Thank you. It looks quite functional but I'd prefer wood if I can find the right design. My husband is actually quite interested in making one.

Linnea, I googled 'diy potting bench' and tons of info came up including instructions for building wooden benches.

There are literally hundreds of plans on the internet, using scavenged timber such as pallets. Takes some time to find free plans but they are certainly available on sites such as 'Insructables' and various YouTube demos. I cannot imagine buying a potting bench (I use an old oak desk which was once the chief inspector's at Brighton Constabulary (and far grander than all the other steel and chipboard ones which were up for grabs during a station renovation). Certainly not mobile though.

I have a zinc 100litre mixing tray which is lightweight and can be plonked on a table or laid across a wheelbarrow - and has been my most useful accessory.

My brother built me a potting bench as a birthday gift using a modified plan from Ana White's site. If your husband is handy, he can easily use that as a base plan and make the rest of it to your specs.

I had a 'store bought' potting bench. Was given to me by my DH at the time as a gift for some occasion I no longer remember. It came from Costco, had both upper and lower shelves, hooks for hanging tools and a slidable plastic bucket that slotted underneath the table surface (with a grated insert) that excess potting soil could be collected in. Of course way too tall to be able to sit at and work :-)

It was really nice looking but I found I seldom used it for the purpose intended. If I did a lot of seed starting or upsizing of starts and seedlings, perhaps. But the containers I use are too large and too heavy to be adaptable to lifting up and down off the bench. And no room to store even a reasonable amount of potting soil.

I prefer to sit when potting up containers as well and just use a lawn chair to do so. I store my potting soils in large plastic storage tubs and just haul out the one I am using as needed. If I do need a table/bench, I just use my patio table - no potting bench required.

If a bench really is required or desired - and I'd consider that very seriously - then I agree that one would not be hard to build from all the countless free online plans available with just basic carpentry skills (although you can get decent premade ones for far less than $500!!). But despite my buying him - at his request - every power tool known to mankind, my ex was particularly inept and there is no way he could have pulled that off successfully.

btw, I sold my bench, quite weathered from maybe 10 years exposed to the elements, when I sold my house and downsized. So if you decide it is unnecessary and not as useful as imagined down the road, a well-made one is highly recyclable.

I’m changing my mind on the wheels. If its heavy and sturdy it can just stay on the back deck and I will move pots back and forth.

Most I’ve seen online (I looked a lot after posting yesterday: I guess I really didn’t want to get back to work, LOL) just seem like a glorified table with a back rack for hanging tools. I am really set on having the well underneath to hold dropped soil; some kind of lattice above to rest the pot on. When I’ve used my existing outdoor furniture for potting it was always such a mess to clean up, at least to the standards of ever wanting to eat at the table again.

I saw a few repurposed desks that got my attention. Drawers, wow! However, the hunt for the right piece at the right price? Not so exciting. My husband also takes a dim view of used furniture unless it is a valuable antique that I can restore easily.

I saw a couple online that had those features, at a price under $ 200, and I started to get excited. I saw the exact same model on 3 sites. However, reviews from people who had it awhile said internal wood is particle board and it fell apart after 2 years. Who used particle board on a piece that will be outside?!

All plans I’ve seen so far – plus all the ready made ones – are for stand-up benches. So we’d either have to shorten the design or I’d have to get a tall stool.

For use while seated, a computer desk with a hutch or shelves would come very close to what you want, and because of the shift to laptops and tablets, they turn up for very little money at yard sales. The biggest drawback is that most are made of particle board with laminate, which is heavy and not weatherproof.