Thank you for starting this one, Ken. I have plans for a real potting stand/bench/whatchamacallit when the fence people put up my lattice screen.

Only, I have NO PLAN, and this can help me put one together that won't look ugly when not in use. And not take up any prime real estate that could be used for HOSTAS.

My screen will be 10 foot tall backed by 4.5 inch square lattice panels, and it will be 8 foot wide. That is all I can spare, maybe 2 foot deep with some walking working space in front of it. No doors or anything, KISS is my approach to this.

I welcome any experience, including what NOT to do. Specifically tailored for HOSTAS, of course

Ken, a question, are you keeping track of these ideas and such so we might update the FAQs for our forum? I think it would be most helpful, and you are volunteered for the job.

I have an area. It is an old fish stand toped with a bbq grill and my green tub. I cannot say I have any order as the table goes mobile. Media storage I have my composter. It has been the greatest idea I have had. I have mix ready all the time. I also taught my son how to do it for me. I order my pots on line now which makes it easier too. The one thing I do like also is that my green tub has a small shelf. When I first got it I laughed as I thought it was silly. It has been handy.

i dream up the ideas.. someone else can dream up updating FAQs and what not ..

say... who came up with that idea ????

ken

ps: NEVER make a suggestion.. unless you are willing to do the job.. lol ..

Here's mine - a workbench from Home Depot, the legs fold out and the shelf keeps the legs in place. Bought a stainless bowl from a restaurant supply store to wet potting mix. The stacked containers at right are potting mix ready to use.

Added a curtain to conceal shelf contents....this is in my porch at one end.

And a fridge for some adult beverages. Plans are to finish the room in a garden motif.....trellis on one wall with pics in frames attached, stars, moon and suns above on the ends, a couple of birdhouses hanging or in corners, etc.....

Paul

oh yeah.. i remember pauls ...

lets say.. i am not bumping out the house.... drywalling and color coordinating ....

and paul.. you read that as jealousy.. not criticism ... because boy am i ...

whats the backpack sprayer for... and how many times did you need to bend over to pick something up while wearing it.. and fell over??? [how many pump tanks do you have.. i see at least 4???]

boy... the more i stare at the pix.. the more i see absolutely everything there ... and i am suspecting.. even the beer cooler... lol ...

next please ...

ken

ps: maybe wine???

Ken, you noticed the cooler, I noticed the slug bait!

Gesila

Hope someone has an open air potting bench setup, because I don't have any interior space for such an operation. Not in a convenient spot, that is.

I remember Paul's setup, but cannot see where the legs are that pull out. I have a couple of bird cage wire grates that would make a sturdy surface to set pots either to unpot or repot, with a garbage can below to catch the potting mix, dead or alive. I already have a large stainless steel bowl such as Paul has, just like an old RV sink w/o the hole.

Paula has a good idea about mobility, she'd make a great airline attendant I bet. I like that it is stand-up height, and I'm thinking I need to see a closeup of her composter which must be like a cement mixer to blend the mix for her. And then Paula, do you leave it in the composter until it is used? How big are the bags you dump into the composter? If you do not use ALL of a bag, where do you put the partially used components of your mix?

Lately I've used whole bags of mini nugget pine bark and the 64 qt MiracleGro, small bags of vermiculite, and big scoops of a bale (?) of peat, so I'd need room for storing and using those items. I'm also going to be storing large pots/containers, but plan to reduce the inventory, now that I am (mostly) through with the mass repotting job.

Well, I better stop thinking about this and get dinner on the table. Thank heaven for slow cookers! We're having "gardener's delight" tonight. My DH thinks this is as pretty as my hosta.

oh i saw the bait.. and wondered if one of the sprayers was for vinegar ...

but was more interested in what was being cooled.. lol .. i was hungry and thirsty at the time...

but the grating has given me an inspiration ... have two bins... that remove.... pot on top of a grate .. lose soil falls thru to tub #2 ...and when the #1 on top is empty.. i use #2 ... etc ... then i dont have to keep cleaning the potting table ... except now.. i am engineering a 200 table ... to hold 2 bins of damp media.. and a 2 by 3 foot grate ... of which.. i already have .. wonder where i got it????

ken

Mocc I am done with most of the invasion. Now I have repot and paint the house. I use 40 lb potting soil 2/3 2cu ft pine fines and 1/2 large bag perlite. Turn and there it is. I just put the top on the composter and leave it there. Storage is right there. I usually buy what I need at the time ( son picks up ) as I can have a problem with ants. it has been a time saver.

