up with ways to accomplish what I see in my mind's eye without breaking the bank. It's very fun and rewarding doing things this way, so no complaints from me. Even so, once in a while you have to call in the craftsmen. The experts. The ones you have to pay. They want real money for their trade. :-)

We did it. We hired a local company, Garden Carpentry, to build our pergola. I had talked them a few years ago about doing something in my old garden. The timing wasn't right then. Now I know why.

There was some preliminary work to do before the pergola could be installed. Brick pavers were going to be the foundation to the entire area. Before the pavers could be laid we had to re-route several downspouts that drain from the gutters on the back side of the house. That involved digging trenches, laying pipe and dropping a couple of underground box drains out in the middle landscape bed for overflow. The whole place felt a mess that day. No, it was a mess. It was also cold. So. Cold. that November day. I made soup for the crew. Thick, hot, made-from-scratch chicken and wild rice warm-your-tummy goodness.Soup has nothing to do with my story.

The paver company was not the same as the pergola company. There was some finagling of scheduling because they had to work around each other. Before the pavers were put down Garden Carpentry wanted to slip in and get the four corner posts in place. It's easier to put pavers around the post than to go through the pavers to set the posts.

Sod removal.

Once the posts were in place and 24 hours passed for the cement to set up, the paver company was back to clear the lawn and get started with the patio. Bye, bye useless grass.

It seemed like a pretty quick 2.5 days to get the pavers all in place. It was December (2014) so I was pretty busy with Christmas hustle and bustle in the middle of all of this.

There was an oddly shaped, but convenient, walkway of pavers already in place when we moved here (visible in the foreground above).

We decided to extend the new pavers from that awkward walkway to under and beyond the pergola area all the way over to the open back deck. Now the space flows from one side to the other of the back garden. The pavers that extend out beyond the pergola create an ample walkway to the deck.

When the patio was completed the guys from Garden Carpentry came in right behind the paver company to get started on their magic 

It took a few weeks of back and forth discussions preceding the construction of the pergola to get the final plans in order. These are the rafters. Aren't they beautiful? The end cuts are called ogees.  Turns out there are lots of design options for ogee cuts.  (I had to learn all this stuff as we went along). Each rafter has to be individually cut. I wanted my rafters to extend out as far as possible over the lintels. They ended up being a little more than a 2.5' overhang. The smaller cross bars on top are called purlins. Aren't you glad you know all that now!

Once Garden Carpentry was on site to start the pergola it was completed in about 3 days. I really appreciated how they worked with me to let me give my input on the design. I knew what I had in mind and with their expert knowledge the collaboration turned out to fit my vision exactly. 

In my mind the pergola was to be a multi-purposed work-station, eatery and gathering place. I wanted a place to gather my gardening supplies and a central spot to work from. It had to be large enough for a small table and a seating area.  We had it covered with a clear polycarbonate roof to keep the rain out as much as possible. All the wood was stained with *Espresso* opaque Olympia wood stain.

You can see all my paint samples painted on the right. The house was a light gray. We painted it a deeper shade of gray (Dovetail Gray -Sherwin Williams) right before the construction of the pergola started. 

The alcove where the pergola was to go was created by the angles of the outer walls of the house. It was a pretty useless area. The garage is just to the right of this photo. The alcove had become a messy gathering of all my grow pots and anything else I hadn't yet found space in the garden for yet.

Immediately the new structure made a world of difference in the overall garden environment and added to the architectural aspects of our newly acquired home. The pergola improved the balance of the back side of the house tremendously. It was as if that strange, ill-used alcove was waiting for a pergola.

You can easily see how connecting the walkway all the way across to the open deck made sense.

Remember the re-purposed painted ladder project? You can see them here. I'm benefiting from the convenience of all my seedlings and sprigs of rooted plants being right there together under this roof. It's so easy to water them (and control how much water/sun they get) with a hose nozzle also under the pergola.

The perspective looking from the yard back toward the house.

The entire space has become a welcoming entry way so-to-speak into the back yard.

I use low container bowls on the edge of the walkway to keep the view open. They are filled with sun-loving herbs and flowers.

I couldn't be more pleased with the results of the pavers and the pergola. We have spent so many wonderful minutes reading, eating and gathering with friends and family under the cozy pergola. The pergola addition is one of those things that will be enjoyed for years to come.

As time goes on I'm sincerely feeling like this new home is MY home.

Soon I'll reveal the long awaited potting bench. Phase #9,989 .... :-)

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Come hang out with me and other gardening friends for daily updates from Hoe and Shovel on Facebook... here's the link:

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you've just arrived to this page as a new gardening friend or perhaps missed the back story about how we moved from our home and garden of 30 years to the house next door you can catch up here... http://www.hoeandshovel.com/2014/07/a-new-journey-bitter-and-sweet.html

All material © 2007-2015 by Meems for Hoe and Shovel Gardening Blog. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.