The Potting Shed (gouache style)

Potting sheds grew up alongside the Victorian walled garden, often built against the back of a glasshouse wall where the gardeners prepared plants out of sight. A bench at window height, shelves of clay pots and racks of tools made it the working heart of the garden. Seeds are sown and cuttings taken there long before anything goes outside. In smaller gardens the same job falls to a humble shed, and every gardener arranges it differently.

The shed is busiest from February to April, sowing seeds in trays and pricking out seedlings into pots. Summer brings softwood cuttings, and autumn is for storing dahlia tubers and cleaning up. Over winter, wash pots and seed trays in warm soapy water to cut down on disease, sharpen and oil blades, and hang tools off the floor so they don't rust. Keep compost bags sealed and dry, and check for mice, which will happily eat stored bulbs and seed.

Here the shed is shown from inside, with hand tools hanging on nails, clay pots, seed trays and a watering can. It's a quiet moment between jobs, everything in its place and ready. These are the plain, well-used things that most of a garden's growing starts with, before anything reaches the beds.