Whether it’s hanging from a tree or built-in, outdoor showers are an added convenience for avid gardeners.
By Lin Johnson
A beautiful day spent mulching ends with beautiful beds and very dirty bodies. That stuff gets everywhere! And it is the very best reason to have an outdoor shower.
I have had several outdoor showers over the years—one beside a very private hot tub, one built specifically in a lean-to, one just a mobile camping shower hung from a tree branch, and my current one, a little bamboo closet tucked beside my basement barn door.
Of all of these, the camp shower is least expensive, most mobile, and easiest to install. Just fill the black plastic bag with water, set it in the sun to heat while you work, and hang it from a peg or hook or branch behind a hedgerow when you are ready to leave the day’s dirt behind. A refreshing, successful outdoor show does not even need to be tied into plumbing.
As for a private place to enjoy the water? It can be as simple as a bamboo stand, a cubby beneath some deck stairs, or a dedicated and densely planted group of hedges. And if it isn’t perfectly private, my husband says, “If people don’t like it, they don’t have to look!”
Lin Johnson volunteers with Garland County Master Gardeners of the UofA Div. of Agriculture, Cooperative Ext. Service. Master Gardeners pool skills and resources to improve home horticulture, stimulate interest in plants and gardening, and encourage beautification. For more information, call 501-623-6841 or email adykes@uaex.edu. The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture is an equal opportunity/equal access/affirmative action institution.
