Saturday 4 February 2023

Clearing The Area For The Potting Shed !


I have to say, I'm very excited, I have been informed that I'm getting a Forest Garden 2.4m x1.8m (8ft x 6ft) Potting Shed and thus my plans have altered. I was having a solar tunnel between my main path and the wall at the entrance, and I started clearing the Hawthorne yesterday, but today now I know the Potting Shed is becoming a reality, I spent this afternoon sorting and clearing the materials I had stored in that area. 


A cut and paste of where the potting shed is going to go 


A cut and paste of where the potting shed is going to go, the angle is not quite right and the door will be on the other end of the potting shed but you get the general idea. One can see to the left of the door where I have worked my way into the Hawthorne as you can see the rendered wall. 





I like this image I found of the inside, it gave me food for thought. 

The Potting Shed is a shiplap Tongue and Groove construction and has a practical design. All Forest Garden structures are built to last, this one comes with a 10 year guarantee and I've moved it away from the wall in the plan for ease of construction and future maintenance. 

This garden building will help keep your garden or allotment clutter free and offers a secure space for you to store garden equipment. Far more than just a storage space, this potting shed has been carefully designed to maximise the elements that are prime for planting, seeding and potting.

I can see the enclosed end having shelving racks for seed trays, pots etc, and my hand tools on hooks along the 8ft back panel at the top. All the potting equipment that is currently shoe horned into the two 1.8m x 1.2m (6ft x 4ft) greenhouses will go into the potting shed and will allow me more growing room in both greenhouses.   

With 10 fixed windows the potting shed lets in extra light. Two opening windows enable you to help keep the temperature and air flow at an appropriate level. I may however construct a couple of curved grills to go under the opening vent to stop the squirrels coming in and nicking tomatoes and plants. I may also install a couple of solar powered fans in the gable ends, depending on the heat gain during the summer. With all those windows I will not need a solar light in there.  

The potting shed comes in smaller sections, making it easier to handle and to assemble, which will be beneficial for walking it all into the allotment from the drop off area. 


The shed is supplied with two sets of two-tier modular plant staging that can be positioned in a row in front of the window as in the photo above or in the corner. I'm thinking maximise the growing area and have them in front of the window. 


The windows are made from shatterproof PET glazing, which will not become yellow or brittle over time. The Potting Shed is modular in its design, allowing you to choose whether to hang the door to the left or the right of the window panel and which way it opens, which is ideal as I want it the other end in the photos. 


The Potting Shed is built using interlocking Shiplap Tongue & Groove boards which make it robust and weather resistant. The smooth-planed barge boards and felted roof give it an attractive finish. All the timber in this Potting Shed is Dip Treated and it is guaranteed against rot for 10 years, with annual retreatment required.

I will be fitting guttering and capturing the rainwater. Adding guttering around the fascia of the potting shed will redirect rain water away from the potting shed’s foundation.

I have to say my father-in-law would have loved one of these, but would have used mesh in the windows for his aviary.


Photos 

left: Where the pile of timber was stacked.
Middle: The timber restacked on the edge of the plot boundary with plot 2
Right: Same stack looking straight on from Plot 2. 

Most people who work with lumber already know what the spacers (stickers) are that you see spaced between each slab 

These timbers will become bearers that will go under the potting shed off paving slabs laid on the leveled earth, and one isn't allowed to concrete allotments, as the next owner may have radically different ideas how they want to arrange the plot  



I collected all the scaffolding boards from the piles of timber around the plot and marked them up ready for cutting, if I can find the powerful Ryobi batteries, that is!

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