I have a lament. The covenants of my neighborhood prohibit me from having sheds and other outdoor buildings. Perhaps lament is too strong a word, as this disallowing of sheds was not unexpected. I knew when I bought my little piece of ground that these covenants existed. And knowing I could not have a garden shed, I made sure my garage was big enough to hold my gardening tools and carts and other necessities of gardening.
It just would be a lot of easier if I had a shed in the backyard so that when I am working in the garden back there, I could just throw open the doors to the shed and go merrily back and forth getting whatever hoe or rake or other tool I needed at that moment without losing my momentum or thought of what I am doing.
Now I have to plan what I want to use for whatever I am going to do and then carry it from the garage around to the back. And if I forget something, I have to make another trip around to the front to get it or go on without it. I want a shed!
The shed shown here is at my old neighbor’s house next to where I grew up. And the fence around it is from the home he grew up in. There’s a bench inside the fence, and it makes for a nice, shaded area to rest and reflect about the garden. I think it looks nice and there is no reason why I shouldn’t have something just as nice in my own backyard!
I’ve tried to think of ways I could sneak a shed into my backyard. One of my ideas was to build a sort of garden “closet”, up against my privacy fence in the corner of the vegetable garden, making sure the roof did not extend above the fence. If asked about it, I could just say it was part of the fence, because technically, it would be, right?
Or, I could build a hobbit shed like you would find in Hobbiton. But my yard is rather flat and the sudden appearance of a mound large enough to disguise a shed might attract a bit of attention!
So, I will continue without a shed, at least for a while.
But, there is one thing I do not want to lament. Sometime next summer, our neighbor is going to move. If his sons do not want that fence, well, I do! I’d find a place for it, even without a shed and a good shady spot. I would even be willing to replace the old pickets with some brand new pickets and paint them, so the fence doesn’t have to be completely torn down.
I would regret not at least asking, so I will ask about it sometime soon.
It never hurts to ask. That is how Julie got all the iris bulbs she wanted from a lady who was discarding boxes full. That is how Gene got the rock bench from in front of the Homestead house. The next day it would have been buried and gone forever. Just be sure you get the fence before they show the house. Good luck.