For gardening enthusiasts torn between the choice of a shed or a greenhouse to enhance their garden, why not indulge in the perfect blend of both – the potting shed? Offering a harmonious fusion of functionality and style, a potting shed emerges as a valuable and versatile asset for any garden.

What are garden potting sheds?

A potting shed is considered a hybrid between a wooden shed and a greenhouse, it will often feature plenty of windows to allow light in ensuring your young plants flourish. The interior is thoughtfully designed to cater specifically to the needs of plant enthusiasts. It provides a dedicated space for potting plants, sowing seeds, and performing various gardening tasks, and typically features a well-organised workbench for doing these tasks. You can also expect to find storage solutions for all the essential tools, supplies, and equipment, ensuring a seamlessly functional hub for nurturing and cultivating your garden.

Why have a garden potting shed?

Few things compare to the satisfaction of giving a loved one a bouquet of flowers that you’ve grown from seed or preparing a meal using the delectable fruits and vegetables from your own garden. If growing your own plants, vegetables, and fruit is your new favourite gardening hobby then a potting shed will be a worthy addition to your garden. It provides you ample space for seed trays, pots and all the other essential gardening equipment you’ll need to keep your garden thriving all year-round.

The benefits of a garden potting shed

Best of both

A potting shed offers the best attributes of both a garden shed and a greenhouse…a dream combination for some. The half and half design will have the windows on one side with the potting bench underneath. This is where you will work potting up your new plants and planting seeds out into trays as it will have the best exposure to sunlight and benefit from solar heat gain creating a similar environment as a greenhouse. The rest of your potting shed can be used to store all your gardening and growing tools and essentials, meaning everything you need is in one place.

Protection from the British weather

The timber structure of a potting shed provides more insulation and better protection from the winter elements than a greenhouse. If you have a collection of sensitive summer loving plants that have to be moved indoors during the winter or would like to continue growing throughout winter, a lined and insulated potting shed may be a better choice as it will offer more protection from cold temperatures. You will also find it to be equally useful during the summer when we occasionally reach balmy temperatures, it will offer a cooler spot to keep your precious plants. 

Storage & organisation

Your potting shed is your horticultural haven with not a bicycle, basketball hoop, or DIY tool in sight. This is a dedicated space to all things garden and you will be able to add shelves, hooks, and drawers to keep your space organised and easy to use. Keeping your half shed half greenhouse design in mind you can have all of your potting tools stored under your potting bench, perhaps with some added shelves, and in the other half you can employ some clever storage solutions to keep your other gardening tools and equipment. 

Multi-purpose building

Unlike a greenhouse that really only has one use and is predominantly used during the summer, a potting shed is much more versatile and has the benefit of year-round use. Your potting shed will have everything it needs to become a place to relax, perhaps do some reading or writing, or could even be converted into a child’s playroom, and the possibilities go on! The value of your investment in a high-quality garden building will be evident, providing enduring benefits for your enjoyment and creative utilisation. 

Our garden potting shed features and considerations

Positioning

Before selecting the ideal potting shed, it's important to carefully consider its placement. Optimal positioning involves ensuring that the shed's windows face south, guaranteeing ample sunlight and warmth for your seedlings. Strategic placement near your vegetable patch will not only streamline your gardening activities but also enhance overall convenience. Additionally, attention to the shed's foundation is essential, as it should be situated on a suitable base to ensure stability and longevity. Thoughtful planning of these aspects ensures that your potting shed becomes a functional and harmonious extension of your gardening space.

Tailored Sizes 

Each of our garden building styles come with a variety of sizing options to enable you to get the right size building for the intended usage and available space in your garden. Ideally your potting shed should be as big as it can possibly be as you need to consider the floor space taken up by the workbench and what gardening tools and equipment you will be storing in there which as a collection usually grows over time. If you would like to discuss a particular size that is not included in our online building configurator please get in touch with our designers who will be able to provide you with a bespoke quote.

Windows 

We offer a range of building styles that are designed to maximise natural light meaning they have the potential to make great potting sheds, from the humble Superior Shed to the more extravagant Binham Studio. Once you’ve chosen the building you’d like as your potting shed, you will have an opportunity on our online building configurator to choose the placement of your doors and windows, keeping in mind ideally these need to be south facing ensuring optimal exposure to sunlight. 

Workbenches

A crucial component for any well-equipped potting shed is a sturdy and functional workbench. This essential piece of furniture serves as the hub for various gardening activities, providing a dedicated space for potting up new plants and delicately transferring growing seedlings to their new pots. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just starting, a well-designed workbench becomes the cornerstone of a productive and organised potting shed, ensuring that your plant care activities are both efficient and enjoyable. We offer a timber workbench as an optional extra on our Superior Sheds and Garages. 

If you would like a workbench as an additional feature in one of our other building styles, please get in touch with our designers who will be able to provide you with a bespoke quote. 

Aesthetic Features

While a potting shed is primarily to serve a practical purpose in your garden, at Crane, we build garden sheds that blend functionality with style to elevate your outdoor space. That is why we offer a range of customisable features to help our customers personalise their buildings to their individual taste. These features enable you to choose Georgian over plain windows, a wide range of exterior paint and stain colour options, and different roofing materials, from heavy duty felt to slate effect tiles in grey or terracotta, or cedar shingles.