Keeping the garden tools in a corner of the garage is all very well, but most gardeners really want something more -- a handsome 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 the 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, $35). "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 says.
Modern sheds, even if they're only big enough to hide the mower, appear to have the same appeal.
"People like to be organized. It makes people happy," says Kelly Dather of Heartland Industries, a manufacturer of "yard barn" garden sheds. "The backyard storage building is becoming a staple item, and the demand for these sheds is phenomenal."
City gardeners usually have room only for a small shed, perhaps 8 by 10 feet or 10 by 12, Dather says. In the suburbs, 10 by 12 feet is usually the minimum, and 10 by 20 is more common. However big it is, a shed should have a durable floor and doors wide enough to accommodate a wheelbarrow full of tools. Shelves, counter space and tool racks are essential; hot and cold running water is a great luxury. Prices start at around $500 for ready-made sheds, and may go up to several thousand dollars, depending on the size of the shed, its features and the materials.
