Garden Sheds

A garden shed is an ideal way to store your gardening items securely and add a nice feature at the end or corner of your garden. Sheds come in different shapes and sizes and materials and you can choose from a traditional cheap wooden shed which is easy to assemble or a more sturdy metal shed or even a plastic shed which should last the longest (as they don't rot or rust).

Building garden sheds is relatively straight forward. You'll need to construct a garden shed base out of hardcore or concrete that's level so the shed won't move once errected. Errecting the shed according to the manufacturer's instructions will normally take at least 2 people because of the size of the panels.

Ensure you have adequate security - at least a padlock but some companies also offer alarms.

Wooden Garden Sheds

Wooden garden sheds are the most common shed in a typical UK garden as they are cheap to purchase and easy to assemble for even the novice DIY gardener. They should easily last 10 years even if you don't add additional stain and preservative each season and can be disposed of at the end of their useful life as most come from sustainable forests.

Metal Garden Sheds

Metal garden sheds are generally made from galvanised steel so won't rust so long as you look after them so should last much longer than a traditional wooden shed. Most will come with a non rust guarantee. Metal sheds have a look of their own and come in many colours although most will be in the steel colour or green and white. They are also rat and rodent free because the little creatures can't dig into rotten timber. They won't warp or crack. They have low maintenence as you never have to treat them and look stylish.

Plastic Garden Sheds

Plastic garden sheds are the most durable and are made out of all weather PVC and are fully fire retardent. They come with at least a 15 year warranty and won't rot or rust. They never need painting or treating and generally come in neutral colours so can naturally blend into any garden. They are more expensive than the others because they are built to last.

Where can you buy a shed ?

You can buy a shed in most major DIY stores - the best times are during their garden shed sales which generally occur during July and January each year.

B and Q and Homebase sell the brand Keter and have a full range of wooden, plastic and metal sheds and storage boxes. Wickes have apex sheds. There are also many online garden shed companies such as shedsdirect.