The Must Have for the Serious Gardener
While there are many things different gardeners recommend you have in your greenhouse, I have discovered something I don’t know how I lived without and thought I would share. This is not a sales ad. In fact you can even make this item yourself.

Posted Thursday, April 13, 2006

This must have for a greenhouse is a potting bench. As simple as it seems I kept telling myself, “What do I need that for? I have plenty of shelves in my greenhouse and a potting bench would only take up room.” Well, once I actually made a bench I realized just how wrong I was!

Here is a simple design that you can build yourself. The design is similar to a coffee table or a small end table that you might have in your home. Just four legs and the outline of a top (this could be square or rectangular as needed to fit your space). While you are only going to be using this when potting, transplanting or working on a certain plant, you can make this potting bench as little or as large as you like.

The four legs are simply 2 x 4’s that you can seal or paint to keep the moisture out. The rectangle or the square frame on top can also be made of the same 2 x 4 materials and painted or sealed. Over the center of the top you use chicken wire or hardware cloth available at your local hardware or home center. Making the wire tight across the top, fold down just a little over the edges so you can nail it onto the wooden frame, and your done!

I used to have dirt, stones and pots all over my greenhouse. Now when I am transplanting or potting a new plant, I work over my potting bench. I made my potting bench about counter high (like in my kitchen) because I didn’t like to bend over for long periods of time. When I am potting new plants, the excess dirt is caught below in my storage container as it falls through the wires! Simple and mess free! I can’t believe I didn’t make one of these earlier. Good luck in making yours!