Most people have a backyard project that can look messy when work is in progress. For these reasons a secret garden or garden workroom can be a benefit.
My garden workroom area is located behind a shrub hedge. The backyard looks tidy, but watch out when you enter the garden workroom!
Right now the workroom has two compost bins, an area for plants I salvaged from my flooded side yard and a holding area for new shrubs I purchased. I am also setting up a temporary moving greenhouse for the shrub cutting I am starting. I plan to start close to 500 shrubs. Some I will use in the new garden areas, other I will swap for different perennials.
My backyard is large so I can fit a 20-foot by 12-foot work area in easily. You can also plan wisely and use a small area of six foot. Any spare area in the backyard will do.
To set up a garden workroom decide on the area of space that is available to you. Will you need a compost area? Small portable greenhouse? Large amount of sunlight?
It’s also important to have a source of water and possibly electricity if you need lighting or will be using hand tools.
The next concern is how to partition off your work area. You could use a row of hedges like I have. Or you could put up a fence or a temporary partition wall made of latticework or wood.
My one friend created a temporary garden room by using tall sunflowers and flowering vines. The flowers lasted long enough to create a secret garden room for her messy backyard project and added color and fun to the side of the backyard.
Temporary plant holder
I have about 200 perennials that need moved this weekend to clean up my one flooded part of the yard. It’s a mess and everything has to be moved.
I could have used some beams I had from tearing down a fence but I wanted a project that was as easy as possible and could be moved or taken apart in no time at all. So I chose old dresser drawers. I pick up dresser drawers along the curb or buy dressers that are falling apart for $1. I keep the dresser hardware for mosaic projects and stack the drawers until I need them.
To set up a temporary plant holder, drill or punch a few holes in the bottom of the drawers for drainage. If you have a lot of compost you can mix compost and soil and plant the plants quickly, water and set in shade for a day so they will suffer less from transplants shock.
If you are lacking in soil you can either head to the garden center or mix some of your own, after all this is a temporary holding area for plants.
These dresser planters can actually be made to look very cute in a theme garden or hillside garden area. Plant the front or add fake brick or cemented pebbles and they will accent most garden areas.
Mixing a fast soil for the holding beds
Place 4 inches of straw, leaf mold or compost in the bottom of the drawer. Top with 4 inches of soil from your yard. Add 3 or 4 inches of straw or grass clipping. Add more soil (at this time of year when hanging baskets are finishing up I use the soil from them for many projects.)
Place the plants in the drawer and water well. Top off the soil with grass clipping to help hold in moisture. I often will use a weak compost tea or fertilizer to help with plant shock. I usually cut the perennials tops down at this time. Winter is almost here and the tops will die back anyways. Let the growth go into the soil not the tops, which die in a month or so anyways.
If you don’t have dresser drawers and wood box or even a cardboard box will work for a week or two.
Fall is a great time for moving and dividing perennials. If you need to make a temporary home for them the dresser drawers may be a perfect solution. Just remember to plant the perennials in the ground before the frost starts.