Prepare Your Garden Shed for the Upcoming Gardening Season
21.03.2018
A typical garden shed, used as a tool shed or a garden storage shed will rest in winter and get functional again only when the weather invites into the garden, be it for relaxation, fun, or for active gardening of which, of course, all three purposes can be achieved by the same course of action.
For the gardener, except for some early things to do, like for example, sowing tomatoes or peppers on the window sill, hot bed, or greenhouse, the cold temperatures in the soil outside do not allow for much real gardening even if some plants like snowdrops and crocuses might already colourfully decorate the area around the garden shed, forsythias are showing big flower buts or might even already be blooming, and the first flowers of willows and the first fruit trees starting with wild cherries can soon be expected. Early seeds like garlic or salad might be able to survive the night frosts, but will show little growth as long as warmer weather and the sun will not have warmed the soil to above 7 to 8°C.
As soon as the first weeds show up on the beds, the gardener can get some gardening tools out of the tool shed and remove them. Maybe there is some organic material to mulch the beds to give them shelter from frosty nights, stop new weeds from sprouting, feed the living soil and prepare the beds for planting. If not, card board might also do the trick.
All in all it is a good time to prepare the tool shed or garden shed for the upcoming gardening season.
Course of action to prepare the garden shed for the gardening season
- Clearing out the clutter from the tool shed
- Inspection of the shed
- Treatment and repairs if necessary
- Sorting out
- Maintaining the tools
- Any new tools or materials needed? Give them a storage space in your garden shed.
- Creating more storage space in the shed
- A well organized garden storage shed will make gardening easier
Clearing out the garden shed
Use a dry, sunny day for clearing out all the clutter, tools and things stored in your shed. Make some heaps outside of tools, other things, things that need treatment or repair, things you don’t need any more. The latter can be either marked to be given away, maybe sold on the internet or on flea markets, thrown away or as presents for people who might be able to make better use out of them. Use the opportunity to clean out the empty shed.
Inspecting the garden shed and necessary repairs
After that, you will be able to perform a thorough inspection of the shed from the inside. Any signs of water should be alarming and you should find the reason immediately and repair it. Cracks don’t need much attention unless they are big enough to let the sunshine in. In this case you should try to fill them with some wood chips from the outside using water resistant wood glue or wood paste. Refrain from using silicone as it might let some water in on the rims and thus generate “moisture nests“. Of course, you should wait with the repairs until the garden shed has dried up completely.
On the outside of the shed fungi, algae and lichen on the wood may indicate that the timber has soaked up some water in the past and a new round of wood treatment could be due as soon as the timber has fully dried.
Sorting out and maintaining the tools in the shed
With all the things now laying outside of the tool shed, and sorted onto different piles, you can decide which to keep, which to get rid of and which to repair. Garden tools might use some clean-up and maybe a little oil to keep them shiny. Sharpening of scissors and knives, trying out mechanical things like the height adjustment of the lawn mower, maybe test-start some machines to see if they will work properly once they are needed in the heat of the gardening activities.
New methods require new tools and new materials in the garden shed
During the winter, many have used the time to educate themselves in gardening groups on social media, and have discovered new methods that they want to try out. Be it drunken compost, vertical gardening, hydroponics, or micro greens: new methods require new tools and new materials, and now is the time to prepare them and give them a place in the storage shed.
Creating more space in the garden shed
Because of this evolution in gardening, tidying up and sorting out of obsolete clutter is so important. However, there has seldom been a garden storage shed or a tool shed that has grown emptier with the time.
That’s why it is always a good idea to organize everything and create more ways to store more things properly and orderly. You could build wooden shelves which can easily be connected to the garden shed from timber. Maybe a new toolbar would make sense or a tool wall? A hanging shelf could take lighter items, a large shelf in the back could maybe take the garden furniture as long as they are not yet needed outside, maybe an old cupboard from the main house could contribute to the orderliness of your garden shed.
A well organized garden storage shed will make gardening easier
Tools and materials that you need more often than others should find their place near the door of the garden shed so you can grab them quickly. A hook for the gardener’s wear could even be on an outside wall, if you have a sufficient roof overhang on the opposite of the weather side. Tools like pliers, the gardener’s knife or working gloves could also be stored in a basket fixed next to the door.
Tools and materials that you will use less often could find their places more to the back of the garden shed,
With a preparation like this, you will have all the time needed for a relaxed gardening as soon as the season starts in April and May.
For any questions, please contact us or call Oliver at 020 3807 0369!
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