Heartland Garden Shed – A More Convenient Place To Hide Tools

Keeping the garden tools in a corner of the garage is all very well, but most gardeners really want something more -- a handsome Heartland shed where the wheelbarrow, flower pots, garden gloves and the inevitable collections of old seed packets and plant labels have a place of their own.

A resourceful gardener can manage quite a lot without the luxury of a shed, but when a gardener's ambitions and equipment begin to crowd the family car out of the garage, a proper garden shed no longer seems frivolous. "I've always thought a garden shed to a gardener is like a kitchen to a cook," says Linda Joan Smith, author of "Garden Structures" (Workman). "Gardeners need a place to mix their fertilizers and potions; to keep their tools and equipment; to do the close-in, hands-on work like starting seeds or potting cuttings."

Old-time gardens always had a shed of one kind or another, usually near the vegetable garden. Some sheds were only big enough to protect tools from the weather. Larger sheds were essentially gardeners' offices, with work tables and storage space for tools and supplies of every description and a desk and chair for keeping gardening records and sketching out garden plans.

It was a utilitarian place but not without aesthetic charms. Even rough sheds had window boxes full of bright flowers during the summer, and a clematis or a rose clambering over the roof.

"I love the descriptions of the early English gardening sheds, where everything had its perfect place and went back at the end of the gardening day," Smith said.

Modern sheds, even if they're only big enough to hide the mower, appear to have the same appeal.

About The Author:

Mark Harris is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.garden-n-storage-sheds.com. Build yourself a gazebo, tool shed, potting shed, greenhouse, bridge, or outdoor garden & storage shed using free building plans found online.