Where to Store Garden Furniture, Mowers and Tools During a Garden Makeover or Over Winter

There is a particular kind of held breath that comes with a garden mid-makeover. The turf is up, there is a skip on the drive, and your good rattan set is under a tarp catching whatever the sky decides to do this week. Or maybe nothing dramatic is happening at all, it is just October, the mower has done its last cut of the year, and the garage is already too full to take it. Either way, you need somewhere dry and sensible to put things for a while, and you would rather not find out at drop-off that the mower is not welcome.

It can go into storage. Almost everything from your garden can. There is just one catch, and it trips up more people than you would think.

In a hurry? Start here.

• Storing a petrol mower or strimmer? Drain the tank and run the carburettor dry first, or it will be turned away at the door.
• Storing a cordless or battery tool? Take the battery out if it is removable. If it is fixed in, the item cannot be stored at all.
• Just moving furniture and hand tools? Clean them and let them dry fully first. Nothing else to prep.

Yes, you can store garden furniture and a mower, here’s the one catch

Garden furniture, hand tools and most powered garden kit can go into a Wigwam unit without any fuss, provided one condition is met: anything that runs on fuel has to be completely dry before it arrives, and anything that runs on a battery has different rules again. Get that part right and the rest is straightforward.

What is fine to bring as it is: garden furniture of any material, spades and forks and shears, and most powered tools once they have been prepped properly. None of it needs special treatment beyond being clean and dry, which is the same rule that applies to anything going into a shared storage building.

The one thing that trips people up is fuel. A petrol mower, strimmer or pressure washer with fuel still in the tank cannot come in, full stop. It is not a Wigwam quirk designed to be awkward, it is a straightforward safety rule, and we will walk through exactly what “dry” means in the next section, because tipping the tank out is not quite the whole story.

Petrol mowers, strimmers and generators, the fuel rule that actually catches people out

Yes, you can store a petrol mower, strimmer, chainsaw or pressure washer, but the tank and the carburettor must be run completely dry first. Fuel in the tank is not allowed under any circumstances, no matter how little is left in it.

Why “tipped out” is not enough. Draining the tank only gets rid of what is sitting in the reservoir. Fuel is still sat in the carburettor and the fuel lines until the engine actually runs out and stalls on its own. The fix is simple: tip the tank out, then start the engine and let it run until it stops by itself from fuel starvation. That is what “run completely dry” means. A mower that has just been tipped over a drain still has fuel in it, even if the tank looks empty.

What counts as fuel-powered. This covers lawnmowers, strimmers, chainsaws, pressure washers, generators, and anything else with a combustion engine. If it has a pull cord or takes petrol at a pump, treat it as fuel-powered and drain it properly before it comes anywhere near your unit.

What happens if it turns up with fuel in it. It will be turned away at the door. That is the honest, slightly deflating truth of it. A reader who books a slot on a Saturday afternoon and turns up with a full-tank mower loses the slot and the afternoon. Someone who runs it dry the night before walks straight in and gets on with their day. It costs ten minutes to avoid, so it is worth doing before you leave the house, not after you arrive.

Cordless and battery tools, a different rule to know before you book

The battery rule is the one people are least likely to see coming, because a cordless mower does not feel like a “fuel” item, so it is easy to assume it just walks in like the furniture does.

Removable battery, what to do. If the battery comes out, take it out and store it somewhere else, at home is fine. The tool itself, minus its battery, can then go into your unit as normal.

Fixed battery, the honest boundary. If the battery is built in and cannot be removed, the item cannot be stored at all. There is no workaround for this one, and we would rather tell you plainly now than have you find out with the tool half unloaded at the door. It is the kind of thing that is worth checking on your specific model before booking, particularly with newer cordless hedge trimmers and strimmers where battery packs are increasingly built in rather than clipped on.

The same logic applies to anything pressurised left over from the garden project, camping gas or propane canisters used for outdoor heaters or barbecues need to be run dry or detached before they can be stored, for exactly the same safety reasoning as the fuel rule above.

The Garden Makeover Storage Checklist

If you would rather check an item in ten seconds than read three sections, this is the one-glance version of everything above.

