Tools and the Potting Area

Post #63 Tools and the Potting Area

Post Description: Where to locate your potting area, and what tools you will need, and where to store these.

Note: This post is part of a series on garden design. See the other posts in this series here.

Often overlooked when planning a garden space are the prepping and storage areas. Potting is a messy process that deserves a dedicated space, and tools look prettier when they are tucked behind a fence or closed doors at the end of the day. 

So today, we are here to shine a light on these overlooked areas. Whether a small nook or an elaborate shed, your tools need a home and you need a surface to pot up your plants on! 

The Potting Area

Unless you have a dedicated garden shed with a window to allow light, you will probably be in the same boat as the rest of us, scaring up an under-utilized nook to create a potting station. 

Here are some ideas:

• The Service or Utility Area
  • Your potting bench and compost pile can go here if there is room. A tool locker or cabinet made of sturdy, water-resistant material may also fit in.
  • It is convenient if the utility area is near the kitchen and garage or carport. 
  • Often the sprinkler box and at least one water spigot and garden hose will be located here as well, which is quite convenient for potting.
• The Back Door
  • If you have a deck or porch off of your back door area, consider a spot for a potting table and storage near a spigot.
  • If you walk right out into the yard, you might put a potting table up against the back of the house, near a spigot. And a tool cabinet may go here, too.
• The Garden
  • If there is not sufficient or appropriate space to get messy near the house, plop your potting table and storage space right in your garden. Tuck it in a corner, or make it pretty and showcase it! Try painting the potting bench and/or tool cabinet in your favorite color.
    A flowering vine that doesn’t get too large or get in the way can twine up the legs of your potting bench or the sides of the tool cabinet. Maybe a Jacquemontia, which gets small blue morning glory flowers.
    Garden decorations can be used, or you can get really artsy and paint designs or flowers. This is your space, and you want to really enjoy being in it and look forward to working in it. So forget what anyone else might think, and really make it YOURS!

Tools

I’d love to be able to tell you to just start with a trowel, that gardening is a super cheap hobby and you need next to nothing to get started. But that wouldn’t be fair to you because it’s not really true.

The good news is, you can pick up the needed tools as you go, and brand new at the store isn’t the only way to get them. Keep an eye out at yard sales and thrift stores, and let your friends and neighbors know what you need. Also try Craigslist and Facebook, and garden clubs. There are lots of second-hand tools out there waiting for a good home!

Set yourself up for success by making sure you have the right tools for the job. Gardening is a lot more fun when you’ve got your tools in order.

Once you’ve got the tools you need, keep them well maintained. They will last longer if they are protected from water and kept clean. 

Keep them in your garage, a shed, or a cabinet on your porch. Clean them each time you use them, and oil them at the start of each season so they don’t rust. Sharpen cutting tools as needed. 

Here is a list of useful tools to have on hand for successful gardening: 

