Potting Benches

I have been wanting a potting bench for a very very long time. I always end up potting something, divided perennials, rescued perennials, stuff that won't fit in my garden... and I always do it on the ground, bent over or on my knees, trying to keep spillage to a minimum. At least this year I used my collection of galvanised washtubs to dump the bags of potting mix in. This was a huge help. I put the pots in the wheel barrow, put my vintage grain sifter on the top of the pot, and filled with large scoops of soil. The grain sifter is great if you get a bag that has a high percentage of bark and you are trying to fill small pots, or when mixing in some half used dirt. Now, finally, I have a good place to put a bench, months of winter ahead, and a properly motivated husband. The possibilities are endless! With Tim's exacting attention to detail, I may even end up with something resembling fine cabinetry.

I've collected pictures from magazines and catalogs, and flipped through pages and pages of web images. Of course, I'd be quite happy with a simple greenhouse bench at the proper height.

But the decorator in me wants something "cute" that I can accessorise.

I would be happy to buy one premade, but when I showed my husband the costs of the benches and additional shipping, he volunteered to help me out. Which means, I am in the enviable position of being to combine the best features into just the right bench for me.

For starters, we have a heavy old maple top to a shop bench to work with. My husband is convinced I need a hole cut to sweep dirt back down into a container, and I agree.

Probably with some sort of grid over it so I don't lose counterspace.

I think I need one shelf below not only to hold the dirt container, but to keep things up off the floor so I can sweep under. I like the dirt stopper on this bench and think we need to have at least a 4-6 inch curb not only across the back but also wrapping around the back corners.

I also need at least one shelf above and I really like the cubby idea. I think we are going to center the bench on a window, so we would have to modify this to have a row of cubbies on each side.

In browsing for ideas, I've found some great gardening blogs and sites. Here are a few of the most notable...

A cute do-it-yourself bench

Vegetable Gardener.com

This guy even hooked running water up to his....