How to Set Up a Potting Bench
I have wanted a potting bench forever. When I moved this old piece of furniture outside, I finally had a place to garden all of my pots!
If you’re like me, you love spending time in your garden. There’s nothing quite like getting your hands dirty and watching something beautiful grow before your eyes. But if you don’t have a potting bench, then it can be tough to get the job done properly. Not to worry – I’m here to show you how to set up your very own!
This “old piece of furniture” I bought at the flea market and I used it in the Carriage House as an art working table. (I am an artist, by the way.)
Now that I am redoing the Carriage House, (and have no time to paint), it seemed as if it was the right time to repurpose my “table” and move it outside.
Setting Up the Potting Bench
The timing for this project was perfect because I have a gazillion terracotta pots in my yard that need replanting. My previous gardening efforts have been pretty lame as I never had an area to store my materials (as in tools, pots, and potting mix, etc.). So I gathered everything I own that is gardening related and brought them out to my new potting bench.
As you might have guessed, I also bought some plants. The colors in our garden are pink, white, and purple. And I even found more Dahlias!
I also brought out all of my pots, many of which I painted with Garden Lime to age the terracotta pots. For the DIY go to How to Make Vintage Garden Pots.
This is what it looked like before I added all of my potting supplies.
Do you think it actually could have been a vintage potting bench?
In case you are wondering, this location is on the patio behind the Carriage House. The brick wall behind the potting bench is a wall that hides all of our pool equipment! It’s the perfect location.
Tools You Need For a Potting Bench
There are a lot of items that can make gardening and potting plants a lot easier. Here are some of my favorites.
There are a lot more items listed below, including four potting benches!
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Potting Plants
I love to pot plants and I have a lot of drip lines all over our yard. I will be honest, I need drip lines as I am terrible about remembering to water my pots. As long as there are drip lines in my pots, my plants look amazing!
Here is an example of how great my pots look on the back patio. The color adds so much to what normally would be a plain coffee table.
I also planted all of these pots which are on our back patio, outside the french doors.
I finally planted the rest of my raised vegetable beds. We have four beds and here is what I have planted. So far!
- 11 tomato plants, ranging from San Marzano to Roma to cherry and more.
- one raspberry and one blackberry plant
- two peppers
- carrots
- zucchini and cucumbers
- sage, rosemary, oregano, thyme, parsley, mint
- 8 various basil plants
- strawberries
Frequently Asked Questions
Costs for a potting bench range between $75 and $500, depending on the size and materials. You don’t need a potting bench, as you can use any tall table. I bought mine for $50 at a vintage flea market. You can also buy a potting bench with shelves in all different materials, for a range of prices.
A good potting bench is sturdy, the right height, and offers covered storage for items you don’t want to get wet.
Links to the Items Shown in This Post
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Hold up!!!! Explain drip lines in pots, please. Details!!!!
I have a potting bench.in.my sun porch with.the hole for a bucket (ice bucket) that we use as a bar with gardening items year round. We have also used the bucket for a Christmas tree!
How do you keep the bench from rotting from being outside?
I am lucky enough to live in Southern California, so I haven’t had to worry about rotting.
I had a darling dark green wood potting bench that I paid $35 from a funky store called Good Stuff Cheap. It was on my deck year around for rain, sun and snow. I used it for potting sometimes, but mostly for flower displays or a serving/bar for parties. It faded over the years and started looking shabby chic. When it got too wobbly after about 7 yrs, it went by the curb ( and did get rescued lol). Best $35 I ever spent.
Sometimes those are the best buys. It sounds like the $35 served you well! Hopefully you find another treasure soon!
Hi Leslie!
I’d have to vote yes, I think the table was originally intended as a potting bench. I love the color, the chippiness, and the size of it! It shows so well against the brick wall! California weather affords you the option of leaving it outside year round, but I’m in the northeast and have to move my wooden potting table into the shed for the winter months 🙁 But it’s a happy day when everything spring is brought back outside for a new growing season!
Enjoy your new old potting bench art table!
Thank you so much Susan for reaching out! I hope that spring finds you soon. It is such a joy to get out and dig in the garden! I am so happy with this new/old potting bench. I agree with you, the color is amazing and it is so great to have a space designated for potting!
Be very careful with your mint, it is very invasive and needs to be grown in a contained pot or it will be all over your bed. Thank you for sharing your journey. I’m in Colorado where we are waiting to start our gardening. Snow last night so all of my plantings are patiently waiting on a tarp on the dining room floor!!
Your potting bench is just so adorable with all your pots and accessories. It looks better than a piece of good lawn furniture in my opinion. Just adds such a nice touch to a yard for the summer
Months. Enjoy it and thanks for showing us the fun of collecting pots to put plants in around our yards.
It sure looks to me like this was originally a potting bench but if it wasn’t – it couldn’t be more perfect for that use! It’s gorgeous in all it’s chippy glory and it makes me want to find something that I can use for a potting bench also.
You definitely have a good eye! Definitely looks like it was an old potting bench. Yeah I have some pretty rough winters so I don’t believe I’ll be putting one outside. Even though it’s one of my favorite things. My husband is saying he thinks it’s time to build me a greenhouse. The kind he and I both want though I’m afraid we shouldn’t do it I’m 70 years old. Seems like we should save the money for something else. We have an acre and a third there’s enough room but our yards awfully pretty right now I’m afraid it would just mess things up.