Penn State Master Gardener, Warren Garden Club

The garden shed is one of the most charming focal points in any garden. It is in this little building the gardener accomplishes his many garden tasks. A rainy afternoon is perfect for potting up a small plant or cleaning and storing garden tools or flowerpots. The potting shed is also the place where the gardener can dream of the perfect garden and the perfect gardening season. Will this be the year when all the roses bloom in profusion? Will this be the year the gardener cultivates a new daylily? In this tiny, perfect little building all the hopes and dreams of the gardener begin.

The potting shed is the heart of the garden. Here the favorite hand tools, the trowels for digging, the dibbers for planting and the scoops for filling the containers are stored in orderly fashion ready for work. Shelves hold insecticidal soap, bone meal and fertilizers of all kinds. The favorite weeders, garden gloves and pruners wait at the ready for all garden tasks. The gardener’s trug and weeding basket hang on the wall. These are the tools that will see the garden every day.

A pleasant task for the potting shed in spring is container gardening. The sturdy table holds the little plants, the trowel, and a pair of sturdy garden gloves. Nearby are the bins with the gardener’s own mix of potting soil ready and waiting to scoop into the containers. Lightly fertilized water is at hand to give the new container a thorough watering before it leaves the potting shed. Container gardening is not to be hurried. With birdsong for company, the gardener considers the needs of the plants for sun or shade, which colors are complimentary and the perfect location.

As the season of summer moves along, the potting shed becomes a place where the gardener can dream of a new cutting garden, spring bulbs to plant close to the perennials and more necessary chores like which plants need to be moved and divided.

The potting shed stores the tools of the garden. Spades, hoes, forks and rakes hang on the walls in ordered rows. “Have a place for everything and everything in its place; kept in good condition and at all times put away clean.” Scrape mud from the spades and shovels before it hardens. Always wipe blades with household oil to keep them from rust and corrosion. Hoes and other digging tools should be sharpened after hard use. Good tools, properly cared for, should last a lifetime.

Autumn arrives all too soon. The sun is lower in the sky. We watch for signs of frost. The potting shed becomes the place where the fruits of the harvest are gathered. Potatoes are readied for storage, apples are sorted and tomatoes are readied for the canning kettle. Finally in late fall the potting shed is the place of storage. Wheel barrows, rakes and forks like the garden are ready for the season of rest.

A garden shed is just a building but to the gardener it is the essence of the growing season, a carefully guarded hideaway. The tools that will coax flowers, vegetables and dreams from the soil are stored here. The garden shed is the glory of the garden, often passed down through the generations. The shed may have been used by grandfather, father and now daughter or it is the dream of the gardener to have this lovely little building, beautiful in every detail. The garden shed is a place of peace and beauty always cherished by the gardener.

Rebecca Norton Ryan is a

Penn State Extension Master Gardener, and a member of the Warren Garden Club.