The yellow hutch is 10' tall and hold everything from drip hose parts, small pots, bird food, chemicals, tags, just everything. The inside bench is a prefab workbench, old gates above to hold whatever. Soil, lime, are kept on the far wall in blue and green bins that flip open and conveniently stay open until I shut them (unlike my ancient ones that hit me on the head every time I went digging inside). I have cactus soil and small stones in 5 gal buckets there too. Bigger pots are stored on the bottom shelf of the bench or stacked on the other side of the hutch.
The old picnic table outside the garage is my real workspace. It hoses off, which is the best part.

Better picture

My.....what? I have like a patch of ground, and a tub of pine fines and a bag of perlite. For annuals I have a bag of miracle grow on the patch of ground. Pots are stacked in a corner of the yard. .not pretty

This is my work space at the back door.

My potting bench is about 7' long and is at the right height for me(i'm 6'2") It is 37" deep as the boards asr 7x2 and I had 5 of em. frame is made of 3x2 and was weatherproofed with old engine oil lol (not the top). 3 pieces of spare skirting board around the sides and back and there you have it. It is not pretty (and no curtains lol) but its mine! It previously was a picnic bench, who knows what it will be next lol. I kept some hosta pots on a shelf underneath over the winter.

I keep my compost in the dustbin to the left of it and as for special hosta medium I make it up in my wheelbarrow as i need it.

The other "thing" to the left is a shelter I made out of old windows and pallets for my potted hostas which worked like a dream although it wouldn't win any prizes at Chelsea lol. I try to re use and recycle most stuff around the place.

This pic was taken last july and the area was chock full of plants and trees I have been growing for my sisters new garden, it now is a haven of happy hostas, my main gardens are to the front and sides of the house so back here is the nerve centre of the operation.

I have two plant tables made from slabs of limestone with concrete blocks for legs which are great as they won't rot.

I know that this would be deemed too "rustic" for many but I though I'd share and if nothing else give you a laugh.

Denis

Rustic, Denis? Yours is very sophisticated as compared to mine, as are all mentioned here! I'm like Coll. I have a 3.8cu ft bag of pro mix sitting upright on the ground with the top sliced open, sit my empty pot on top of it, and grab handfuls of mix to fill said pot. In winter I get my DH or strapping teenage son to carry it down to the basement for me (we have an old farmhouse that still has the outside basement/ cellar entrance, so it's only about 6 steps down). Yes, we do a lot of rustic around here, some good, such as the cedar rail fence, some not so good, as in my potting setup!

Mine is in the link below over on the Florida Gardening forum. I use a deep tub and always set the pot right into the mix when planting. Never lose any potting mix. I'm really happy I discovered this method.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: What are your favorite beyond-the-basics garden tools?

LoveTheYard, you really put a lot into your post on the garden tools thread. Thank you for adding that to this thread. I am putting it in my Clippings for reference. Good stuff.

We have a Jax gardener on here. My question is, do you grow hosta also? How neat if you do. The more the merrier.

This thread is bearing fruit now. Denis, I love your courtyard which seems to be sheltered in its corner. Is there a portion of the house to make it a "U" shape? I like your walls too. And the ingenuity of the window cabinet. I like the term "dust bin" better than what we call "garbage can".....a yucky term.

Paula, the ants are a problem here too. Fire ants especially. I find pots with the mix mounded up a foot above the pot, they sure can aerate things. And they bite viciously. As a diabetic, the fire ants are a health hazard, when bites get infected on my feet and legs.

Unbiddnn, I think your hutch or cabinet is quite classic. That is storage in real style. I might find a way to put upper weatherproof cab with doors to be above my pot bench. hmmm, you give me pause here.

I have an 'L' shaped potting area
the left half

and the right half

I have a big table that I use for potting, I like to spread out with plenty of room.

I have a plastic container (shown on the shelf) that I take out to the table and pot in, so that I don't have to clean up behind myself and I don't lose media. (Those shelves are also what I use to store my hostas on in the winter).

All of my materials stay in the shed and I just bring them out when I need them, either by the bag or roll the big container out. The container that looks like a trash can on the right has wheels, so if I mix up a big batch, I put it in there for storage and use when I need to pot up one or two.

If I'm doing a lot, I just mix it up fresh in the wheel barrow beside the table and use it as I go. This works well for me and I can just sit them on the table as I pot them up, then move them to their location when I'm done.

I'll be the first one to admit things look a little crowded and messy, but here's my potting area. It's basically an extension of a narrow storage shed that runs virtually the full length of my southern sideyard. The area has been capped off with a transparent acrylic sheeting and is nice and dry during our wet spring days.

This first picture looks at it from the west and to the left you see the covered bench -told ya it was messy- with Rubbermaid bins underneath that hold potting mix. Just beyond that are the smaller pots for small divisions and seedling transplants.

This looks at the same bench from the opposite side. Though you cannot see it in this picture, there is a hole cut into the counter top where the green pot sits that allows you to scoop potting mix out of the bin that sits right below it.

