Serious gardeners swear by their potting bench. You can buy professionally designed furniture or repurpose an old table or bench with some DIY flair. The important details are getting the height comfortable and having enough storage for the items needed in repotting, seeding, and propagation activities. Every gardener is different and it is reflected in the many potting bench ideas floating around the net.
Simple Potting Bench Ideas
If you are curious about how to make a potting bench, first take some time to discover what your specific requirements might be. What is a potting bench supposed to look like? The simplest potting table info describes a table at least waist high. You can then add a shelf, hooks, cubbies, and even a watering station of some sort. The point is to make the process of tending your plants easier and less back breaking. Using a potting bench should reduce back pain and keep you from having to track down all your tools and containers. If you have an old card table and a place to set it up where you don't mind a bit of dirt and moisture, you have a potting bench. While this is an oversimplified idea of the furniture, you can take it many steps further. A found chest of drawers is a fun potting table. Use the drawers to store hand tools, bags of soil and bark, smaller containers, plant food and other needs. Another easy potting table idea is to use found wooden posts or old sawhorses and some 1 inch (2.5 cm.) plywood, or even an old door, to cobble together a table. Add some paint and a shelf under the table and, voila, you have a perfectly useful gardening bench. Shabby chic and urban elegant are part of the potting table info that is available. Whether you are purchasing a table or making your own, your bench can reflect your personality and enhance the garden while still providing a practical space. Paint is a big part of spicing up the potting area. Whitewashing, bold colors, or just a natural wood finish puts the stamp of your personality on your new piece of furniture. Add whimsical touches such as garden signs, hooks and bins, or even a chalk board to chart future garden tasks or plant start times.
How to Make A Potting Bench from Pallets
Old wooden pallets can be found easily. The heavier the pallet, the better it is. Disassemble the pallet. Square off the boards with a saw so they are all even. Assemble two legs with one each full board and two cut in half. The result should look like a lowercase “h.” Add a board to the front and backs of the upright legs. Measure and install side pieces and then fill in with boards on top to make the table. You can then choose to add a lower shelf, a backdrop to hold tools, and any other personal details. The whole thing will be almost free, with the cost of screws negligible.