Article: DIY Potting Bench & Wash Station for Gardeners and Backyard Chicken Keepers
DIY Potting Bench & Wash Station for Gardeners and Backyard Chicken Keepers
There are some projects that start with one simple idea and slowly become so much more useful than you expected.
This Potting Bench & Wash Station started as a place to pot plants outside without making a mess. But because we are also backyard chicken keepers, I wanted it to incorporate some of my needs as a chicken keeper.
I needed a space to rinse and hang towels, catch spilled soil, store bins, hang tools, and occasionally make it easier to bathe a chicken when needed.
The result was this dreamy outdoor workstation designed for both the garden and the chicken coop.
It has a wash basin on one side, a solid work surface in the middle, a slotted potting area on the other side, removable totes underneath, and a rack with hooks for hanging towels, brushes, scissors, and small tools.
It is part potting bench, part wash station, part chicken bath setup, and exactly the kind of practical project I love for a suburban backyard homestead.
Why I Wanted a Garden Potting Bench For My Chicken Coop
A regular potting bench is helpful, but I wanted something that solved a few specific problems.
When I’m working outside, I usually need a place to:
- pot plants
- catch loose soil
- rinse garden tools
- clean chicken keeping supplies
- set down towels or scrub brushes
- keep messy jobs out of the house
- bathe a chicken when necessary
Before building this, all of those tasks happened in different places. Soil ended up on the ground, coop cleaning supplies got set wherever I could find space and chicken baths meant hauling supplies from the house and bathing a chicken while hunched over on the ground.
This bench creates one dedicated station for all of it.
The Main Features
The Potting Bench & Wash Station has three main work zones.
1. Wash Basin Area
The left side of the bench is designed to hold a removable tote. This tote can be used as a shallow wash basin for rinsing garden tools, garden veggies, chicken supplies, or anything else that needs to stay out of the kitchen sink.
Because the bin is removable, it is easy to dump, rinse, and clean when you’re done.
This side can also be used as a supervised chicken bath station. The tote sits inside the bench opening and is supported from underneath by an adjustable shelf, so the weight of the water is not hanging from the tote rim.
When using this setup for a chicken bath, always supervise your chicken, use warm water, keep the bird supported, and empty the tote before moving the bench or adjusting the shelf.
2. Solid Center Work Surface
The middle section is a solid work surface.
This is the spot for setting down plants, tools, towels, supplies, or anything you want to keep stable while you work. It also gives the bench a practical landing zone between the wash basin and soil-catching area.
I love having this middle section because it functions as a work table. I've even used it to blow dry my chicken after a bath.
3. Slotted Soil-Catching Area
The right side of the bench has a slotted top with a removable tote underneath.
This is one of my favorite features.
When you are potting plants, loose soil can fall through the slats and into the bin below instead of spilling all over the ground. When the tote fills up, you can slide it out and reuse the soil in your potting mix, garden beds, or compost.
It keeps the workspace cleaner and makes it much easier to save the soil you would normally sweep away.
A Built-In Rack for Towels and Tools
The top rack has hooks for hanging small supplies like:
- towels
- rags
- scrub brushes
- garden tools
- scissors
- gloves
- chicken bath supplies
I like having a towel within reach, especially when I’m rinsing tools or cleaning the coop.
You can use any exterior friendly hooks that fit your style. These are the hooks I used.
Adjustable Shelves and Removable Totes
One of the most customizable features of this bench is the adjustable shelf system.
Instead of building the wash basin and soil-catching area around one fixed tote size, the shelves can be moved up or down to better fit your needs. This gives you more flexibility if you want to use a deeper bin, a shallower bin, or separate totes for different tasks.
The removable totes make the bench easier to use and clean. The left side can hold a wash basin tote for rinsing tools, produce, or chicken-keeping supplies. It can also be used as a supervised chicken bath when needed. The right side holds a soil-catching tote under the slotted potting area so loose soil can fall through and be reused.
The shelf supports hold the removable shelf, and the shelf supports the tote from underneath. This matters because a tote filled with water or soil can become heavy. The tote should not hang from its rim when full.
This setup lets you customize the bench for the way you actually use it. You can keep a shallow wash bin on one side, a deeper soil bin on the other, or swap bins out depending on the project.
What We Built It With
We built our bench with cedar and stained it with a semi-transparent exterior stain. Cedar gives the bench more of a finished outdoor furniture look.
You can also build this with pressure treated lumber, which is usually easier to find and more budget friendly.
Using pressure treated lumber, the estimated build cost is about $300, although the final cost will vary depending on your location, lumber prices, finish, hardware, and tote choices.
The finished bench is:
72" wide x 26" deep x 54" high
The counter height is approximately 36", which makes it comfortable for standing work.
A More Innovative Potting Bench...
A standard potting bench just gives you a surface to work on.
This bench gives you a system for all your needs.
It has a wash basin, a soil-catching station, a solid work surface, adjustable tote shelves, storage space, and a hook rack. It was designed with both gardening and chicken keeping in mind, which makes it especially helpful if your outdoor chores overlap the way mine do.
It can be used for:
- starting seeds
- transplanting herbs and flowers
- catching loose potting soil
- rinsing tools
- washing chicken supplies (which is super helpful on coop cleaning days!)
- easily bathing chickens
- organizing garden accessories
- keeping outdoor messes outside!
It is one of those projects that looks pretty in the garden but is still truly practical.
Get the Building Plans
If you would like to build your own, I created the full Potting Bench & Wash Station Building Plans.
The digital plans include:
- material list
- cut list
- tool list
- rendered diagrams
- exploded view
- step-by-step building instructions
- adjustable shelf details
- tote notes
- hardware notes
- links to the totes and materials we used
The plans are designed for backyard chicken keepers, gardeners, and anyone who wants a dedicated outdoor workspace for messy jobs.
This bench has already become one of those pieces that makes my backyard feel more functional.
It gives me a place to work with plants, rinse supplies, catch soil, hang tools, and care for the chickens without dragging everything into the house. It is practical, pretty, and built for the way we actually use our outdoor space.
And honestly, those are always my favorite kinds of projects.
