Recently, I went looking for a pair of clippers in my shed and stumbled over a pile of items I’d left laying on the floor. When I looked around I realized that over the winter months I had done it again…left little piles of things here and there.

During the active garden months, I try to keep the shed neat and organized. But over the winter, it’s just easier to drop everything in a convenient place. This year I was even organized through the holiday season since I used my shed as Santa’s Workshop. But after the holidays, when the bone-chilling cold set in, I wasn’t as careful.

Keeping our garden sheds neat and tidy is an ongoing battle. Especially as spring approaches, we need to have everything organized to be more efficient. As I began to work on cleaning up the clutter, I came up with some helpful ways to store the gardening gear. These 5 storage ideas can help you to contain your garden gear as well, and make everything easy to get to.

As we ramp up to spring, it’s time to get everything in tip-top shape before the busy season begins. Check out How To Organize Your Garden Shed for general cleaning tips. Today, I want to look at specific ways to store your garden stuff.

The biggest problem I struggle with is finding containers to store the garden gear that keeps them accessible but still attractive. The trick is to find containers that can keep tools and supplies off the floor but easy to grab when needed. And of course, we want containers that will make all our stuff look charming as well.

5 Ideas For Storing Your Garden Gear…

Hand Tools

Your spade, trowel, and clippers need to be quick and easy to grab when you want to work in the garden. During the active season, you need a container to carry your tools with you. Use a wire basket, vintage lunch box or a decorative garden bag for easier grab and go.

I find it helpful to keep an extra pair of tools in the shed for when I’m working on pots and plants. Currently, I’m storing my tools in a vintage Bauer flower pot. But a few other options would include:

• Picnic basket
• Old wooden or metal toolbox
• A decorative garden gate with hooks
• Galvanized bucket
• Vintage crock

These containers are small enough to move around, but still allow your tools to be easily available. Keeping the tools where you can quickly grab them will save you time.

Potting Soil

For years when we purchased potting soil, we kept it in the bag. Whenever we needed soil we made a mess getting it out of the bag. And if it was a large bag it might sit outside in the garden and get rained on. Bigger mess!

One day my husband and I decided to empty the bags into a large galvanized trash can. What a difference this has made. No messy shed floor or half-filled bags laying around. Putting the potting soil in a large lidded container keeps it protected, easy to access and it’s a lot neater.

While a galvanized metal trash can has worked great for us, you might find a large plastic trash can works better. Or how about a large storage box on wheels. The key is to look for a large container with an easy-to-remove lid for quick access. Then store it right where you are potting up your plants.

Garden Pots

I have a thing for terracotta flower pots, especially vintage pots. But how do you store them so you can quickly access them when needed? Here are a few ways I’ve found to store my pots.

• Stack them inside each other using a piece of paper between the pots to protect them and make the pots easy to separate.
• Store them in wooden crates to contain them in your shed.
• Keep the pots in a wagon to pull into your garden.
• Stack them below your potting bench for convenience during the growing season.
• Build or purchase a decorative bench to stack your pots on.
• Create a storage shelf out of your pots. Turn 2 large pots upside down and place a board across them. Now carefully stack your pots on top.

Be sure to store your terracotta pots out of the moisture during the winter months. Even if you can’t find room in your shed, store them in a protected area such as a porch or under a table.

Flower Vases

If you love flowers then you probably have a variety of vases to display them in. As I began to take stock of my vases I found them everywhere…in my garden shed, my garage, and even my pantry. So how do you store them for convenience?

Start by sorting through your stash and keeping only those that you love and use over and over. You can then store them in a lidded box, a vintage fruit crate, or a decorative tray. During the summer months, move the container to an easy access area so you can grab a vase when needed.

Be sure to store your vases close to where you create your bouquets. You’ll want to get to your vases quicky to make creating your bouquets a breeze.

Rather than discard the vases you no longer need, keep those separate to use when you give your bouquets away. I give a lot of flowers away and I’m frequently looking for containers to use. When you have a supply of vases that won’t need to be returned, this makes it easier to share your flowers.

Faux Flowers

If you love flowers, then you probably have a stash of faux flowers to enjoy during the offseason. But how do you store your stems to help keep them looking nice? Here are a few ways I’ve found to keep them organized and looking brand new.

1. Sort the flowers and stems by season. That way you can quickly grab your fall or spring flowers and not have to sort through them.
2. Wine bottle boxes make a perfect storage container. The internal dividers hold the flowers upright so you can instantly see what flowers to choose.
3. Keep your flowers stored in an area that doesn’t get direct sunlight. Sunlight can fade the bright colors and breakdown the flowers over time.
4. If you use your flowers outdoors, be sure to clean them up before you store them. Simply rinse them with water to remove dust, cobwebs, and critters. Allow them to dry before storing them.

I have found the wine bottle boxes make perfect containers but here are a few other options to store your faux florals:

• Store them upright in crocks, bottles, or pitchers.
• Invest in some flower buckets and sort by season or colors.
• Store them in under-the-bed lidded containers if you’re running out of room in your garden shed.
• Hang the stems from a ceiling beam just like you would if drying your fresh flowers.
• Hang a chain in the corner of your shed and clip the flowers to the chain.
• Store upright in large, round baskets.

I hope these storage ideas for garden gear will get you thinking about ways to keep everything neat and organized.

As you look around your garden shed or garage, you probably see your garden gear scattered everywhere. As we get closer to the gardening season it’s a good idea to get everything cleaned up and organized. This will help you to be more efficient and less stressed about the mess. And just maybe you won’t trip over that pile of tools laying in the middle of your shed.