A new potting bench.

I have just purchased my very first purpose built potting bench and a good piece of kit it is too. It folds away for storage, has a lower shelf, a small galvanised top shelf, substantial galvanised work surface and a drawer. It now stands in the greenhouse and almost looks too good to use.

A potting bench is one of the most useful and used pieces of equipment. When I first started I used the kitchen table, covered with newspaper, and a reasonable sized plastic potting tray. Not the most convenient places to sow seeds and prick out seedlings. Every time I had to bring everything into the kitchen, compost, pots, seed trays etc. In the greenhouse I then had I didn't have space to do much work, it was a space for bringing plants on. In the summer I resorted to working out of a wheelbarrow!

In the nursery I have the luxury of a potting shed and I built a workbench on which I continue to use my plastic potting tray. Everything is to hand and no more need to tidy up afterwards. So why a new potting bench?

In the very early spring I start off the majority of my seeds. In the potting shed there is no heating and the stone walls retain the cold. In the greenhouse there is a heater, and the sun rapidly makes it warmer and lighter. I can be pricking out seedlings for hours, traipsing back and forth to the greenhouse with pots and trays of seedlings. I also put my compost, ready mixed for sowing or transplanting, in buckets in the greenhouse to warm up. (In the potting shed last winter the compost was frozen). So I frequently take my potting tray to the greenhouse and work there, but that uses up bench space, and the bench is not quite high enough and I end up with a sore back. Hence the need for a purpose built potting bench, and when I found the one I liked the look of I knew that it would make spring sowing a much more pleasant experience. As it also folds away I can remove it if necessary or take it down to the polytunnel. It promises to give many years of good service. If you do lots of sowing and transplanting I would recommend you get yourself a potting bench, whether home made or bought, it will be a worthwhile investment.