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7 Reasons to Buy a Potting Shed

Published: 19/07/2021

As you’re here, you’re probably wondering whether you should buy a potting shed, greenhouse, or some sort of new-fangled potting shed-greenhouse combo.fgreat-lo Maybe you're looking for the ideal allotment shed. Or perhaps you’re just searching for a great-looking and versatile shed to use in many different ways. Or perhaps one or more common questions are on your mind: What is a potting shed? Can you use a potting shed as a greenhouse? Is a potting shed good idea? These are all questions we aim to answer to help you decide whether a potting shed is right for you. So, let’s get started…

What is a potting shed?

Inside a Tiger customer's potting shed greenhouse

The Cambridge English Dictionary defines a potting shed as: a small building in a garden in which plant containers, young plants, seeds, tools, etc. are kept [1] The definition above is broadly accurate – potting sheds are designed to grow seeds, keep plants, and hang gardening tools. And as the definition also suggests, these buildings tend to be smaller than standard garden sheds on the whole, but they do come in larger sizes. In fact, Tiger Potting Sheds come in sizes ranging from as small as 6x6 feet to as large as 10x8 feet. But what the Cambridge definition doesn’t tell you is just how versatile they are.

What's the difference between a greenhouse and a potting shed?

A greenhouse is usually made mostly from glass or another transparent material, such as plastic. A steel or wooden frame holds the transparent material together. The transparent construction magnifies sunlight and increases the temperature inside the building, which can help plants – that wouldn’t survive outside – thrive. By contrast, a potting shed can be made from timber, metal, or plastic core – much like standard garden sheds. However, potting sheds also come with a large transparent window (usually at the front) to help regulate the temperature inside. As a kind of shed-greenhouse combo, a potting shed provides the perfect sanctuary for both plants and their green-fingered owners. So now we’ve established the difference between a greenhouse and a potting shed, lets look at the many reasons why you may want to buy a potting shed for your garden…

1. You can use it as a potting shed-greenhouse

David's Tiger Potting Shed greenhouse

As we implied – or stated explicitly – in the last section of this post, a potting shed can act as a greenhouse. The potting shed offers a warm environment to protect your seeds, plants and soil from the cold and rain – very useful considering the often dank and inclement weather in the UK! Although we offer both greenhouses and potting sheds on our website, we believe a potting shed is the better option. Why? Well, due to its three non-transparent sides, a potting shed provides a warmer environment during autumn and winter - and is therefore better for use all year round.

2. Provides extra storage space

Customer's Tiger Potting Shed (inside and outside)

As greenhouses are usually made of glass or plastic, you can’t nail or screw extra shelving or hooks to store or hang your pots, trowels, spades, forks, and other gardening tools. Obviously, this is also the case with plastic and metal potting sheds. But the best wooden potting sheds don’t just come with a shelf included – they also make it easy to add hooks and additional shelves. And that leads us to the next point on this list…

3.  Potting sheds help you get organised

Of course, adding shelves, drawers and hooks is a great way to get organised. They create extra space on the floor of the shed or in the garden – and this makes them easy to reach. But a potting shed won’t just help you organise your garden tools – it also helps you organise your plants in handy pots and cultivate your seeds in trays on a potting table next to the window. This, in turn, helps you avoid putting your seeds on windowsills – and saves space – inside your home.

4. Ideal for work, play… or anything you like!

The Potting Shed is more than just a greenhouse

Perhaps the best thing about potting sheds is their sheer versatility. While they’re designed as places to keep and tend to plants, many people like to use theirs as a place to relax – a kind of quiet haven away from noise and the stress of work or everyday life. You could use it as a place to sit back and read your book – or even write your latest masterpiece. One of our customers even installed both a bar and a kids’ play area (see above).

5. They make your garden look (even) better!

Many of our Share Your Shed competition entries have been potting sheds – and we’re not surprised. With its high-grade timber and high-quality cladding, the Tiger Potting Shed makes a stylish addition to any garden. Some of our customers also use the Tiger Penthouse as a potting shed – this boasts Georgian windows (instead of full-pane versions), but also offers a similar amount of natural light.

6. Security

We’ve talked about how this type of building may be considered a potting shed-greenhouse quite a lot – but potting sheds are more secure than a standard greenhouse. This is because the single glass sheet used in most greenhouses is easy to break - and rob or vandalise the contents. By contrast, the tight-fitting shiplap cladding you find on the best potting sheds is harder to break into. High-grade potting sheds also come with key-operated locks to provide further protection for your plants, tools, and other valuable items. If you buy your potting shed from Tiger, you can even upgrade yours to feature a security bar, anti-vandal door screws or a Hasp and Staple lock. For more info on how to keep your potting shed secure, read our post on shed security.

7. They come in a range of sizes

It’s important to make sure you have enough space for your potting shed in your garden. Luckily, these units tend to come in a range of sizes. For example, Tiger offers a potting shed in five sizes: 6’x6’, 8’x6’, 10’x6’, 8’x8’ and 10’x8’. The Tiger Potting Shed also comes with a pent roof, which makes it more compact and easier to fit in tight spaces.

Where should you put your potting shed?

You need to make sure your potting shed is both easy to access and gets enough sunlight to help your plants thrive and grow. To get the most sunlight, your potting shed should ideally face south – this is especially important during the colder months. To ensure the shed retains the most amount of heat possible, it would also be wise to shelter it from windy or exposed areas. With this in mind, most people place their potting sheds with their backs facing a wall or fence.

Whether you’re looking for a potting shed-greenhouse or you want to take advantage of all its different potential uses, check out the best potting sheds on the market here.

References

[1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/potting-shed

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