• Pruning shears – These are necessary! You will find yourself using them most days, so get a good quality pair and take good care of them. Don’t use them to cut anything thicker than their rating, which is usually around 1/2″.
• Long-handled loppers – Use for larger pruning jobs, or to cut anything between 1/2″ and 1-1/2″ thick. Care for these as you do your shears.
• A small hand saw for branches larger than 1-1/2″ thick.
• Shovels – At least one is necessary. If you are a relatively small person, one small square-edged shovel will handle most jobs. Optionally, you can also keep a larger rounded shovel for heavy digging and a square point one for moving mulch & soil. For cutting beds into grass, sharpen any of these.
• Trowels – A large one is useful for digging when planting smaller plants, and for filling pots. A small, skinny one is great for planting seeds and transplants.
• Rakes – It’s helpful to have both a leaf type (long, thin, light, fanned-out metal tines) for raking leaves and other light stuff into piles to move to garden beds as mulch, and a bow rake (also called a soil rake – short, stiff, heavy-duty metal tines) for spreading mulch and soil amendments evenly.
• A fruit picker is not necessary, but still really helpful for reaching high fruits without a ladder.
• A pole saw and/or pole-mounted pruners are helpful for dealing with high branches.
• A sturdy step ladder for things that are just barely out of reach, and a taller one for for higher jobs. If you are uncomfortable about getting on a ladder, hire a handyman or landscaper to do what needs to be done. Maybe save up a few jobs for them to do all in an afternoon. Or when you are getting your gutters cleaned, see if they can also tackle an odd garden job while they are already there with their ladder. Ladders should be kept in the garage out of the elements. Learn to prune to keep your trees low to minimize the need for a taller ladder.
• Machete – Many gardeners in the tropics find a machete indispensable, but you need to know how to use it, so get someone to show you. Keep it sharp and use it to chop and drop, clear overgrown areas, and clean up bananas and sugarcane. Many use a machete to open coconuts as well, or at least chop the tops off. Be very careful when doing this or you can hurt yourself badly in the blink of an eye!
• Hoe – Not absolutely necessary, but a scuffle hoe is good for serious weeding. A grub hoe is optional for digging.
• Wheelbarrow – To move soil, mulch, compost, and heavy items with ease. It’s also a perfect bin to mix soil and amendments in before applying them to your garden beds. I store mine in the garage, but if you keep it outside, stand it on its end (with the handles up) so it doesn’t hold water.
• Personal Protective Gear – Keep yourself comfortable and safe with gloves, knee pads or a knee mat, a sun hat with a neck guard, and closed shoes. The garage or porch can keep these in better shape and relatively free of spiders, but it still pays to check. I keep my gardening shoes and hat near the back door to pull on as I go outside. When I need a new pair of tennis shoes, the old one becomes my “new” gardening pair. Wash all these items as needed and dry them well before storing them again.
• Building supplies for plant supports and constructing new beds.
• Propagation tools – Seal a pair of scissors, a sharpened pencil, a marker, and popsicle sticks or plastic plant markers in a plastic bag or container, and store these out of the sun so the plastic doesn’t fall apart. Seedling trays and small pots will also be needed. Often these can be from plants you bought at the garden store. Or they can be repurposed from the kitchen. See the post on recycling, and the one on propagating, which I will link here once they are live on the blog.
• Stakes, trellising, cages, garden staples and plant ties:
  • Corral these to keep them from getting messy and falling on the ground.
  • Avoid thin wooden or bamboo supports; they will fall apart in no time flat. 
  • Tomato cages are really too small for tomato plants, but great for peppers and eggplant, or anything medium sized that tends to sprawl. For tomatoes, use something taller and sturdier.
  • Cages, trellises and other supports will last a few years if cleaned after use and stored out of the sun and rain. 1/2″ x 8′ copper pipes will last decades and are great tied together into teepees for bean and other vining plants. You can get adventurous and use copper pipes and elbows to construct beautiful trellises, but the materials can be expensive, and it’s best to solder them together.
  • Did you know 2” wide cuts of pantyhose make terrific plant ties? Once cut, that width will roll into about 1/4″. If they’re too short, you can tie a few together to make longer ones. These last a few years because they are made of nylon. Nylon twine also lasts far longer than cotton. It can dig into a growing plant though, so think about the material and the future when you tie something up. You may want to use nylon twine at the beginning, then cut it and replace it later on, because unlike pantyhose, twine doesn’t stretch.
  • While we’re recycling, t-shirt material and denim are good temporary ties, but they will fall apart after one season.
  • There are also rolls of 1” wide Velcro tie that can be cut to size and adjusted over time. They last very well.
  • You can make your own garden staples by cutting a wire coat hanger into two pieces at the bottom center and removing the top hook. Bend the two wires that are left into large U shapes.

Bags of potting soil, mulch and other more stable amendments can be stored under the potting bench or table. Fertilizers, even organic ones, and any other amendments that will be affected by water, should be stored under cover in a garden shed or locker, or in your garage. Seedling trays and most of your pots can probably go there as well. Next to the table, you can keep larger pots and plant supports neatly stacked.

Once you have a solid potting area carved out, and a safe place filled with the tools you need, you have fulfilled your gardening 101 goals, hands down. 

Now you can rest assured that any flat of starts or discounted near-death plant you rescue from the store or side of the road will be in great hands! You have the space and the means to cultivate all that you love.

Tell us about your process! What do you like to keep at your potting station? What are your favorite tools? Did we forget any? 

Share, share, Share! We all become better gardeners by sharing our tips and tricks. And by becoming better gardeners, we become better neighbors, better community members, and better world citizens. We are in this together folks!

Until next time, Happy gardening!

Mary