This is where I keep most of my 2-gallon and larger pots, and there's usually also an open bag of ProMix HP as well as a bale of straight peat moss, the latter is used predominantly for mixing up for hypertufa pots, one of my wife's favourite things to do.

Looking a little farther into the area is where you'll notice two of our rain barrels, just behind them a fair whack of square 1 gallon pots -my favourites- and a shelf that sits in pretty much direct light all day long that holds cuttings and seedlings. Those are Weigela cuttings and 3rd year seedling you see near the front, towards the back are 3rd year Hosta seedlings.

Pieter

I use a card table that was a diaper changing table in our living room in a 3rd floor walk-up apartment on the north side of Chicago in 1967.
Mini orchid bark, pumice and a small bit of organic potting mix bags near by. I mix the goodies up in a cat litter box. NO WAY PEARLITE IS IN THE PLAN!!!!

I only do my potting in Spring in April or early May, so it all goes back into the side shed after that. Well maybe except for the one hosta I have to have from the Auction in July....

No photos, as it is already stowed.

-Babka

Wow! So many wonderful spaces. When I pot, I haul out all of my stuff from the garden shed, garage, mud room, etc and get to it on the driveway. I sit on a small stool and use my garden wagon. Definitely not pretty!
The old plastic window box is where I mix up the pine and media, and a wee bit of compost. As I cannot find pine fines or mini nuggets I have to cut the bark into smaller pieces.
{{gwi:990608}}
One day I will have more space and I can have a proper area for potting.

The practical pictures showing the stuff out and in use....those are the ones which help me.

Pieter, you say "crowded and messy" but the organization shows clearly. All those things you have so conveniently stored beneath the bench, or turn around and there is more.

I like ILoveToGrow's composter (Target sells it too) for its ease. It might have the mix at a convenient height. I get tired of bending over to reach the bottom of my collapsing barrel, and trying to mix a full barrel with a short handled tool takes a lot of muscle.

PaulaB, what you have works, proper space or not.

My current space is the round table of metal mesh, and the umbrella (always need one in my garden) is not in the middle but off to the sunny side. I have a wooden stool so I may sit while I prepare the mix. What I like about my collapsing barrel is I don't pick up the big bag of MiracleGro entirely. I swing one end of it over the squished down barrel. I slice it open with my razor knife. I tip the bag into the barrel, and grab the bag and begin pulling it up by its bottom, leaving the MiracleGro in the barrel. I do that with the mini pine nuggets too, add some crab shells, add some peat, and some vermiculite. Mixing is the hardest part since my back hurts from the low position of the barrel on the ground. Picking it up is a challenge. I must solve where/how to do the mix with my bench setup.

Having mine outdoors and exposed to the elements can be the deciding factor in what works.

Mocc, it's a whole lot easier to mix, if you don't mix it by the bag. I may use several bags by the time that I'm done, but I only mix 1/2 wheel barrows worth at a time. I have a big sturdy pot that I dip into each bag and fill it with however many scoops of each bag that the ratio calls for. Then I mix everything by hand, which only takes a few turns of my hands and I blend it with a little wax on/wax off method we all learned from Karate Kid :) I then use that portion, then mix up a new one after the barrow is empty. You have to mix more often and, of course, dipping it out of the bag takes a few seconds longer than just cutting a bag and dumping it, but it is MUCH easier on you to mix a smaller amount than a larger one. Not to mention it's easier to get the blend right faster when you're working with a smaller amount, so any time lost on dipping it out is regained in the blending process. Just a thought.

I want a raised antique bathtub lol!!! Thats the size I want... maybe soon if I can find one :)

Funn, I think you are correct about the smaller size mixing. By the time I try to lift the full bag of MiracleGro after it gets WET, my back is complaining the rest of the day. My two extra bags not opened (they have air holes peppered all over the bag you will notice) are now so heavy I can barely slide them. No way lift them. Hopefully I don't have to mix anything from the unopen bags. There is a mixture already waiting, enough for the hosta I got last night. However, another larger order from LOTG is on its way, hopefully to arrive today, and I know I'll be dipping into the wet MiracleGro for them.

Also, I keep a small galvanized garbage can with a bag of crushed crab shells in it, and that can is currently empty. I've waited since early May for them to arrive. First bag was lost in shipment (FedEx) and now the second bag is a day late arriving (overnight free from Amazon because the first was lost), so I hope it isn't involved in another road accident like some I've seen involving FedEx tandem trailers. But I can do the mixture without it, and add it on top of the pots later on.

Surely they won't lose it TWICE?

I do not need a potting stand because I pot very little. When I pot I use the approach to our deck and benches there, but do the potting mainly on the lawn because any spill there is not critical. Empty pots are stacked in the garage, supplies are where the fertilizer is. I buy potting soil from HD when needed. I have 3 bins of compost, is presently half empty.
Bernd