When thinking ahead to my planned sabbatical this year, I wanted to include a large project that would challenge my ability, improve life around the house, or equip us for the future.
Ultimately, I landed on building a small garden shed to house my growing collection of yard tools and reclaim that space from our garage. It fit into my interests of working with wood and would serve the purpose of finally figuring out what to do with the shady patch of land along our back fence, where I’ve tried and failed to grow plants for a few years now.
At one point, my heart was set on the idea of building a teardrop trailer and hauling that around North America for road trips. I quickly came to realize that it wouldn’t receive the kind of mileage I had envisioned and it becomes less simple to pack up for the open road when you’ve planted enough roots.
In order to get this project underway, I had to complete a variety of tasks in the yard:
- Remove the underground sprinkler system – It came with the house but I’ve never felt fully comfortable with the ongoing water usage so it doesn’t get a lot of use. This year, we’ve been planning for drought conditions and relying more on rainwater collection to keep our plants healthy so it was time to finally move on from what was in place before.
- Deconstruct raised planter box & transplant surviving perennials – Despite our best efforts to fill in the shady spot by the back fence, most plants struggled under the constant shade of the two trees we have back there. I could have doubled down on shade-loving plants but instead chose to find a different use for the area and save the existing plants by moving them into pots so they could enjoy more sunshine in other parts of the yard.
- Dig area to extend gravel foundation – Digging is exhausting work. I moved a lot of dirt and laid out landscaping fabric + new gravel. The most painstaking work involved was tamping and levelling the ground to avoid building on a slant.
In all, the prep work took me nearly 2 weeks. Once those tasks were complete, I was able to start on the fun stuff. The building process!
Below is a quick gallery to showcase the progress made in the chosen spot.
In all, I’m proud of the end result and glad to have more space for my toys tools. It was a great opportunity to try new things, like roofing, and put them into practice.
Thanks for reading! 😀