If you are working from the phone in your hand right now rather than reading top to bottom, the triage block at the very start of this article covers the same three branches in a few seconds.

This table is illustrative guidance based on our own published storage policy, not an exhaustive legal ruling on every possible item. If you have an unusual battery-powered tool and are not sure where it falls, it is worth a quick call to the team before you book, rather than guessing.

Getting your furniture ready, material by material

The general rule for any garden furniture is the same regardless of material: clean it and let it dry completely before it goes into storage, because a damp item risks mould that can affect the units around it, not just your own. The advice below on caring for each material draws on guidance from the RHS, the UK’s leading independent gardening authority.

Plastic and rattan. Clean regularly with soap and water, particularly if the furniture is light coloured, since dirt shows and can stain over time. Once clean and properly dry, it stores well and needs little else done to it.

Hardwood and softwood. Hardwood benefits from a wash with a brush and soapy water once a year, and should be tilted off wet ground or covered with a heavy-duty waterproof cover if it is not going straight into your unit. Softwood should be washed down with a wood-cleaning product and treated with a wood stain or preservative paint, ideally applied in dry weather, paying particular attention to horizontal surfaces and any areas that tend to collect water.

Metal. Clean it and check carefully for rust before it goes away. Treat any damage you find with a rust-preventing paint, and as a general habit, repaint every two to three years to keep it in good condition through repeated winters.

Whichever material you are dealing with, the same principle holds: a day spent cleaning and drying properly now saves you finding rot, rust or mould when you open the box again in spring.

How long can you keep things in, makeover timelines versus a full winter

There is a two-week minimum term on any Wigwam unit, and once you are ready to bring everything home, you give fourteen days’ notice to end it. Your deposit and any unused days are refunded after that notice period has run its course. Those are two separate steps, not one, and it is worth knowing both before you commit to a date.

If you are mid-makeover. This is a short bridge, book for as long as the landscaping or build is expected to take, and collect everything once the work is actually finished rather than trying to time it to the day. It is how long you are holding your breath for, and it is fine if that turns out to be a little longer than planned.

If you are storing for the winter. This is a longer, more open-ended booking with no particular rush, the point is simply to protect furniture and machinery you have already invested in through the cold, wet months until the garden is worth using again.

Getting back in mid-project. Sites are open 6am to 10pm, seven days a week, using smart entry, so you can let yourself in during those hours whenever you need something back out, whether that is the mower for one more cut or a chair you had forgotten you needed. It is not 24-hour access, so it is worth planning around those hours if you think you will need something back urgently.

What size unit and what it will cost

For a typical garden furniture set, a mower and a reasonable collection of hand tools, most people need a modest unit, roughly the footprint of a small box room rather than anything cavernous. Exact space needs vary with how much furniture you own and whether the mower is a small push model or a larger ride-on, so the safest way to size correctly is to talk it through with the team or use the size guide on our pricing page.

What affects the price is unit size, which of our locations you choose, and how long you book for. Rather than quote a figure here that will be out of date within months, the clearest thing to do is check current pricing directly.

Find your exact size and cost at how much self storage costs in the UK, or once you know roughly what you need, find your nearest of our self storage locations across market towns around the country.

What else can’t go in, and what if something’s turned away

Beyond fuel and fixed batteries, a short list of things cannot go into any unit at all, mainly leftovers from the makeover itself: paint tins, weedkiller, pesticides and gas canisters. These need disposing of responsibly rather than tucked into a corner of your unit. For the complete rundown, our prohibited items list covers everything, so it is worth a quick look if you are unsure about anything specific.

If one item does get turned away, that is not the end of your booking. Everything else you have brought, the furniture, the hand tools, the properly prepped kit, still goes in as planned. It is just that one item that needs sorting separately, not the whole trip wasted.

Once the makeover is finished or the winter has passed, that is the exhale. Everything comes back out clean, dry and in the same condition it went in, and the garden is yours again. When you are ready to book a space, get a quote and we will help you find the right size for exactly as long as you need it.

If you are downsizing rather than mid-makeover, our guide to moving into a bungalow covers garden furniture and mower storage in that context too.

Frequently Asked Questions